In a unanimous decision, the panel of justices of the court said it found no reason to disturb the verdict of the Sokoto State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had earlier validated Governor Aliyu’s election victory.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed the election of Ahmad Aliyu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governor of Sokoto State.
A three-member panel of the appellate court dismissed the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Saidu Umar, challenging Aliyu’s victory in the poll.
In a unanimous decision, the panel of justices of the court said it found no reason to disturb the verdict of the Sokoto State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had earlier validated Governor Aliyu’s election victory.
Umar and the PDP had approached the tribunal, alleging that Aliyu and his deputy, Idris Gobir, were not eligible to contest the gubernatorial poll.
The petitioners contended that Governor Idris and his deputy did not secure majority of valid votes that were cast at the election to be declared winners by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
They alleged that the election was not only marred by irregularities but was also not conducted in substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
Aside from alleging that the governor and his deputy submitted forged certificates, with variations of names, to INEC in aid of their qualification to contest the election, the petitioners, added that electoral fraud occurred in 138 polling units in the state.
However, the three-man panel tribunal, in a judgement it delivered on September 30, dismissed the petition as lacking in merit.
The Justice Haruna Mshelia-led tribunal held that the petitioners were unable to prove any of the allegations they raised in the petition.