Tribunals decide  Ganduje, Tambuwa’s fate today

 

 

Anxiety in Kano and Sokoto states is palpable as election petitions tribunals will today deliver judgments in the cases challenging the election of Governors Abdullahi Umar Ganduje and Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, respectively.

Daily Trust reports that the apprehension in the two states is because of the complexities of the two cases, including the facts presented by contending parties.

The tribunal in Kano is expected to deliver judgment in the petition filed by Engineer Abba Kabir Yusuf and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the declaration of Ganduje as governor under the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).

The three-man tribunal led by Justice Halima S. Muhammad, had on September 18, reserved judgment, saying it would communicate the date for the delivery of judgement to the parties involved. In Sokoto, Ahmed Aliyu of the APC is challenging the declaration of Tambuwal of the PDP as governor.

The Sokoto tribunal is led by Justice Abbas Bawale. Both Yusuf in Kano and Aliyu in Sokoto had joined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in their petitions, alleging that the electoral umpire wrongly returned Ganduje and Tambuwal as winners.

While the case involving Ganduje and Yusuf would be delivered in Kano, that of Tambuwal and Aliyu was moved to Abuja because of what informed sources described as “security concerns.”

In Kano, our reporters observed the presence of security personnel at strategic places yesterday morning, but they later left the locations in the evening. When contacted, police spokesperson DSP Abdullahi Haruna, said the state command has set all necessary security arrangements in place to forestall any possible security breach during and after the judgment.

“Provision of security everywhere in Kano is not something new, and this one will not be an exception. We are ready,” he said.

Supporters of both PDP and APC, who spoke to Daily Trust expressed confidence that their candidates would have the day at the tribunal. A red cap bearer, Ibrahim Bala, told our reporter that members of the PDP, especially the Kwankwasiyya faithful, had resorted to fasting and prayers for the victory of their candidate, Yusuf.

“We are fasting and praying hard for Allah to help our candidate to emerge victorious at the tribunal,” Bala said.

Another PDP supporter, Abdurrazaq I. Salisu, confirmed that their members had embarked on fasting and prayers.

“We are praying to Almighty Allah to take Abba Kabir Yusuf to the seat of power; we all know that he won this election. We voted for him and the people of Kano voted for him but the election was declared inconclusive and thereafter someone else was declared winner,” he said. On his part, Ibrahim Chidi, an APC supporter said he was confident that the victory of Ganduje would be affirmed at the tribunal.

“As you can see, I am energetic and confident. I have no fear whatsoever. I am sure that since the governor was declared winner and sworn-in, nothing will change. So, we are grateful to God for the initial victory and we are hopeful about the judgment,” he said.

Another APC supporter, Inuwa Ismail Shadow said the petitioners should plan ahead of 2023 as he was confident that the judgment will be passed in favour of Ganduje. But Nazifi Usman Sharif advised that the people should prioritize peace ahead of any other thing.

“Whoever emerges victorious at the tribunal should be accepted by all in the interest of peace. We can’t afford any breakdown of law and order,” he said.

The PDP and Yusuf had in April filed a case at the tribunal on the grounds that they were not satisfied with the outcome of the supplementary election held on March 23, after which INEC declared Ganduje as the winner. PDP and Yusuf told the tribunal that the supplementary election was not necessary because they won the election at first ballot.

They also alleged that the supplementary election was marred by violence and their members were prevented from casting their votes, an allegation both APC and INEC said were baseless. The petitioners had presented 34 witnesses and 1,040 documents to support their claim before the tribunal which began hearing on the matter on May 6.

On its part, INEC which was the first respondent had called three witnesses, Ganduje who was the second respondent presented four witnesses, while APC which was the third respondent called only one witness, arguing that the petitioners did not present any case that would warrant calling many witnesses.

Both the ruling APC and the PDP in the state said they were also optimistic about victory in today’s judgment. PDP chairman Dr. Rabi’u Sulaiman Bichi said his party was expecting nothing but fairness.

“We have presented our facts to the panel and we expect nothing but justice.”

His counterpart in the APC, Alhaji Abdullahi Abbas, also expressed confidence that his party would emerge victorious.

“We will win at the tribunal as we won during the election. The evidence we tendered before the panel are enough to earn us victory.”

Sokoto politicians relocate to Abuja Like in Kano, there is anxiety in Sokoto even though all the contending parties have relocated to Abuja where the tribunal will read the verdict.

Some residents yesterday said they were awaiting the outcome of the tribunal with a great deal of apprehension because they were not certain of how the pendulum would swing. Since Monday when the news broke on the shift of the venue of judgment from Sokoto to Abuja, the atmosphere has been filled with apprehension especially when the change in the location where the judgment would be delivered was attributed to “security threat”.

While the PDP in the state expressed confidence in winning the case, the APC said it was hoping for a just and fair verdict. It would be recalled INEC had declared Governor Tambuwal winner of the gubernatorial polls in the state having scored 512,002 votes; while APC’s Aliyu got 511,660 votes.

Tambuwal won by 342 votes in the final outcome of the inconclusive and supplementary elections in the state. Not satisfied with the results, Aliyu dragged Tambuwal to the tribunal alleging irregularities and “substantial non-compliance with the laid down electoral laws and guidelines”.

-SaharaReporters