The Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday upheld the election of Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje of the All Progressives Congress (APC) by dismissing the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) petition.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the PDP candidate, Abba Kabir-Yusuf had challenged the victory of Ganduje in the March 23 governorship election.
Delivering judgment, the three man panel led by the Chairman, Justice Halima Shamaki, upheld Ganduje as the duly elected 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,” he 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 (LGA) results like Wudil, Magwan, Nasarawa and Gama Ward presented were not stamped, apart from that they were not true certified copies,” he said.
Shamaki said that the Gama Ward result presented was written with pen, which was carted away by the petitioners.
He also said that since results were carted away in some polling units leading to over voting, INEC had to order for a rerun 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,” he said.
He 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.
He called on the people of the state to stay in peace. “Let there be peace, Kano is my second home.
“We have done our best, we still have the Court of Appeal, please lets make peace that is the only way you can repay us for staying in Kano for six months,” Shamaki added.
