By Abdallah el-Kurebe
ASHENEWS reports that the Sokoto state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and its governorship candidate, Saidu Umar, on Saturday, filed a petition before the state election tribunal.
ASHENEWS recalls that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Monday, March 20, 2023, declared the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto as the winner of the election held on March 18 with 453,661 votes against Umar who polled 404,632 votes.
In the petition No: EPT/SK/GOV/01/2023, obtained by ASHNEWS on Sunday, the APC governorship candidate, Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto; deputy governorship candidate, Mohammed Gobir Idris; the APC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) are Respondents.
Filed on behalf of Saidu Umar and the PDP, by the lead counsel, Sunday Ibrahim Ameh, SAN, and Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, SAN; Dr. Garba Tetengi, SAN; Aare Olumuyiwa Akinboro, SAN; Paul Harris Ogbole, SAN; and Usman Ogwu Sule, SAN, the petition is to challenge the declaration and return of Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto, and Mohammed Gobir Idris as the elected governor and deputy governor of Sokoto state.
According to the petition, at the time of the March 18 governorship election, Aliyu and Idris were not qualified to contest the election, did not score the majority of the lawful votes cast in the said election, and the election did not comply with mandatory requirements of the Electoral Act 2022.
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In Ground 1 of the Petition, Umar and the PDP outlined that: (i) The 1st and 2nd Respondents were, at the time of the election not qualified to contest the election; (ii) The election of the 1st Respondent was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, and (iii) The 1st Respondent was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast at the election.
According to the Petitioners in Gound 2 of the petition, Umar and the PDP stated that “in the conduct of the Governorship Election of Sokoto State held on the 18th day of March 2023 there was substantial non-compliance with the mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022 and INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the election.”
In Gound 3 of the petition, Umar and the PDP said, at trial, they would “contend that a substantial part of the votes allocated to the 1st-3rd Respondents in the Form EC8E in favour of the 3rd Respondent and for the benefit of the 1st Respondent are unlawful votes recorded as if they were valid votes in specific polling units/wards/Local Government Areas that shall be demonstrated subsequently in this Petition.”
Saidu Umar and the PDP sought the following reliefs: A DECLARATION that at the time of the Governorship election held in Sokoto State on 18th March 2023, the 1st Respondent was not qualified to contest the election; A DECLARATION that at the time of the Governorship election held in Sokoto State on 18th March 2023, the 2nd Respondent was not qualified to contest the election; A DECLARATION of the Honourable Tribunal that the 1st Respondent was disqualified from contesting the Governorship election held in Sokoto State on 18th March 2023 by virtue of his presenting forged certificates to the 4th Respondent.
Others are A DECLARATION of the Honourable Tribunal that the 2nd Respondent was disqualified from contesting the Governorship election held in Sokoto State on 18th March 2023 by virtue of his presenting forged certificates to the 4th Respondent; A DECLARATION of the Tribunal that by virtue of the non-qualification of the 1st and 2nd Respondents to contest the Governorship election held in Sokoto State on 18th March 2023 the votes wrongfully attributed to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Respondents in the said election are unlawful/wasted votes, null and void; and A DECLARATION that the Petitioners scored the majority of lawful votes cast in the Governorship election held in Sokoto State on 18th March 2023.
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The petitioners also seek AN ORDER nullifying the declaration and return of the 1st Respondent as the duly elected Governor of Sokoto State and mandating the 4th Respondent to withdraw the Certificate of Return wrongly issued to the 1st and 2nd Respondents, and AN ORDER mandating the 4th Respondent to issue a new Certificate of Return to the 1st Petitioner as the duly elected Governor of Sokoto State having scored the majority of the lawful votes cast in the Governorship election held in Sokoto State on 18th March 2023.
In the alternative, they seek AN ORDER nullifying the Governorship election held in Sokoto State on 18th March 2023 for substantial non-compliance with relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022, and the Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of the election, and AN ORDER directing the 4th Respondent to conduct a fresh Governorship election in Sokoto State.
As a further alternative, they seek A DECLARATION that the election for the office of Governor conducted in Sokoto State on 18th March 2023 is inconclusive; AN ORDER of the Honourable Tribunal directing the 4th Respondent to conduct a supplementary election in all the polling units where the election was canceled during the Governorship election held in Sokoto State on 18th March 2023, and AN ORDER of this Honourable Court that in view of the non-qualification of the 1st & 2nd Respondents to contest the Governorship election in Sokoto State held on 18th March 2018, the 1st & 2nd Respondents be excluded from the supplementary election.
ASHENEWS further reports that no date has been fixed for the mention of the case.
