The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja will on Monday, November 27, 2023, deliver judgement on the appeal filed against the judgement of the tribunal which affirms the election of Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State.
The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 18 Sokoto State governorship election, Mallam Sai’du Umar had challenged the declaration of Governor Ahmed Aliyu as the duly elected governor of the state, alleging irregularities among others.
In a notice of judgement from the court made available to our correspondent by a special assistant on media to the PDP candidate in the state, Muhammad Lema, the judgement is expected to be delivered by 3 pm on Monday.
“Take notice that Appeal NO, CA/S/EP/GOV/SK/30/2023: Saidu Umar & Anr VS. Aliyu Ahmed Sokoto & 3. ORS is coming up before the Court of Appeal Headquarters Abuja division for judgement on Monday the 27th day of November 2023 at 3.00 pm.”
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Recall that the three-man Election’s Petitions Tribunal led by Justice Haruna Msheila in a unanimous judgement delivered on September 30, this year dismissed the petitions of the PDP, saying the petitioners failed to prove the six grounds formulated in the petition.
He said the grounds bordered on alleged ineligibility for Aliyu and Gobir to contest, falsification of certificates, variation of names, election frauds and non-compliance with electoral guidelines.
He said petitioners were unable to prove the allegations beyond reasonable double as required by law as 70 per cent of exhibits were out of context because they relate to State Assembly elections conducted on the same dates.
According to him, to prove forgery two different documents of persons needed to be presented while the variation of names issues was a settled supreme court provision.
He said three subpoena witnesses were not tenable as they were not makers of the documents from the alleged primary school while the other 28 polling units’ agenda testified could not produce identify themselves along with their roles.
The Tribunal Chairman said the alleged 138 polling units frauds were not adduced to indicate substantial non-compliance of the elections have marred the election outcome.
