Election petition: Bauchi Tribunal reserves judgement as counsels adopt final addresses

The Bauchi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has reserved judgement in the petition brought against the election of Sen. Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed as the Governor of Bauchi State and his Deputy, Rt. Hon. Mohammed Auwal Jatau.

The petition was filed by the defeated gubernatorial candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last general elections, Amb. Saddique Baba Abubakar.

The tribunal said during its sitting that it would communicate a date to deliver its judgement to the parties after counsel adopted their final written addresses.

INEC is the first respondent in the petition, while Governor Bala Mohammed and his Deputy, Rt. Hon. Jatau is listed as the second and third respondent, respectively.

The Counsel to the Respondents, Chris Uche, submitted in their final address that the Tribunal should dismiss the petition filed by the Petitioners on the basis that the Petitioners failed to prove the allegations contained in the petition.

The Counsel to the Respondents argued, respectively, that the March 18th, 2023 Governorship Election held in Bauchi State was conducted substantially in compliance with the principles of the Electoral Act 2022.

He further stated that the claim made by the Petitioner in their petition has not been proved by their Witnesses called PW2, 4,5, 8, 9, and 10.

Therefore, they urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition.

The lead Counsel to the petitioners, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, in his submission in adopting the final written address, argued that what determines the failure or success of a case is the pleadings and evidence laid before a Tribunal.

He cited Section 73, Subsection 2, of the Electoral Act 2022 as amended, arguing that the purported Election in those areas raised in their petition should be declared invalid.

He also opined that if those votes are deducted, the Petitioner, Sadique Abubakar, will score 252,022 votes, while the respondent, Bala Mohamed, will score 246,522 votes, stressing that the Election was fraught with irregularities.

He finally urged the Tribunal to allow the petition.

In a related development, Counsel to Governor Bala Mohammed and the PDP, Chris Uche SAN, asked the court to dismiss the petitions by the All Progressive Congress (APC) for lacking merit.

He further argued that the petitioner failed to prove the allegations against Governor Bala’s victory at the 2023 gubernatorial elections.

The Tribunal sitting was held under tight security, and despite measures put in place to reduce the number of people on the court premises, the crowd overpowered them and gained access to the premises.

Chairman of the 3-Member Tribunal, Justice P.T. Kwahar, lauded the conduct of the counsel to the parties and therefore reserved his comments for the next adjourned date, which he said will be communicated to the Parties for judgement.

Speaking after the court sitting, the Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, Alh. Hamza Koshe Akuyam and other dignitaries called on members of the public, particularly PDP members and supporters, to remain calm, assuring that Governor Bala Mohammed’s victory at the tribunal is fully assured.

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