The Court of Appeal will today give their verdict on the Sokoto State governorship election petition in Abuja.
The court will make a decision on the appeal that was filed against the judgment of the state election petitions tribunal, which confirmed Governor Ahmed Aliyu as the elected governor of Sokoto State.
Saidu Umar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had challenged the declaration of Aliyu as the rightful governor, citing irregularities and other issues.
The Appeal Court has announced that the judgment will be delivered at 3 pm on Monday.
“Take notice that APPEAL NO, CA/S/EP/GOV/SK/30/2023: SAIDU UMAR & ANR VS. ALIYU AHMED SOKOTO & 3. ORS is coming up before the Court of Appeal Headquarters Abuja Division for judgment on Monday, the 27th day of November 2023, at 3.00 pm,” the notice read.
The three-man Election’s Petitions Tribunal, led by Justice Haruna Msheila, unanimously dismissed the petition of the PDP on September 30. The tribunal stated that the petitioners were unable to provide sufficient evidence for the six grounds mentioned in the petition. These grounds included allegations of ineligibility for Aliyu and Gobir to run for office, certificate falsification, name variation, election fraud, and noncompliance with electoral guidelines.
Justice Msheila explained that the petitioners failed to prove these allegations beyond a reasonable doubt, as required by law. He pointed out that 70 percent of the exhibits presented were irrelevant because they pertained to State Assembly elections held on the same dates.
Furthermore, the judge stated that in order to prove forgery, two documents of individuals needed to be presented. He also mentioned that the Supreme Court had already addressed the issue of name variation.
