THE Election Petition Tribunal in Bauchi has granted leave to Garba Dahiru of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to access sensitive materials used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the February 25 National Assembly elections in the state.
The tribunal also granted leave to the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate, Mijinyawa Mohammed, to access election materials deployed by INEC for the Bauchi North Senatorial District election.
Dahiru and Mijinyawa contested and lost the Bauchi South and North senatorial districts elections, respectively.
Dahiru lost the Bauchi South Senatorial District election to Shehu Umar of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as declared by INEC.
A three-member panel, led by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, has now granted the two candidates access to sensitive materials, following an ex-parte application filed by the two candidates, according to the NAN.
Dahiru’s lead counsel Alex Hassan, had earlier filed an application, asking the court to compel INEC to allow his client to access the sensitive materials.
According to Hassan, the documents would aid his petition against the emergence of APC’s Umar as the winner of the election.
Justice Wilfred Kpochi, in his ruling, said that the application had merit and was granted accordingly.
“The petitioners are to take certified copies and conduct manual and physical inspection of all the electoral materials used in the conduct of the Bauchi South Senatorial District election held on the 25th February 2023,” he said.
In the case of the NNPP’s Minjinyawa Mohammed, the presiding judge also cited that the application has merit.
Kpochi, therefore, granted leave to the petitioner and his counsel to approach INEC and take certified copies of the election materials used in the Feb. 25 Bauchi North Senatorial District election.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M