The Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal for Kogi State has again dismissed the petition of African Democratic Congress against Governor Yahaya Bello for lack of merit.
The tribunal Chairman, Justice Halima Muhammad, who gave the judgment in Abuja on Thursday, said the party acted on mere hearsay over the 2015 Kogi State governorship election.
Muhammud said the party did not bring the necessary documents to prove its case before the tribunal.
She also said the non-joinder of the All Progressives Congress in the petition was fatal to ADC’s case, adding that the plea by the petitioner did not stand on any ground.
Muhammad held: “The tribunal has gone through the length and breadth of the processes filed; the tribunal finds it absurd that the petitioner could not justify Section 138(1) of the Electoral Act.
“The party questioned the nomination and qualification of the respondent of which it could not substantiate or prove.”
The tribunal chairman also held that the only witness the ADC brought to testify in its case was not resident in Kogi State and did not witness what happened in during the election.
She held that the allegation by the ADC that Bello’s substitution to replace the late Abubakar Audu, one of the governorship candidates in the election, was an internal party issue.
According to her, the APC is the party that sponsored the respondent since there is no way a candidate will stand for election without belonging to a party.
She said Bello’s votes were in line with the Independent National Electoral Commission mandate to produce a winner after an election.
The ADC had challenged Bello’s qualification and alleged that the respondent did not poll the highest majority of the lawful votes cast during the November 21 and December 5, 2015 supplementary election.
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