Gombe Guber: A/Court upholds Gov Inuwa’s re-election

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

The Court of Appeal, Abuja has authenticated the re-election of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governor of Gombe State.
The Appallate Court in the ruling set aside the judgement of the Gombe State Governorship Election Tribunal, which dismissed the petition filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on March 18 announced Governor Inuwa Yahaya of the APC winner of the guber poll with 342,821 votes.
Muhammad Jibrin Barde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was said to have scored 233,131.
But Barde approached the Tribunal insisting that the election of the governor did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
His lawyers maintained that the PDP candidate scored the majority of the lawful votes cast during the poll while
multiple thumb printing and ballot box stuffing took place in nine local government areas of the state in favour of Governor Inuwa Yahaya.
But the three-man panel of the tribunal chaired by Justice S.B. Belgore, dismissed the PDP application for lacking of merit.
The tribunal further expunged the witnesses statements and exhibits of the PDP (INEC forms) for being baseless.
The PDP candidate then approached the Appeal Court for redress.
In its judgement on Thursday, the Appeal Court agreed with the Tribunal that the PDP case was void of merit.
“We have considered all the issues and have agreed that the appeal is void of merit,” the Appeal Court held while dismissing the appeal.”