- Alhaji Bello Goronyo was the last among 32 witnesses lined up to prove the petition
- Party chairman told the tribunal that he was not aware of any court judgment on Gov. Aliyu and his deputy
On Tuesday, the Sokoto State Election Petition Tribunal accepted as evidence two letters pertaining to Deputy Governor Idris Gobir’s educational background and postponed its meeting until July 19.
After the People’s Democratic Party and the governorship candidate for 2023, Alhaji Sa’idu Umar, concluded their testimony to support their petition, the tribunal’s chairman, Justice Haruna Mshelia, delayed the case.
For the All Progressives Congress, Governor Ahmad Aliyu, and Gobir to present their case, Mshelia adjourned the meeting.
The exhibits accepted were submitted by Mr. Muyiwa Akinboro SAN, the PDP’s lead attorney, and Alhaji Sa’idu Umar, the party’s candidate for governor in 2023, from the Saboon Birni Local Government Education Authority.
Akinboro led the state party chairman, Alhaji Bello Goronyo, who was the last among 32 witnesses lined up to prove the petition at the Tribunal.
In his testimony, Goronyo said he delegated some party members as agents and received reports on election violence and associated frauds which were compiled and submitted to Independent National Electoral Commission and other relevant authorities.
He admitted that some persons were arrested for alleged violence and malpractices, however, could not attest to being prosecuted or not.
The party chairman told the tribunal that he was not aware of any court judgment on Gov. Aliyu and his deputy, Gobir’s eligibility to contest elections.
Akinboro also presented the Head of Operations of INEC in Sokoto, Abdulmumini Usman, who produced some election documents in evidence.
The lead Respondents’ Counsel, Chief Jecob Ochidi, SAN, and that of the APC, Hassan Liman SAN objected to the admissibility of documents and further cross-examined the witnesses.
INEC lead Counsel Mr AbdulAziz Sani, SAN also aligned himself with the submissions of the respondents’ counsel.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Umar and PDP approached the tribunal demanding the nullification of the March 18, 2023 election that produced Gov. Ahmad Aliyu of APC and his Deputy, Idris Gobir as winners.
In the petition, they alleged that the election was flawed and did not comply with electoral laws.
The petitioners argued that at the time of the election Respondents were not qualified to contest the election and prayed that by virtue of the non-qualification of the Respondents to contest the election, votes were wrongfully attributed to them.
They argued that the said election has become unlawful, null, and void.
They further prayed the tribunal to mandate INEC to issue a new certificate of return to the petitioner as the duly elected Governor of Sokoto State having scored the majority of the lawful votes cast or ordered for another election excluding the Respondents.