The Supreme Court of Nigeria has reserved its judgment on the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its Adamawa State governorship candidate, Aisha Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, challenging the election victory of the state governor, Ahmadu Fintiri.
The decision was made on Monday by a five-member panel led by Justice John Okoro after hearing arguments from the parties involved in the case.
The legal battle stems from the events following the Adamawa governorship election.
Initially, on March 20, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the election inconclusive.
Mele Lamido, the returning officer, had noted that while Fintiri secured 421,524 votes, Binani polled 390,275 votes.
The margin between the two top candidates was smaller than the total number of potential voters – 37,016 – in 69 polling units where elections were cancelled, necessitating a supplementary election set for April 15.
Controversy erupted after the supplementary poll. Hudu Yunusa-Ari, the then-resident electoral commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State, who has since been suspended, declared Binani as the winner in the absence of the returning officer and before polls were concluded.
INEC, however, invalidated this announcement and continued with the collation of results.
The final tally showed Binani with 398,788 votes, while Fintiri emerged victorious with 430,861 votes.
Subsequent to these events, Yunusa-Ari was arrested and handed over to the police for prosecution.
Prior to reaching the Supreme Court, both the state election petition tribunal and the Court of Appeal had dismissed Binani’s petition against Fintiri’s victory.
The APC and its candidate are now seeking redress at the apex court, hoping for a favourable judgment.
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