Binani Seeks Judicial Review of Her Declaration as Winner of Adamawa Governorship Election

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Adamawa governorship election, Senator Aisha Binani Dahiru and the Party have filed a motion exparte before the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking a judicial review of INEC’s administrative decision regarding her declaration as the winner of the polls held on March 18 and the supplementary poll of April 15.

Binani, alongside her party, APC, is seeking an order prohibiting the election umpire from taking any further steps towards the declaration of the winner of the election pending the determination of her application for judicial review.

Recall that controversy trailed Binani’s declaration as the winner of the governorship election by the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Hudu Yususa, on Sunday, April 16.

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INEC waded in immediately, saying the declaration was null and void.

Yususa, the REC, was thereafter suspended on Monday, April 17.

But, Senator Binani, unsatisfied with INEC’s move, has approached the Court.

Sued with the Independent National Electoral Commission were PDP and its governorship candidate, Ahmadu Fintiri, listed as first, second, and third defendants, respectively.

The application was brought pursuant to order 34 Rules 1a, order 3(1) and 3(2) a, b, c, Order 6 of the Federal High Court (civil procedure rules) 2019, and Section 251 (1)q and r of the 1999 Constitution, as well as Section 149 and 152 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

In the grounds upon which the application was brought, the senator argued, “The only court with power on a declaration made from the conduct of an election is only the election petition tribunal set up by the 1999 Constitution.”

The APC candidate maintained that after the completion of vote in the supplementary governorship election of April 15, and the subsequent collation of same results, INEC declared her as the winner of the governorship election, and she was thereby returned as elected.

She faulted the cancellation of her declaration on April 16, based on some crisis caused by PDP and Fintiri, stressing that INEC “has no powers to cancel or declare the declaration as been made as null and void”.

The applicants added, “INEC after the declaration of Senator Aisha Dahiru Ahmed as the winner usurped the powers of the Election Petition Tribunal and declared the declaration null and void.

“The first respondent does not have the requisite powers to declare an election in which the winner has been declared null and void.”

Binani, through her lawyers led by Hussaini Zakariyau, SAN, submitted that a judicial review existed to enable the superior court checkmate the actions and decisions of inferior courts as well as the legislative and administrative arms of government, including agencies and public officers.

The applicant further submits that INEC being an agency of the government can have its actions, records and decisions checked by the court and only a court can nullify the actions of an INEC official and not INEC itself.