On Thursday, the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld Inuwa Yahaya’s election as the governor of Gombe State.
Yahaya defeated his nearest opponent, Jibrin Barde of the Peoples Democratic Party, who received 233,131 votes, to win the governorship race, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The PDP expressed dissatisfaction with the election results, claiming that Yahaya was not re-elected with a majority of valid ballots.
The party also alleged that multiple thumb printing and ballot box stuffing were carried out across various polling units in nine out of the 11 local government areas of the state to favour Yahaya.
However, the state governorship election petition tribunal denied the party’s and Barde’s claims.
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The three-member panel, led by Justice S.B. Belgore, dismissed the case on the grounds that it pertained to a pre-election topic.
The tribunal declared that the deputy governor met the minimum requirement to run in the election.
Not satisfied with the tribunal’s verdict, Barde and the PDP approached the appeal court.
Reading the lead judgment on Thursday, Justice T. N Orji-Abadua upheld the governor’s victory and dismissed the appeal by the PDP and its candidate, Barde.
Orji-Abadua said the issues in the appeal were resolved in the favour of the respondent.
“This appeal lacks merit. All the issues are resolved in favour of the respondent and against the appellant. No order as to cost. The judgment of the lower tribunal is hereby affirmed, ” she held.
