Elections Tribunal verdict: APC warns Ashiru against spreading misleading information

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has called on the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the March 18 governorship election in Kaduna state, Hon. Isa Mohammed Ashiru, to refrain from spreading misleading information about the court judgment and join hands with the elected Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani to move our dear State forward.
The State Secretary of the Party, Yahaya Baba Pate, stated this in a statement made available to the media yesterday.
Recall that the Election Petitions Tribunal in the state had on Thursday declared APC’s Uba Sani as winner of the election as it dismissed the petition files by Ashiru.
APC, reacting to a statement allegedly issued by Ashiru with the heading: “Tribunal Nullifies Uba Sani’s Election.” said after the judgment of the tribunal affirming the election of His Excellency, Governor Uba Sani, Hon Ashiru mischievously informed his followers that the tribunal nullified His Excellency’s election.
Accoording to the APC, Ashiru had stated that: “On the preliminary objection, the tribunal, based on the majority of 2:1 judges upheld the preliminary objection of the respondent to the effect that the application for pre-hearing was done prematurely i.e. before the service of the last set of petitioners’ reply to the 2nd respondent’s reply to the petition was served.”
According to the party, this is an open admittance of the fact the tribunal agreed with the lawyers of the respondents and threw out his case, thereby exposing the duplicity in his claim that his petition succeeded.
“In an open concession to the legal mishap that befell him, he stated that he would pursue an appeal process. We wonder how a victor in a legal battle will suddenly run to announce his willingness to pursue an appeal. Hear him;
“I want to again thank the people of the state while urging them all to remain abiding while we pursue the appeal process.”
“Rather than restrategizing and working hard to convince the superior courts to set aside the extant ruling, he resorted to counting his chicks before the eggs were hatched.
“It is clear to us that the Kaduna electorate was right in rejecting the candidacy of Hon. Isah Ashiru. A man who speaks from both sides of his mouth lacks knowledge of legal processes and is given to creating confusion, cannot be saddled with the responsibility of leading a complex and diverse state like Kaduna.
“No wonder the good people of Kaduna State settled for the urbane, resourceful, experienced, and pro-people Senator Uba Sani as Governor.
“It is on record that Hon. Isah Ashiru Mohammed hinged his campaigns on many busted falsehoods. In one of those unfounded stories, he claimed that as an erstwhile lawmaker, he built a Police College in Kudan LGA.
“Inquisitive minds went to verify his claim, and they discovered that it was a Skill Acquisition Centre that was uninhabitable. That also applied to the misinformation he churned out about building Police Stations in his federal constituency.
“The APC wishes to call on the PDP gubernatorial candidate to refrain from spreading misleading information about the court judgment and join hands with the elected Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Uba Sani to move our dear State forward. “