Sokoto Governorship Election: PDP Has No Case-Appeal Court

The Court of Appeal, Abuja, has dismissed the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Sa'idu Umar, challenging the outcome of the Sokoto state election petition tribunal on the March 18, 2023 election. 

The court on Monday also affirmed the election of the All Progressives Congress, APC's candidate, Ahmad Aliyu, as the governor of the state. 

Umar and his party earlier sought the help of the tribunal to upturn Aliyu's declaration as governor, alleging that the said declaration was in error as both Aliyu and his deputy, Idris Gobir, were not eligible to contest the governorship election ab initio.

The duo also contended that the governor 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, INEC, noting that the election was marred by irregularities and was not conducted in substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.

In addition, they alleged that the governor and his deputy submitted forged certificates, with variations in names, to INEC, to aid of their qualification to contest the election. According to them, electoral fraud occurred in 138 polling units in the state.

But the tribunal averred unanimously that it found no reason to upturn Aliyu’s election victory, noting that the petition was lacking in merit.

The tribunal added that the petitioners were unable to prove any of the allegations they raised in the petition. In particular, it averred that the evidence of most of the petitioners' witnesses, including Umar, were incompetent as their statements on oath were not front-loaded alongside the petition as required by law.

The tribunal also held that the allegation of forgery, being criminal in nature, ought to have been proved beyond reasonable doubt, which it said the petitioners failed to do.

The tribunal noted that about 70 percent of of exhibits adduced by the petitioners were out of context as they affect the state assembly elections, conducted on the same date the governorship poll held.

Following the observations, the tribunal dismissed the petition and affirmed the outcome of the election.

The Appeal Court affirmed the tribunal's position on most of the evidence adduced by the petitioners in support of their case. It added that they were legally inadmissible. It noted also that the tribunal was right in expunging the incompetent exhibits that were either not pleaded or irrelevant to the case brought before it