S’Court Affirms Election of Bala Mohammed as Bauchi Governor

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Mr Bala Mohammed as Governor of Bauchi State.

The apex court affirmed Mohammed’s election shortly after dismissing the appeal of former Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar (rtd) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for lacking in merit.

Abubakar had approached the apex court to challenge the concurrent judgments of the Bauchi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal which held that Mohammed was validly elected governor of Bauchi State.

However, the apex court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, resolved all issues raised by the appellants against him for lacking in merit and subsequently dismissed it.

“The appeal is hereby dismissed and the judgment of the lower court is affirmed,” the apex court held.

INEC had declared Mohammed and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winner of the Bauchi governorship election, having scored majority of the lawful votes cast at the poll.

While Mohammed polled 525,280 votes to emerge victorious, Abubakar on the other hand scored 432,272, to emerge second.

Dissatisfied, Abubakar and his party, the APC, which came second at the poll, proceeded to the Bauchi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the electoral umpire’s declaration.

But his petition was dismissed for lacking in merit, thereby prompting his appeal to the Court of Appeal, which also in its unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Chidiebere Nwaoma Uwa, held that the appellants failed to prove their allegations of non-compliance and other irregularities, upon which they had anchored their case.

In faulting the case of the appellant, the court held that the appellant did not call relevant officials of the electoral umpire, such as supervising and presiding officers to give evidence to prove that the said forms were not filled and why.  

Justice Uwa held that though there were blank spaces in some of the forms produced as evidence, it was not substantial enough to cancel the election, because the appellants failed to prove what should have been in those spaces. 

She said: “From the pleadings, the appellants failed to state the specific details which were to be in the alleged forms, that were not out put on the forms.”

The judge said the tribunal did a thorough job in evaluating the evidence and that “the evidence of the petitioners were unreliable”.

“This appeal is hereby dismissed as the appellants failed to prove their case,” Justice Uwa said.

Not satisfied, Abubakar and APC lodged their joint appeal at the apex court.