Posted by On Saturday, the Governor Ahmadu Fintiri’s election was upheld by the Adamawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Yola.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate Aishatu Ahmed Dahiru (Binani) filed a case challenging Fintiri’s election, but the tribunal ruled against them.
The petitioners did not prove their charges of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, according to Justice Theodora Obi Uloho, chairman of the three-member panel.
The petitioners’ star witness, she claimed, failed to make any connections between the papers they submitted and the petitioners’ substantive allegations.
The court ruled that the petitioners did not provide sufficient evidence to support their claim.
The panel also ruled that Hudu Ari-Yunusa, the REC who was suspended after declaring Binani the poll winner, was wrong.
As Justice Uloho pointed out, it is not Hudu’s role to announce the winner of the election, hence his actions were imprudent.
Binani and the APC sued INEC, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, and the PDP, naming them as first, second, and third respondents, respectively.
Together, Binani and APC filed the petition on May 6, 2023, claiming that violence, stolen ballots, and intimidation of poll workers plagued both the initial election on March 18, 2023, and the rerun on April 15, 2023.
They also argued that the election was invalid because of widespread violations of the Electoral Act, which meant that Fintiri did not win the majority of legitimate votes cast.
Binani requested that the tribunal confirm her victory in the election and direct INEC to provide her a certificate of return as the lawful Governor of Adamawa State.
Fintiri denied the claims made in the petition and asked the tribunal to throw out the whole thing in his response.
In a broadcast made shortly after the verdict was issued on Saturday, Fintiri remarked that the judiciary has once again proven that judgement is not a commodity that anyone with enough money can buy.
He did, however, say that he was open to genuine reconciliation and invited all disputants to work with him to improve Adamawa State.