Tribunals affirm Bala Mohammed, Ortom’s victories as Bauchi, Benue govs

Two Governorship Election Petition tribunals on Monday affirmed the victories of Bauchi and Benue states governors, Senator Bala Mohammed and Samuel Ortom respectively, in the March 23 governorship polls.

In Bauchi State, the three-man gubernatorial election petition tribunal dismissed the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Barrister Mohammed Abubakar, against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its guber candidate, Senator Bala Mohammed.

The tribunal led by its Chairman, Justice Salihu Shuibu, ruled on Monday that the ‎petition brought by the APC and its candidate, Barrister Mohammed Abubakar, against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Senator Bala Mohammed, lacks merit.

Earlier on, the chairman of the tribunal had rejected statements on oath of 27 out of 33 witnesses brought by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its guber candidate, Barrister Mohammed Abubakar, for failing to present convincing evidence.

The Lead Judge said that the petitioners failed to prove their petition beyond reasonable doubt.

“I hereby rule that the election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Senator Bala Mohammed as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC) is valid,”‎ Justice Salihu said.

The judge directed the two petitioners to pay the first, second and the third respondents the sum of one hundred thousand naira each for what the tribunal called as “frivolous petition brought before the tribunal.

Also in their judgment, the two other judges agreed with the decision of the Chairman of the tribunal.

While responding on the ruling of the tribunal, the Lead Counsel to the petitioners, Mamman Mike Osman represented by Barrister Isiyaka Dikko (SAN), told reporters that they will study the ruling before knowing the next line of action to take.

On his part, the lead Counsel to the Respondents, Chris Uche (SAN) said that the tribunal’s verdict was another victory for the people of Bauchi State.

The lead counsel to the respondents who said they are ready to defend their clients at any level of the law should the petitioners chose to appeal the ruling reminded the petitioners that they are not going to be allowed to bring any fresh evidence.

“Well, today the mandate rightly given to His Excellency, Governor Bala Mohammed by the good people of Bauchi State has received judicial confirmation and approval and we are very happy that the tribunal has done justice, it has toed the path of justice and we have come to the end of this case,” Uche said.

Chris Uche, who expressed belief that all the parties will join hands together and move the state forward, advised the petitioners to accept the ruling in good faith or face another judicial defeat .

He said that the case was lacking in merit and was very deficient in evidence, both in quantity and in quality.

Also, the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi on Monday affirmed the re-election of Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State and dismissed the petition of Mr. Emmanuel Jime for lacking in merit.

Jime of the All Progressives Congress (APC) had challenged the return of Ortom of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) on the grounds of substantial noncompliance with the provisions of Electoral Act, 2010 as amended.

Also joined in the petition were the PDP and INEC.

The petitioner alleged in his petition that Ortom was not dully elected by majority of lawful votes cast.

The APC governorship candidate also challenged the results declared in Buruku, Gboko, Guma, Gwer East, Gwer West, Konshisha, Kwande, Logo, Ukum, Ushongo and Vandeikya.

He therefore asked the tribunal to either declare him winner of the March 2019 governorship election in Benue or nullify Ortom’s election and order the conduct of a fresh election in the state.

During the hearing, the petitioner called 59 witnesses who testified that they witnessed irregularities, over voting and other electoral malpractices perpetrated by the PDP and INEC during the election.

Jime while testifying as PW17 urged the tribunal to declare him winner of the election on grounds that he polled 2,224 votes more than Ortom.

The petitioner also tendered over 1100 electoral documents including forms EC8A, EC8B, EC8C, EC8D, EC8E, voters registers and card reader reports.

He also tendered 2019 manual and guidelines for electoral officials in 384 Polling Units across 11 local government areas in contention.

However, Ortom, INEC and PDP asked the tribunal to strike out the petition in its entirety for lacking in merit.

INEC in its final written address told the tribunal that the March 2019 election was conducted in full compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010 as amended.

INEC and PDP called no witnesses while Ortom who was the second respondent in the suit called one witness.

Ortom told the tribunal through his counsel, Mr. Sebastine Hon (SAN) that the burden of proof rested on the petitioner.

Delivering a nine hours judgment, the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Henry Olusiyi faulted the testimonies of the petitioner’s witnesses.

According to him, none of them could substantiate their claims of over voting and other irregularities alleged.

Olusiyi said that the petitioner failed to link the documents tendered in evidence to the petition, saying that they dumped the documents on the tribunal.

He also said that until the National Assembly amends the constitution, the voter register remain the only document used to ascertain the number of registered voters and not the smart card readers.