Isah Ashiru, the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the recent Kaduna State governorship election, has expressed confidence in his party’s victory in the gubernatorial electoral tribunal that will take place in Kaduna. Speaking to Newslodge on Saturday, Ashiru assured his supporters and the citizens of the state that the PDP will triumph in court when the verdict is announced.

The PDP is challenging the declaration of Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the March 18 gubernatorial election. According to the official results, Sani won with a total of 730,002 votes, defeating his closest rival, Ashiru, who received 719,196 votes. The Labor Party’s (LP) candidate, Jonathan Asake, came in third with 58,283 votes, while the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) candidate, Suleiman Hunkuyi, polled 21,405 votes.

I want to express my gratitude to Premium Times for having another conversation with me. I feel more confident about the electoral court now than ever before as we await the verdict. We have presented our case transparently and we are optimistic about the outcome.

There is no hidden agenda behind our challenge; we have made our case clear and our lawyers have done everything necessary. The people of Kaduna have been robbed of their votes and we are fighting to protect their rights and bring justice to them.

We won the election fair and square, and we are determined to reclaim our mandate to serve the people of Kaduna better. We are confident of a favorable judgment from the court and we trust in God that it will be so.

I want to thank the people of Kaduna for their unwavering support throughout the legal proceedings. As we await the court’s verdict, we remain hopeful and optimistic that justice will prevail.

The PDP and its candidate, Mr Ashiru, have rejected the results of the gubernatorial election held in Kaduna state, alleging that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the wrong person the winner. Ashiru and his party have claimed that there were irregularities and electoral fraud during the elections.

At the last court session on September 3, all parties submitted their final written submissions. The APC’s legal team, led by a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bayo Ojo, SAN, argued that the petitioners had failed to prove their case, pointing in particular to the admission of a star witness of the petitioner, Bonett Gwazah, a senior systems analyst (SSA) in the VR/ICT Department of the INEC in Kaduna State.

However, the PDP argued that two contradictory election results emerged from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the gubernatorial election in the state. The PDP has urged its supporters to remain calm while they pursue legal means to recover the mandate they claim was stolen from them.

The senior lawyer of the party, Oluwole Iyamu, SAN, accused INEC of rigging the election in favor of Sani.