Gombe guber tribunal strikes out petition against Gov Inuwa Yahaya

• ADC contested the declaration and return of Inuwa Yahaya, citing alleged discrepancies in the arrangement of names on the certificates of his deputy
• Dismissed ADC’s allegations of corrupt practices and vote-buying due to a lack of supporting evidence

The Gombe State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has dismissed the petition filed by the African Democratic Congress (ADC), challenging the election of Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya as governor and his deputy, Manassah Daniel Jatau.

ADC contested the declaration and return of Inuwa Yahaya, citing alleged discrepancies in the arrangement of names on the certificates of his deputy.

The tribunal ruled to strike out the case, considering it a pre-election matter, and emphasised that the Deputy Governor met the minimum certificate requirements to run for office.

Additionally, the tribunal dismissed ADC’s allegations of corrupt practices and vote-buying due to a lack of supporting evidence.

Other judgements are currently underway.

In another development, the Ebonyi State Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja will deliver its judgement on Wednesday, 27th September, 2023.

Tribunal Secretary, Henry Nwior confirmed this on Tuesday adding that the Tribunal will begin sitting at 9am.

The Tribunal is expected to rule on two petitions against the election of Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State.

The Independent National Election Commission(INEC) declared Gov Nwifuru as the winner of the election which jeld on Marc 18.

Nwifuru polled a total of 199,131 votes across the 13 Local Government Areas of the state to beat his closest rival, Dr. Chukwuma Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who scored 80,191 votes.

The electoral umpire also went ahead to issue Nwifuru a Certificate of Return as Governor-elect as he was sworn-in as Governor on May 29, 2023.

But Odii and his party PDP and the second runners-up, Bernard Odoh, and his party, All Progressive Grand Alliance(APGA) rejected the result and challenged it at the tribunal.

Odoh in his petition is seeking Nwifuru’s disqualification on the grounds of certificate forgery and ineligibility to stand for the election.

He urged the tribunal to disqualify Mr Nwifuru who was declared winner of the said election and also to nullify the said Certificate of return issued to him.