Adamawa Guber : Legal Battle Ends As S’Court Dismisses Petition

The All Progressives Congress, APC, and its candidate in the March 18, 2023 Governorship election in Adamawa State, Senator Aisha Dahiru Binani on Wednesday reached a dead end in their legal battle seeking to unseat Umar Ahmadu Fintiri as the duly elected governor of Adamawa State.

The Apex Court in its final judgment dismissed Binani’s petition in its entirety for lacking in merit, cogent evidence and substance.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice John Inyang Okoro, the Supreme Court held that the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) who declared Binani winner of the governorship election engaged in an act of criminality and irresponsibility.

Justice Okoro said that Binani engaged in self deceit by hanging to the unlawful and unconstitutional acts of the Resident Electoral Commissioner to hold herself out as winner of the governorship poll.

The apex court emphatically held that the Resident Electoral Commissioner REC had no power under any known law to declare election results as he did in the Adamawa governorship election results.

Justice Okoro maintained that the only person vested with power to make declaration on any election is the Returning Officer appointed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and no other person.

The Supreme Court said that the mere declaration of Binani and APC as winners by the REC was not in anyway helpful to them adding that the REC ought to have appeared before the Adamawa State Election Petitions Tribunal to give evidence, defend and justify the declaration he made.

Justice Okoro held that Binani and APC did not in any way establish with any oral or documentary exhibits that they won majority of the lawful votes cast at the election other than the purported declaration made by the REC.

He warned public officers to always act within the law in the discharge of responsibilities and not get carried away by greed adding that acting in contrary to the provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act in the discharge of public duties is completely illegal.

In the absence of evidence of scoring majority of lawful votes, Justice Okoro dismissed Binani’s petition and upheld the concurrent findings of the Adamawa State Election Petitions Tribunal and the Court of Appeal which had earlier dismissed the petition by Binani and APC.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja had on Monday December 18, 2023 dismissed the petition by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Senator Aisha Dahiru Binani seeking to invalidate the election of Umar Ahmadu Fintiri as the duly elected governor of Adamawa State.

A judgment written by Justice Tunde Oyebanji Awotoye threw out the case of Binani and APC on various grounds of abnormalities.

Justice Awotoye said the three witnesses called to establish malpractices in 27 Local Government Areas who were Campaign Coordinators were mere hearsay witnesses having not been party agents.

The unanimous judgment had dismissed the appeal in its entirety and awarded a cost of N1m to be paid to Fintiri and PDP by Binani and APC.

By Garry Ochigbo, Edited By Grace Namiji