Gov’ship polls: Tribunal upholds Ganduje, Tambuwal, Lalong victories

The victories of the Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, and Simon Lalong of Plateau State, were on Wednesday reaffirmed in separate judgments delivered by the governorship tribunals hearing petitions challenging their elections.

In Kano, the governorship election petition tribunal upheld the election of Gov Ganduje of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by dismissing the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) petition filed by its candidate, Abba Kabir-Yusuf.

Read Also: Nigeria vs P&ID: FG gives details shady deals

Delivering judgment, the three -man panel led by the Chairman, Justice Halima Shamaki, upheld Ganduje as the duly elected governor and held that PDP failed to prove all the allegations against him.

“It is only when a petitioner proves his case before the tribunal that he will have a case, the petitioners failed to prove the exact number of valid votes in each polling units,” she said.

In a unanimous judgment, the tribunal struck out some paragraphs of the petition because they were just speculations and held that the petitioners failed to give the number of votes for the March 9 election by tendering certified true copies of result sheets.

“Some local government area results like Wudil, Magwan, Nasarawa and Gama ward presented were not stamped; apart from that they were not true certified copies,”s he said.

Shamaki said that the Gama ward result presented was written with pen, which was carted away by the petitioners, adding that since results were carted away in some polling units leading to over -voting, INEC had to order for a re-run according to the Electoral Act as amended.

“INEC has proved that the March 9 election was marred by violence that was why the election was cancelled in some units,” she said and held that the PDP candidate failed to establish his petitions against Ganduje, saying that the cancellation of 207 polling units was constitutional and valid.

“The petitioners failed to discharge the burden of proof placed on them by the law,” Shamaki said.

Also, in Sokoto the state governorship election petition tribunal affirmed the election of Governor Aminu Tambuwa and dismissed the petition filed by Ahmed Aliyu, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the March 9 election for lacking in merit.

The tribunal said in a unanimous judgment read by the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Abbas Abdullahi that the petitioners failed to prove allegations of over voting, irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

Justice Abdullahi had while reviewing the submissions expunged the evidences of 10 witnesses for being hearsay. According to the judge, the evidence of the petitioners’ witnesses, especially witness number 10 was hearsay evidence which cannot be given any value in court to prove any of the allegations.

He also expunged some documents which were not pleaded by the petitioners from the court’s record and resolved issue number one which deal with over voting against the petitioners.

The tribunal also considered the effect of petitioners’ witnesses statements which were translated to English language from Hausa, and found that the original statements were not attach.

The chairman said the issue at stake is whether the petitioners witnesses statements in Hausa as translated in English was attach to the original statements.

He said the failure by the petitioners to attach the original statement in Hausa to the English language translated witness statement have effect on the case.

The tribunal also resolved the allegations of non compliance with the electoral act in the conduct of the election against the petitioners for failure to prove same.

Justice Abdullahi said a petitioner who alleged unlawful cancellation of votes, over -voting and illegal allocation of scores has the burden of proof to prove same before the tribunal.

In Plateau State, the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Jos on Wednesday upheld the victory of Governor Simon Lalong of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Senator Jeremiah Useni, had filed a petition against Gov Lalong after the March governorship election in Plateau State.

Sen. Useni and his party had challenged the declaration of Gov Lalong by the Independent Election Tribunal (INEC) as winner of the governorship election in the state.

However, on the issue of Gov Lalong’s qualification to contest for the election as the PDP accused him of presenting conflicting names on his certificate, the tribunal held that the governor is qualified and did not present a fake certificate on oath.

Sen. Useni had alleged that Gov Lalong had presented different certificates bearing different names at one point or the other during his days in school, a petition the PDP thought would have given them victory at the tribunal.

But in her judgment, the lead judge at the tribunal, Justice Halima Salman, quashed all the claims presented by the PDP, saying that Sen Useni did not present enough evidence to validate his claims.

Reacting to the ruling, Gov Lalong described his victory at the tribunal as victory for the entire people of the state and an affirmation of the mandate freely given to him.

Gov Lalong in a statement signed by his Director of Press, Dr. Makut Macham, said the verdict of the tribunal clearly speaks of the unshaken confidence the electorate demonstrated when they massively voted for him and the APC.

He said: “The verdict of the election petition tribunal not only affirms our mandate, but also shows that we are all winners as the people of the state will now have seamless governance since the distractions of litigations are now settled”.

The governor again extended a hand of fellowship to the opposition PDP to join hands with him to rescue the state from underdevelopment, insecurity and poverty and consolidate on the achievements of the last four years, saying “there is no winner or loser in this verdict; Plateau state is the winner.”

The governor assured the electorate that their votes will not be in vain as he has prepared a five- year development plan for the state which will drive the three- pillar policy thrust of his final term anchored on peace, security and good governance, physical infrastructural development and sustainable economic rebirth.

He commended the tribunal for dispensing justice without fear or favour, saying that the decision is founded on sound legal grounds that cannot fail any test.

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has congratulated Gov Tambuwal for his well-deserved victory at the tribunal, which upheld his election on Wednesday.

The party described the verdict as victory for democracy and inevitable triumph of the will of the people, as expressed in the March 23 governorship election, over forces that sought to foist themselves on the state.

The PDP noted that Gov Tambuwal’s resounding victory at the election was a clear endorsement of his leadership style as evinced in his commitment towards the development of the state and the empowerment of the people.

The party’s congratulatory message was contained in a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan.