From Umar Dankano,Yola
The Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Yola, Adamawa State has dismissed the petition by Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed (Binani) of the All Progressives Congress,APC challenging the victory of incumbent Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 Governorship elections.
In an eight hours judgement delivered on Saturday in Yola,
the Chairman of the 3-member panel, Justice Theodora Obi Uloho, ruled that petitioners woefully failed to establish their allegations of non- compliance with the electoral act and prove their case with cogent, credible and satisfactory evidence.
Justice Uloho advanced that all documents tendered by the petitioners were dumped on the tribunal and that their star witness did not demonstrate any of the documents to link it with any of their material allegations in the petition.
She said that the court is an adjudicator and not an investigator, saying that all the witnesses of the petitioners came with documentary hearesy and failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.
While adjudicating on an earlier declaration of Binani as winner of the poll by the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC,Barr. Hudu Ari Yunusa, the tribunal declared that the declaration is null and void aducing that the action was reckless.
“It is the Returning Officer (RO) that is empowered by law to collate, announce and declare the winner of elections.
“The petitioners also failed to prove beyond allegation of over-voting and non accreditation of voters, thus the petitioners ought to tender BVAs used in conducting election across all polling units”.It declared.
In their petition marked No. EPT/AD/GOV/1/2023, Binani and APC joined the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri and the PDP, as 1st to 3rd respondents respectively.
Recalled that,the APC and Senator Aishatu Binani jointly filed the petition on the 6th May, 2023, alleging that the election conducted on the 18th March, 2023 and 15th to 18 April, 2023 was marred by thuggery, ballot papers and BVAs snatching, harassment of the electoral officers among others.
The petitioners averred that Fintiri’s election was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, arguing that Fintiri was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast during the election and asked the tribunal to declare her validly elected and return as winner of the exercise.
Reacting to the judgement in a statewide broadcast, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri described the development “as a victory to popular mandate given by the majority of Adamawa people through the electoral process in which the election was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act 2023”.
“This is indeed is another memorable day in the annals of Adamawa State as we celebrate yet another victory in the reaffirmation of a mandate freely given by the majority of the voters of Adamawa State in March 2023.
“It is a verdict in favour of popular will; it is a verdict that reaffirms that the truth is sacred and justice is proportionately served to all parties. Today, we are all witnesses to the triumph of reality over fiction; truth over falsehood and honesty over deceit.”
