The Supreme Court has rejected the appeal brought forth by the All-Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Sadique Abubakar, challenging the judgment of the Bauchi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
The tribunal had previously affirmed the election victory of Governor Bala Mohammed, a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The apex court maintained that the APC and its candidate failed to substantiate their claims of substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This decision echoes the stance taken by the Appeal Court in Abuja on November 17, which also dismissed the APC’s case against Governor Bala Mohammed’s election.
During the legal proceedings, the APC candidate’s legal team argued that the election should be declared null and void due to alleged improper filling of several electoral documents. However, the court found that the APC failed to present credible evidence and testimony to support their claims of electoral malpractice and non-compliance with relevant laws.
Even as the APC candidate’s lawyer, Abiodun Owonikoko, appealed to the apex court, urging them to overturn the judgments of the lower courts, the court upheld the decisions. INEC’s counsel, Mohammed N., clarified that the tribunal had only identified blank spaces in some electoral forms, refuting the assertion of improper filling across all forms.
Chris Uche, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria representing Governor Bala Mohammed, urged the apex court to dismiss the “needless appeal,” emphasizing the lack of witnesses brought forth by the appellants to address the electoral documents presented at the tribunal.
Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, delivering the lead judgment on behalf of the five-man panel, concurred with the lower courts’ findings. He emphasized that the identified blank spaces in non-sensitive electoral materials did not impact the overall integrity of the polls or the distribution of votes. Additionally, Justice Saulawa pointed out that the APC witnesses had filed inadmissible evidence at the lower court, failing to meet the burden of proof required for a successful case.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court declared the APC candidate’s appeal “entirely devoid of merit” and affirmed Governor Bala Mohammed’s election victory.
