Governor Bala Mohammed secured another victory over the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Sadique Abubakar in court proceedings. Following the tribunal’s decision to uphold Mohammed’s win, the Appeal Court in Abuja also confirmed his success in the March 18 governorship election.
In the first plea, APC’s Sadiq requested the nullification of the election, citing improperly filled forms and booklets. However, the Appeal court determined that the appellant failed to substantiate this claim with sufficient evidence.
The court emphasized the appellant’s inability to specify the affected polling units or detail the deficiencies in the forms. Moreover, it highlighted the failure to establish how these inaccurately completed forms impacted the election results. The court also remarked on the witnesses’ lack of familiarity with the forms, commending the tribunal for its meticulous review of the evidence.
Regarding allegations of electoral law non-compliance, the court ruled against the appellant due to insufficient evidence from witnesses who either did not vote on election day or could only speak about their respective polling units.
Addressing the purported unprofessional conduct of INEC officials, the court aligned with the tribunal’s stance, noting it wasn’t part of the appellant’s initial plea and thus couldn’t be argued.
The court ruled in favor of the first respondent, Mohammed, on these pleas. Concerning allegations of fraudulent alterations favoring the PDP candidate, the court acknowledged the seriousness of falsifying results but stressed the appellant’s failure to prove this claim or present a genuine result alongside the allegedly falsified one.