The verdict for the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Kaduna was delivered via Zoom on Thursday. Uba Sani, the candidate of the Congress of all Progressives (APC), was upheld as the winner of the March 18 governorship election.

Isah Ashiru, the first runner-up of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), challenged Mr. Sani’s victory but the three-member panel, led by Victor Oviawe, concluded that the PDP and their candidate failed to prove that the election was rigged.

According to Channels Television, reporters who were granted access to the courtroom, the panel’s head judge dismissed the petition in a two-to-one split decision. The reason for the dismissal was that the pre-hearing notice was filed after the deadline, which resulted in it being deemed abandoned.

As reported by senior administration officials, the appeal made by the PDP and Mr. Ashiru was dismissed due to the pre-hearing notice being abandoned and filed too late.

This decision caused a severe setback to the entire petition. The court acknowledged that if the petition had not been dismissed due to a lack of merit, it would have ordered a supplementary election in 22 electoral units within a period of 90 days.

Sani polled 730,001 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Ashiru, who polled 719,196 votes.

Labor Party (LP) candidate Jonathan Asake came a distant third with 58,283 votes, while Suleiman Hunkuyi of the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) polled 21,405 votes.

While the LP and the NNPP accepted the election result, the PDP and its candidate rejected the results, claiming that the Independent National Electoral Commission declared the wrong candidate the winner.

The case of the PPD

The PDP and Ashiru alleged that there were massive irregularities and manipulation of results in favor of Sani in some local governments.

They insisted that Mr. Sani did not obtain the highest number of valid votes cast in the election and that he should not have been declared the winner of the election.

At the last court session on September 3, all parties submitted their final written submissions to the court, with the APC legal team led by former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bayo Ojo, arguing that The petitioners had in fact helped prove that their client won the free and fair election.

He noted in particular the admission of one of the petitioner’s witnesses, Bonett Gwazah, a senior systems analyst in the VR/ICT department of INEC in Kaduna State.

The PDP, however, argued that two contradictory election results emerged from INEC.

The legal team of the Oluwole Iyamu-led party, SAN, accused INEC of manipulating the election results in favor of Sani.

Uba Sani praises the verdict

In a statement, the governor’s spokesman, Mohammed Shehu, said Sani praised the ruling, describing it as a victory for democracy and a validation of the will of the people and, above all, the decree of God.

“On this historic day, I join the people of Kaduna State in celebrating this monumental victory of democracy,” the governor said.

The ruling’s outcome is not simply a win, but also a call to action. It invites us to uphold the commitments we made during our SUSTAIN campaign.

The judiciary’s strength is exemplified by this victory, and it’s a moment of personal pride for me as one of the first advocates of democratic governance in Nigeria.

The people of Kaduna State have our deepest gratitude. My Deputy Governor, Dr. Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, and I appreciate your prayers, support, and unwavering trust in our leadership. It has been the driving force behind our ability to deliver on our promises.