Relief as S’Court Dismisses Barde’s Appeal Against Election of Yahaya As Gombe Gov

Alex Enumah in Abuja

Relief came the way of Governor Muhammad Yahaya of Gombe State Friday, following the dismissal of the remaining appeal against his election.

A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, held that the appeal filed by Jibrin Barde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was incompetent and lacking in merit.

The panel had on Thursday dismissed the appeal by the African Democratic Party (ADC) and his candidate, Nafiu Bala, for lacking in merit.

At Thursday’s hearing, the apex court panel confronted the counsel to the ADC and Bala’s lawyer, Mr Herbert Nwoye, on the incompetence of his client’s case and the need not to waste the court’s time.

Nwoye subsequently applied to withdraw the appeal which was not opposed by the respondents and was accordingly dismissed.

The apex court, after dismissing Barde’s appeal, affirmed the concurrent judgments of the two lower courts that upheld the declaration of Yahaya as winner of the March 18 governorship election in Gombe State.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja had, in November 2023, affirmed the election of Yahaya as Governor of Gombe State.

The appellate court had affirmed Yahaya’s election shortly after it dismissed two separate appeals challenging his declaration as winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state.

Delivering the lead judgment in the appeal marked: CA/G/EP/GOV/GM/11/2023 and filed by the candidate of the PDP, Barde, the presiding Justice, Theresa Orji-Abadua, held that the appeal was without merit and subsequently dismissed it.

According to judgment, the petitioners at the lower tribunal, failed to prove their allegations of non-qualification, perjury and certificate forgery raised in the petition.

After dismissing the appeal, the panel subsequently affirmed the judgment of the trial tribunal which had upheld the declaration of Yahaya as governor.