The Sokoto State Election Petitions Tribunal has upheld the victory of Senator Aliyu Wamakko of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the duly elected lawmaker representing Sokoto North.
Manir Mohammed Dan’Iya of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had filed a petition challenging the victory of Senator Wamakko on the allegations of certificate forgery, non-qualification, and that the election did not comply substantially with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
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But in a unanimous judgment, a three-member panel of the tribunal led by Honourable Justice Josephine Oyefeso dismissed the petition for lacking in merit and inability of the petitioners to produce enough evidence to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Similarly, the tribunal dismissed the petition of the candidate of the PDP Abubakar Abdullahi against Bala Hassan Abubakar of the APC in the Sokoto South, Sokoto North Federal Constituency election.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Abubakar the winner of the National Assembly election, but the PDP candidate had challenged the victory alleging that the APC candidate forged his academic qualification and that the election did not comply with the provision of the Electoral Act.
The tribunal also upheld the election of PDP’s Abdulsamad Dasuki as the duly elected member representing Tambuwal/Kebbe Federal Constituency.
In a unanimous decision, the tribunal said the Petitioner – APC – and its candidate Bala Kokani failed to prove their case against the victory of Abdulsamad Dasuki.
The tribunal said the burden of proving of allegation of overvoting and non-compliance to the provision of the Electoral Act is the responsibility of the petitioners and they have failed to do so before the tribunal hence the petition has been dismissed for lacking merit.
