The election of Uba Sani, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as governor of Kaduna State has been confirmed by the Court of Appeal located in Abuja. A three-member panel of the appellate court ruled on Friday that the tribunal erred when it ordered the holding of extra polls in 22 voting units across four local government areas (LGAs) because the results of the exercise were considered inconclusive based on information that was not admissible.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) called a witness during the tribunal hearing, but the court dismissed him, claiming that since he was not there when the alleged malpractices occurred, the testimony was only hearsay.
The appeal court further declared that hearsay was the source of the witness’s claims that ballots were withheld, ballot boxes were stuffed, and critical election papers were mutilated.
The PDP and Isa Ashiru had abandoned their petition because they had neglected to apply for the issuance of a pre-hearing information sheet following the close of pleadings, as mandated by paragraph 18(1) of the first schedule to the Electoral Act 2022. Accordingly, the court held that the tribunal was correct to dismiss the petition.
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