With an air of finality, the Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by Mr. Aminu Bande of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the victory of Gov. Nasir Idris of Kebbi State in the March 18 governorship election.
The panel of justices, presided over by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, unanimously determined that the appeal lacked merit and upheld the election of Mr. Nasir Idris as the governor of Kebbi State in their ruling on Friday.
“My conclusion is that this appeal lacks merit and it is dismissed,” Justice Abba-Aji, who read the lead judgment, said.
Other appeals in the matter were also equally dismissed.
Persecondnews reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the Kebbi state election inconclusive following cancellation and overvoting in some local government areas.
On April 15, the electoral commission conducted a supplementary election with Mr. Idris, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, scoring 409,225 votes, while his closest opponent, Mr. Bande of the PDP, polled 360,940 votes.
Not satisfied with the outcome of the election, Mr. Bande approached the tribunal.
He alleged that there was over-voting in some polling units and that Idris was not qualified to contest the election.
The tribunal deducted 1,735 votes from the APC, while over 900 votes were also subtracted from the PDP’s results.
The deduction, however, did not affect the election of Idris.
Displeased with the judgment, Mr. Bande approached the court of appeal, but the appellate court affirmed the governor’s election.
Bande, however, took the appeal further to the apex court.
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