A Federal High Court sitting in Yola has nullified the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary that produced Aishatu Binani as the party’s governorship candidate for Adamawa State.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, the court also declared that there will be no gubernatorial candidate for the APC in the state for the 2023 elections.
The court noted that the judgment is based on substantial evidence of non-compliance with party guidelines and that of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Nuhu Ribadu, who came second during the exercise, had dragged Binani, the APC and INEC before the high court, seeking the nullification of the primary election conducted on 27th May, 2022.
He sought Binani’s disqualification over alleged vote buying, over-voting and the use of an illegal delegates list from Lamurde Local Government Area of the state.
In his judgment, the presiding judge Justice Abdulaziz Anka nullified the entire primary election.
He held that the process was not compliant with the 2022 Electoral Act, the Nigerian Constitution, and the party’s guidelines.
The judge said Binani’s victory was in clear contravention of Section 85 of the Electoral Act because there was manifest over-voting.
“My findings are that there’s non-compliance to the Electoral Act, as well as party guidelines and the Constitution because there was manifest over-voting, which has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt,” the judge said.
“The first defendant (APC) cannot field a candidate for the 2023 general elections; the primary election is invalid, and the court, therefore, sees the return of Aishatu Ahmed Binani as unlawful. The plea for fresh elections is hereby refused.”
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.