The National/State House of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal in Kano has dismissed the petition filed by Umar Abdullahi Ganduje of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Ganduje had challenged the victory of Tijjani Abdulkadir Jobe of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) in the Rimin Gado/Dawakin Tofa/Tofa Federal House of Representatives Election held on February 25, 2023.
Ganduje’s legal representative, Mr. Abdulgafar Murtala, had asked the court to declare his client as the winner and set aside the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration that announced Jobe as the winner. He alleged irregularities, over-voting, and non-compliance with the Electoral Act in the election.
However, the legal teams representing NNPP and Jobe argued that the election was conducted in accordance with the 2022 electoral act and urged the court to dismiss the petition.
In its judgment, the three-member panel of judges dismissed the petition for lack of merit, stating that the petitioner failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the allegations made. As a result, the tribunal awarded the sum of N200,000 to the respondents (NNPP and Jobe), jointly and severally. This means that the petitioner, Umar Abdullahi Ganduje, would have to pay N200,000 to the respondents as a result of the dismissal of his petition.