The Court of Appeal in Abuja has affirmed Ahmed Aliyu of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as governor of Sokoto state.
A three-member panel of justices of the Court affirmed Aliyu as winner of the March 18 governorship election after dismissing the appeal of the governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Saidu Umar.
Umar had challenged the outcome of the Sokoto governorship election citing alleged falsification of certificates, variation of names, election fraud and non-compliance with electoral guidelines.
Also, the Tribunal held that the subpoened witnesses failed to front load their statement on oath along with the election petition within the 21 days as required by law.
The Appellate Court therefore says the evidence brought by the two key witnesses of the PDP were therefore deemed inadmissible and as such expunged from the record for not being front loaded.
This decision upholds that of the Sokoto Governorship Election Tribunal which on 30 September dismissed the PDP candidate’s petition for lacking merit as it was unable to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt.
Details later…
Godfrey Eshiemoghie
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