The Supreme Court, on Wednesday, upheld the election of Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State.
The apex court, in a unanimous decision delivered by a five-member panel, dismissed as lacking in merit an appeal the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its candidate, Senator Aisha Dahiru, popularly known as Binani, filed to challenge the outcome of the governorship election that was held in the state on March 18, 2023.
Counsel to the APC and Binani, Chief Akinolu Olujimi, SAN, prayed the court to nullify the declaration of Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the valid winner of the gubernatorial contest.
They urged the Supreme Court to set aside the concurrent verdict of the Court of Appeal and the Adamawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which dismissed their case and upheld Fintiri’s re-election.
Specifically, Senator Dahiru reiterated that she scored majority of valid votes cast at the election and was validly declared the winner by the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC.
She, among other things, prayed the court to determine who ought to be the bona fide Returning Officer in a gubernatorial election.
However, Fintiri, through his lawyer, Mr Damian Dodo, SAN, urged the apex court to dismiss the appeal and validate his election victory.
Fintiri argued that he emerged victorious, having secured the majority of lawful votes and fulfilled all the requirements of the law.
Both the PDP and INEC, prayed the court to dismiss the appeal and affirm Fintiri’s victory at the polls.
Delivering judgement in the matter, the apex court panel, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, held that the action of the suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, who declared Senator Dahiru as the winner of the poll, was an act of irresponsibility and criminality.
The court held that only a Returning Officer has the duty to announce the results of an election to avert chaos and anarchy in the process.
According to the Supreme Court, the Electoral Act, 2022, specified who should declare results, stressing that such power was exclusively donated to the Returning Officer.
Consequently, it resolved all the issues that were raised in the appeal against the appellants.
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