Supreme Court Upholds Fintiri’s Victory in Adamawa State
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has made a decisive ruling in the case brought by Aishatu Ahmed, popularly known as Binani, challenging the election of Governor Ahmadu Fintiri in Adamawa State.
In a unanimous decision, the five-member panel of the court, led by presiding justice John Okoro, dismissed Ms. Ahmed’s appeal, declaring it lacking in merit. Justice Okoro further stated that a resident electoral commissioner does not have the authority to declare election results while the collation of results is still ongoing.
Ms. Ahmed had approached the Supreme Court, seeking to validate the declaration made by Hudu Yunusa, an INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, under Section 149 of the Electoral Act. However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja had previously upheld Governor Fintiri’s election victory.
The appellate court, led by Tunde Awotoye, affirmed the decision of the Adamawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which had declared Governor Fintiri the winner of the March 18, 2023 poll. Ms. Ahmed, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, had alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act by INEC during the election.
In its ruling, the Court of Appeal found that Ms. Ahmed failed to substantiate her claims of electoral fraud in 14,104 polling stations. The court noted that the witnesses presented by Ms. Ahmed were not present at the polling units but rather served as campaign coordinators for the appellant.
Furthermore, the court highlighted that the record of proceedings from the tribunal and the briefs submitted to the court were incomplete. As a result, the appeal was deemed to lack merit, and the court affirmed the decision of the lower tribunal. Additionally, the court awarded costs of N1 million against the petitioners in favor of Governor Fintiri and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
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