Tribunal Affirms Tambuwal’s Victory

The Sokoto State governorship election petitions tribunal has ruled as invalid the petition challenging the victory of Aminu Tambuwal as the winner of the governorship.

The ruling on the petition, filed by Ahmed Aliyu, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was read on Wednesday, during the sitting at the Wuse Zone 2 Magistrate’s court.

The tribunal unanimously dismissed the objections and held that the petition was properly filed.

The tribunal equally ruled that the petitioners duly paid the filing fees.

It held that against the argument of the respondents that the petition disclosed a substantial cause of action and was properly signed by the petitioners. It further held that the non-joinder of the running mate to the petitioners is not enough to render the petition incompetent.

On the whole, the Justice Abbas Bawale led tribunal held that the application by the respondent lacks merit and constituted a waste of judicial time.

Aliyu who was deputy to Tambuwal had filed a petition before the Tribunal challenging the victory of the incumbent as well INEC for declaring him a winner in the March 2019 state governorship election.

The governorship election held on March 9 was declared inconclusive following cancellation of 75, 403 votes which were higher than the 3, 413 votes margin between the leading candidates.

The re-run was conducted on March 23, and Tambuwal won with a slim margin of 342 votes.

Unsatisfied with the outcome, Aliyu approached the tribunal challenging the return of Tambuwal as the governor-elect, on the grounds that the election was marred with irregularities.