THE Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal filed by the Action Democratic Congress (ADC) and its candidate, Nafiu Bala, against the victory of Gombe state Governor Muhammadu Yahaya at the 2023 general elections.
In a judgment passed on Thursday, January 18, by a five-member panel of the court’s justices led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the court described the appeal as frivolous.
“You can’t come to court with frivolous appeal. I think you should not waste our time,” the court ruled.
The appeal was, therefore, withdrawn by lawyers representing the ADC and the case was dismissed.
The court also disclosed that the ruling for the suit by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) against the governor would be delivered on Friday, January 19.
Candidate of the PDP in the Gombe governorship election, Jibrin Barde, claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did not comply with the Electoral Act (2022) in declaring Yahaya the poll winner.
He insisted that Yahaya was not re-elected by a majority of valid votes cast in the election and challenged the results at the State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
The tribunal dismissed Barde’s petition and struck it out for lack of merit.
Barde, however, challenged the ruling at the Appeal Court.
He alleged that there were cases of ballot box stuffing and thumb-printing of election materials in nine local government areas in the state, but the court again upheld Yahaya’s victory.
“All the issues are resolved in favour of the respondent and against the appellant. No order as to cost. The judgment of the lower tribunal is hereby affirmed,” the Appeal Court, led by Y.N. Orji-Agbadua, had ruled.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.