By Usman Ya’u Yakasai
Despite the affirmation by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Kaduna State, it was declared that Senator Uba Sani was the rightful winner of the March 18, 2023, gubernatorial election in Kaduna State as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Legal arguments over the tribunal’s verdict would continue at the Appeal Court in Abuja.
The INEC Collation Officer, Prof. Lawal Bilbis, had announced that the APC candidate, Uba Sani, was the winner of the contest in the state, having received 730,002 votes, as against his closest rival, Isah Ashiru Kudan of PDP, who received 719,196 votes.
The PDP and its candidate, however, approached the three-man Governorship Election Tribunal panel led by Justice Victor O. Oviawe, seeking the nullification of the election, alleging electoral malpractices and non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022, and Guidelines. They also claimed that some voters were disenfranchised and requested a rerun as an alternative prayer to their primary request of the declaration of Isa Ashiru as the winner of the election.
The legal team of Governor Uba Sani, led by former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo, challenged the competence of the petition, arguing that it was filed outside the 21-day period stipulated by Section 285(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), therefore Rendering it statute-barred. They also raised objections regarding non-compliance with Paragraph 18, First Schedule to the Electoral Act, 2022.
The Tribunal, in a majority decision delivered on September 28, 2023, dismissed Isa Ashiru and the PDP’s petition based on two out of three grounds for the respondents’ preliminary objections.
These objections challenged the competency of the petition due to its alleged abandonment and failure to comply with the provisions of Paragraph 18, First Schedule to the Electoral Act in applying for the pre-hearing notice. The application for pre-hearing notice was filed prematurely, resulting in the petition being considered abandoned.
Following the dismissal of the petition by the Tribunal, Isa Ashiru and the PDP filed a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeal, requesting that the decision of the Tribunal declaring Senator Uba Sani as the winner be overturned.
Governor Uba Sani, in turn, filed a cross-appeal, challenging the alternative ruling of the Tribunal, which proposed a supplementary election in 22 polling units in the state across four local government areas, arguing that the Tribunal’s alternative ruling for a supplementary election in 22 polling units was made in error.
Governor Uba Sani’s team argued that the Tribunal made a legal error by admitting and relying on the analysis of some forms ECG40G that were pleaded by the petitioners and that the makers of the forms were not called as witnesses, nor were any witnesses called from the respective polling units, adding that there were serious discrepancies in the admitted forms ECG40G, which went against established principles of law regarding the admissibility of documents.
