The National Assembly election petition tribunal in Sokoto has affirmed the election of Aminu Tambuwal, the former governor of the state, as the duly elected senator representing Sokoto South Senatorial District.
The three-man panel of the tribunal, led by Justice Denis Madi Echesi, rejected the petition by the All Progressive Congress (APC) and its candidate, Senator Ibrahim Danbaba, who contested the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate.
The Tribunal said the petitioner failed to prove its case convincingly and awarded a cost of 200,000 naira to Tambuwal and the PDP.
In response to the Tribunal’s judgment, Barrister Chris Kelechi, a member of the legal team representing the petitioner, Ibrahim Danbaba, said that they would thoroughly review the judgment before going for an appeal.
“The Tribunal has promised to hand over the copy of the judgment tomorrow, after which we will sit to check very well before going for appeal,” he said.
In his reaction, Suleiman Usman (SAN), representing Senator Tambuwal, applauded the judgment.
The Tribunal has given a lengthy judgment in which it evaluated the cases presented.
The tribunal’s ruling said that the evidence provided by the petitioners was not reliable and contained contradictions, including the messages that were submitted, some of which were not adequately demonstrated.
“They further said some of their evidence was contradictory and found the petitions unproven”
He said, the Tribunal therefore affirmed the election of Tambuwal as the duly elected senator for Sokoto South Senatorial District.
Kanyi Daily recalls that Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq had taken over from his Sokoto counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal as the new chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).