The National and State Assembly election petition tribunal sitting in Kaduna on Saturday declared Senator Uba Sani the authentic winner of the February 23rd 2019 election of the Kaduna Central senatorial zone.
The three-man panel chaired by Justice A.H Suleiman dismissed the petition of the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Lawal Usman Adamu over failure to provide concrete evidences to back allegations and claims that the election was marred with corrupt practices, rigging, non-qualification and failure of Uba Sani to resign his appointment as Special Adviser to the governor as stipulated by the law.
Lawal who lost to Uba Sani had filed a petition at the tribunal had challenged Uba Sani’s victory and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) results.
Adamu had in the petition asked the tribunal to nullify the election of Senator Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress and declare him (Adamu) the valid winner.
But the Tribunal in a 259-page judgment that lasted two hours, dismissed the case for failure to provide admissable evidences to corroborate the allegations and claims.
According to the tribunal, “the documents submitted are rendered inadmissible because they are not duly signed and certified copy as stipulated by the Evidence Act of 2011.
“And since the documents generated from the internet are not in compliance with the Evidence Act, the tribunal resolved the case in favour of Senator Uba Sani.
“Out of the 38 witnesses of the PDP candidate, none has evidence that he is a voter or present at the polling units.
“The witnesses too failed to show non-compliances with the Electoral Act.”
However, Uba Sani was able to provide evidences against all allegations raised by the PDP candidate before the tribunal.
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Addressing journalists at the court premises shortly after the Tribunal delivered judgement, Barrister Frank Ikpe, one of the counsels to Senator Uba Sani, described the judgement as wonderful and a reflection of true position of the election.
According to Ikpe, after going through an in-depth process of hearing, it is gladdening that the tribunal concluded that Senator Uba Sani scored the highest lawful votes to emerge victorious.
He also added that INEC made the case easier because it complied with the regulations and the Electoral Act.
However, in his reaction to the judgment, the Chairman of the PDP, Kaduna Chapter, Mr. Felix Hassan Hyet said the government of APC has succeeded in ridiculing the security agencies and INEC.
When asked, if his party, (PDP), will be seeking appeal, he said: “We are going to depend on the advice of our legal team on what will be the next line of action.”
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