Uba Sani and Dapo AbiodunThe Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed the election of Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governor of Kaduna State.
A three-member panel of the appellate court delivering the judgement on Friday held that the tribunal acted in error when it depended on inadmissible evidence to order the conduct of supplementary polls in 22 polling units of four local government areas (LGAs) where the exercise was deemed inconclusive.
The court stated that a key witness called by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the tribunal hearing merely gave hearsay evidence as he was not present when the malpractices he alleged happened.
The appeal court held that the allegations of deduction of votes, stuffing of ballot boxes, and mutilation of sensitive electoral materials made by the said witness were born out of hearsay.
The court also held that the tribunal was right in dismissing the petition of the PDP and Isa Ashiru because the petitioners had abandoned their petition for their failure to apply for the issuance of a pre-hearing information sheet after close of pleadings as required by paragraph 18(1) of the first schedule to the Electoral Act 2022.
Similarly, the Appeal Court sitting in Lagos has affirmed Dapo Abiodun as the duly elected Governor of Ogun State.
Ladi Adebutu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, had petitioned the appellant court after rejecting the ruling of the tribunal affirming the victory of Dapo Abiodun in the March 18 governorship election.
He had alleged that the election that the victory Abiodun did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, claiming that the election was marred with irregularities and corrupt practices.
He had added that over 40,000 voters were disenfranchised due to violence.
He asked the court to nullify the election and declare him winner.
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