The Supreme Court of Nigeria, on Friday, upheld the election of Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Supreme Court, in its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, dismissed an appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its candidate, Sadique Abubakar.
The appeal challenged the outcome of the gubernatorial election that was held in the state on March 18, 2023.
Abubakar and his party had contended that Mohammed, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was not the valid winner of the gubernatorial poll.
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They alleged that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.
Also, they argued that several electoral documents that were used during the poll were not properly filled.
However, both the Bauchi State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal and the Court of Appeal in Jos dismissed Abubakar’s case and upheld Governor Mohammed’s election victory.
Dissatisfied with the concurrent verdicts of the two lower courts, the APC candidate lodged an appeal before the Supreme Court, contending that his case vis-à-vis the exhibits that were tendered in evidence by the parties was not properly evaluated by the tribunal.
While dismissing the appeal, the five-member panel led by Justice Inyang Okoro, said it found no reason to dislodge the judgements of the lower courts.
The court further resolved all the issues that were formulated by the appellants against them.
