Uba Sani, duly elected governor of Kaduna State, Supreme Court rules

The Supreme Court has upheld the judgments of the tribunal and the Court of Appeal, which affirmed Mr. Uba Sani as the duly elected Governor ofKaduna State in the March 2023 governorship election.

The ruling is coming after a five-member panel of the apex court, in aunanimous judgement on Friday, dismissing the appeal filed by Mr. Isah Ashiru, the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), that challenged the victory of Governor Sani in the gubernatorial election in Kaduna State.

In its ruling, the apex court dismissed PDP and Mr. Ashiru’s appeal, challenging the outcome of the governorship election for lacking merit.

Mr. Ashiru had alleged that Mr. Uba was not duly elected by a majority of valid votes cast in the election, adding that the election was invalid due to corrupt practices and non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.

Justice Tijjani Abubakar, who read the lead judgment, held that theappeal was unmeritorious, the appellants having failed to comply withthe provision of paragraphs 18(1) and (3) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022 in relation to the filing of a pre-hearing notice at the tribunal.

Persecondnews recalls that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Mr. Sani the winner of the March 18 governorship polls after he scored 730,001 to defeat Mr. Ashiru, who had 719,196 votes.