November 17, (THEWILL) – The Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 18 gubernatorial election in Bauchi State, Sadique Abubakar, against the election victory of Governor Bala Mohammed.
The panel of three justices of the appellate court upheld the judgment of the Bauchi State Election Petition Tribunal, which affirmed Mohammed winner of the election.
Abubakar had approached the appellate court to challenge the judgement of Justice P T. Kwahar’s 3-member tribunal.
In its ruling on Friday, a three-member panel of Justices of the appellate court dismissed the prayer of the appellant, seeking the nullification of Mohammed’s victory because the forms and booklets used in the election were not properly filled.
The court held that the appellant failed to state the polling units involved in the said allegations and that he was unable to state what was missing in the forms. It further held that the appellant was unable to prove how the said improperly filled forms affected the results of the election.
On the plea that there was massive non-compliance with the electoral laws, the court ruled that the appellant again could not prove this, as some of the witnesses who testified did not vote on election day and those who voted only spoke based on what they saw in their polling units alone.
Ruling on alleged fraudulent cancellations, mutilations and alterations to favour Governor Bala Mohammed, the appellate court held that the appellant failed to establish with evidence his claim.
Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal and upheld the election of Bala Mohammed as duly elected Governor of Bauchi State.
The panel of three justices were unanimous, awarding no cost as the court ruled that each party to the matter should bear their costs.
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