Fintiri vs Binani: Tension as Adamawa awaits Appeal Court decision Monday

The Court of Appeal will, on Monday, December 18, pronounce its decision on the appeal before it by the Adamawa State Governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Aishatu Ahmed (Binani).

Binani is at the court challenging the victory of the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the last governorship election, Ahmadu Fintiri, who has since been functioning as the state governor.

The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which had earlier heard the case and reserved judgment, will on Monday deliver the awaited judgment, according to multiple sources in Adamawa on Sunday.

Binani had gone to the Court of Appeal shortly after the Adamawa State Governorship Electoral Petitions Tribunal in October 2023 dismissed the petition filed by Binani.

Binani had approached the tribunal asking it to quash the declaration of Governor Fintiri by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, as elected governor of Adamawa State.

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In her petition challenging the governorship election conducted by INEC on March 18, 2023, Binani, who named INEC, Fintiri, and PDP as the first, second, and third respondents respectively, asked the tribunal to annul the election over non-compliance with the Nigerian Electoral Act.

The tribunal had, however, dismissed Binani’s petition and affirmed Fintiri’s victory, after which Binani filed an appeal at the appellate court.

As the decision of the Court of Appeal pends on Monday, supporters of the two principal figures – Fintiri and Binani – wait in tension.

While Fintiri enjoys the massive goodwill of an incumbent governor, Binani, who did admirably well in the March 2023 election in view, scoring all of 398,788 votes against Fintiri’s 430,861, is also quite popular.

By appearing desperate through accepting, or apparently engineering illegal declaration of herself as governor-elect while collation was yet to be completed after the March 2023 election, Binani has lost the respect of many, but she still has a huge following around the state.