Sokoto: Tribunal throws out PDP petition against Gov Aliyu
The Sokoto Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed a petition against Sokoto Governor Ahmed Aliyu and his Deputy Idris Mohammed Gobir on Saturday because it lacked substance.
The petition filed by Sa’idu Umar, the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Gubernatorial candidate, challenges the governor and his deputy’s right to run in the March 18, 2023 election.
Umar, the petitioner, is also accusing Governor Aliyu and his deputy of electoral fraud in Sokoto state’s governorship election on March 18, 2023.
The unanimous judgment delivered by the tribunal chairman, Justice Haruna Mshelia, established that the petitioners were unable to prove beyond reasonable grounds, the allegations they formulated in the petition.
The allegations bordered on ineligibility for Aliyu and Gobir to contest, falsification of certificates, variation of names, election fraud, and noncompliance with electoral guidelines stated by the tribunal.
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“The Petitioners were unable to prove the allegations beyond reasonable double as required by law as 70 percent of exhibits were out of context because they relate to State Assembly elections conducted on the same dates.”
“To prove forgery, two different documents of persons needed to be presented while the variation of names issues was a settled supreme court provision.
The three subpoena witnesses called before the panel were untrustworthy because they did not create the documents from the supposed primary school.
The other 28 polling unit agents who testified could not produce their names or roles.
The tribunal chairman stated that the claimed 138 polling unit frauds were not presented as evidence that significant noncompliance with the elections tainted the election outcome.
Mshelia noted that the tribunal dismissed all preliminary objections by the respondents on competency to institute the case since the petitioners duly linked to the grounds in the petition.
