The Sokoto Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal on Saturday dismissed the petition against Governor Ahmed Aliyu and his deputy, Idris Gobir, filed by Sa’idu Umar of the Peoples Democratic Party.
Umar is challenging Aliyu’s election over alleged non-qualification and electoral fraud during the March 18, 2023 poll.
In a unanimous judgement, the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Haruna Mshelia, said the petitioners were unable to prove the six grounds formulated in the petition.
He said the grounds bordered on alleged ineligibility for Aliyu and Gobir to contest, falsification of certificates, variation of names, election frauds and non-compliance with electoral guidelines.
Msheila said petitioners were unable to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt as required by law, saying 70 per cent of exhibits were out of context because they related to House of Assembly elections conducted on the same dates.
According to him, to prove forgery, two different documents of persons needed to be presented while the variation of names issues was a settled Supreme Court provision.
He said three subpoena witnesses were not tenable as they were not makers of the documents from the alleged primary school.
The tribunal chairman said the alleged 138 polling units frauds were not adduced to indicate substantial non-compliance of the elections marred the election outcome.
He dismissed the petition for lack of merit and failure of the petitioners to prove the allegations.
Meanwhile, Umar, while rejecting the judgment, assured his supporters that he would challenge it in a higher court.
He said, “Our legal team is, therefore, studying the details of today’s judgment, with a view to determining the appropriate next line of action on our part.”
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