The petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Senator Aisha Dahiru Binani, seeking to invalidate the election of Umar Ahmadu Fintiri as the governor of Adamawa State, has been dismissed by the Court of Appeal in Abuja today.
The Appellate Court upheld the decision of the Adamawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, declaring Governor Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the legitimate winner of the election.
In a judgment penned by Justice Tunde Oyebanji Awotoye, the Court rejected the case brought by Binani and APC on several grounds of irregularities.
One of the key points emphasized by the Appeal Court was the failure of Binani and APC to present Polling Agents who were present during the election as witnesses. Instead, Campaign Coordinators who were not at the election venue were called as witnesses.
Justice Awotoye deemed the testimony of the Campaign Coordinators as hearsay and inadmissible, highlighting that it is against the law to give weight to such evidence under the circumstances.
Furthermore, the Court ruled that the brief of argument submitted by Binani and APC was incompetent and did not comply with the law, thus warranting disregard.
The records of appeal provided by Binani and APC were also deemed incomplete and insufficient for the Court to make any conclusive findings. Additionally, the Court declared the premature declaration of Binani and APC as winners of the election as unauthorized, emphasizing that the Returning Officer holds the sole authority for such a declaration.
Regarding the conduct of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the Court stated that it was inappropriate for Binani to take responsibility for actions beyond her control, asserting that the REC should be held accountable for any unlawful acts.
The appeal was unanimously dismissed, and Binani and APC were ordered to pay a cost of N1 million to Fintiri and PDP.
Earlier in October, the Adamawa State Governorship Electoral Petitions Tribunal had already dismissed a similar petition filed by Binani against Fintiri.
Source: NNNG
