THE Adamawa State Governorship Election Tribunal on Saturday affirmed the election of Umaru Ahmadu Fintiri as duly elected Governor of the state in the March 2023 governorship election.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Theodora Obi Uloho said the petitioners failed to prove allegations of non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2022.
News Point Nigeria had reported that the Adamawa Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had fixed October 28, 2023, to deliver judgment on the suit challenging the election of Governor Fintiri.
After the Adamawa governorship election which dragged into a supplementary poll and some controversial moments. the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared incumbent Fintiri who sought reelection as the winner.
At the end of the drama-filled exercise which ended in April, Fintiri, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), polled 430,861 votes, defeating Aisha ‘Binani’ Dahiru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who got 398,738 votes.
Binani and some other contestants had approached the Tribunal seeking the nullification of the victory of Fintiri but the court on Saturday upheld the second term victory of the incumbent governor.
Earlier, the then Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, had courted controversy after the supplementary election on April 15, 2023, when he announced ‘Binani’ as the winner of the dramatic poll while the collation of results was ongoing.
The situation had prompted INEC to nullify Yunusa-Ari’s decision and suspended him while then President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a full investigation on the electoral commissioner and the security personnel that were around him when he made the declaration.
INEC had thereafter concluded the election and announced Fintiri as the authentic winner of the drama-filled poll.
Yunusa-Ari was later arrested and handed over to the police for prosecution.
