back to top

Supreme court affirms Bala Mohammed as Bauchi governor

THE Supreme Court has affirmed Governor Bala Mohammed of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as the March 18 governorship election winner in Bauchi state.    

While delivering the lead judgment on Friday, January 12, Justice Ibrahim Saulawa ruled that the appeal of the All Progressive Candidate and its candidate, Sadique Abubakar, lacked merit.

The judgment aligned with the Abuja Court of Appeal ruling, which passed that the APC and its candidate failed to prove the allegations of malpractices and non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022 against Mohammed and the PDP.    

The ICIR reported how the Appeal court held that the appellant did not specify the polling units implicated in the allegations and couldn’t correctly prove the deficiencies in the forms, adding that the appellant failed to demonstrate how the incorrectly filled forms impacted the election results.

The Appeal Court also stated that the witnesses presented by the appellant failed to establish their familiarity with the appearance of the forms and further praised the tribunal for diligently examining the evidence at hand.

Ruling on the issue of the alleged unprofessional conduct of INEC officials, the court aligned its judgment with the tribunal’s perspective, stating that the appellant didn’t initially raise it in the lower court and, therefore, couldn’t be pleaded or argued.

In March, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mohammed the winner of the Bauchi governorship election.

Mohammed polled 525,280 votes to defeat his closest rival, Sadique Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 432,272 votes.

The returning officer, Abdulkarim Mohammed, a professor at the Federal University, Dutse, declared the incumbent governor, Mohammed, the winner, “having fulfilled all the requirements of the law.” 




     

     

    The returning officer said the total number of registered voters stood at 2,749,268, while accredited voters numbered 1,058,381.

    Read Also:

    Dissatisfied with the poll’s outcomes, the APC candidate petitioned the Bauchi State Election Petitions Tribunal to declare Mohammed’s victory void.

    Meanwhile, on September 20, the tribunal dismissed the lawsuit filed by the opposition party and its candidate and affirmed Mohammed as the governor.

    Disappointed with the decision, Abubakar appealed the tribunal’s ruling at the Appeal Court.

    Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: [email protected]. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M

    Join the ICIR WhatsApp channel for in-depth reports on the economy, politics and governance, and investigative reports.

    Support the ICIR

    We invite you to support us to continue the work we do.

    Your support will strengthen journalism in Nigeria and help sustain our democracy.

    If you or someone you know has a lead, tip or personal experience about this report, our WhatsApp line is open and confidential for a conversation

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here


    Support the ICIR

    We need your support to produce excellent journalism at all times.

    -Advertisement-

    Recent

    - Advertisement