The Kano State Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the victory of the state Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The tribunal, on Wednesday declared that the petition filed against
Ganduje by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate,
Abba Yusuf lacked merit.
Delivering judgment, the Chairman of the three-member panel, Justice
Halima shamaki dismissed the PDP’s petition seeking the nullification of
Ganduje’s victory in the March 9 governorship election in the state.
The Judge held that the petitioners have failed to declare the scores
of the 9th March election by tendering certified true copies.
She said the petitioners’ participation in the rerun means that they
have waived their rights to claim victory in the 9 March election.
Most paragraphs in the petitioners’ final address are speculative and therefore struck out.
Justice Halima said the Gama result was written manually with a pen, and thus raises questions with regards to its authenticity.
The judge also questioned the failure of the petitioners to obtain
certified true copies of results as evidence even after the Tribunal had
ordered the 3rd respondents which is the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC, to provide them with them.
Shamaki also called for peace in the state and asked the petitioner
to go further to Appeal and Supreme Courts if they are dissatisfied with
the ruling.