By Tasi’u Hassan
The Adamawa State Governorship Election petition Tribunal on Saturday affirmed the re-election of Umaru Fintiri as duly re-elected Governor of the state in the March, 18th 2023 governorship election.
Delivering judgement, the Chairman of the 3-member panel, Theodora Obi Uloho, said that petitioner woefully failed to establish their allegations of non- compliance with the electoral act and prove their case with cogent, credible and satisfactory evidence.
According to her, 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 hearsay and failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.
On declaration of Binani as winner of the poll by the suspended REC, Barrister Hudu Ari Yunusa, she declared that the declaration by Hudu is null and void and that the former REC acted recklessly because it is not his function to collate, announce and declare winner of the election.
She added that the role of Barrister Hudu Ari is supervision and administration, saying it is the Returning Officer (RO) that is empowered by law to collate, announce and declare the winner of elections.
She said that the petitioners also failed to prove beyond allegation of over-voting and non-accreditation of voters, saying that the petitioners ought to tender BVAs used in conducting election across all polling units.
It could be recalled that 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.
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