The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the victory of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 18 Gombe State governorship election.
The court dismissed an appeal filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the election results.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Governor Yahaya the winner of the election with 342,821 votes, while his main challenger, Muhammad Jibrin Barde of the PDP, received 233,131 votes.
However, Barde had approached the Gombe State Governorship Election Tribunal, alleging irregularities in the election process, including multiple thumb printing and ballot box stuffing in nine local government areas of the state. However, the tribunal dismissed Barde’s petition for lacking merit.
Barde then appealed to the Court of Appeal, but the appellate court upheld the tribunal’s decision.
“We have considered all the issues and have agreed that the appeal is void of merit,” the Appeal Court ruled.
