The Court of Appeal in Abuja has confirmed the election of Governor Inuwa Yahaya of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the Gombe state governorship election.
The court has upheld the judgment of the Gombe State Governorship Electoral Tribunal which rejected the petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking re-election of Yahaya.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Governor Yahaya the winner of the Saturday, March 18 gubernatorial election with 342,821 votes, while his main challenger, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Recall that Muhammad Jibrin Bardeh received 233,131 votes. .
However, the PDP filed a petition challenging Governor Yahaya’s re-election on the grounds that he was not re-elected by a majority of legal votes.
The PDP also alleged that multiple thumb-stamping and stuffing of ballot boxes were carried out in various polling units in nine of the 11 local government areas in the state to favor Yahaya.
However, the court’s three-member panel rejected these claims, saying PDP failed to provide sufficient evidence to substantiate their claims.
The court also struck out witness statements and PDP (INEC form) evidence as unfounded.
In a ruling handed down Thursday, the appellate court agreed with the state court that PDP’s suit was without merit and dismissed the appeal.
Source: guardian.ng