The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the election of Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governor of Kaduna State.
The appellate court, in a unanimous decision, overturned the decision of the Kaduna State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had ordered a supplementary election in 22 polling units across four local government areas.
The tribunal’s decision had been based on allegations of electoral malpractices, including vote deduction, ballot box stuffing, and mutilation of sensitive electoral materials. However, the appeal court found that these allegations were not supported by credible evidence.
In its judgment, the appeal court stated that the key witness presented by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the main opposition party, had provided hearsay evidence as he was not present when the alleged malpractices occurred.
The court further noted that the PDP and its candidate, Isa Ashiru, had abandoned their petition by failing to apply for the issuance of a pre-hearing information sheet, as mandated by the Electoral Act 2022.
