The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Gombe, Gombe State on Wednesday night dismissed the petition filed by the All Progressive Party (APC) Governorship candidate in the April 11, 2015 election, Alhaji Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya, against incumbent Governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for lacking in merit.
In an over four-hour ruling that lasted into the night, Chairman of the panel, Justice Mohammed Sirajo upheld the election of Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo as Governor, resulting in a wild celebration by PDP supporters for most part of Wednesday night in Gombe, the Gombe State capital.
As stated by the Tribunal Chairman, the petitioner and defeated candidate of the APC, Alhaji Mohammed Inuwa Yahaya, failed to establish the authenticity of all the electoral malpractices allegations in the petition.
The tibunal noted that evidence provided by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja on the number of voters accredited by card readers used during the Governorship election showed that 550,000 voters were accredited and less this number voted which means there was no over voting.
The tribunal therefore terminated as well as rendered allegation of over-voting, and giving Dankwambo illegal votes, null and void. The judgment also frowned and described the claim of cancellation of figures and mutilation of some results slips which the petitioner failed to lead evidence through his party’s agent as abuse of court process even as the petitioner sustained it as one of his critical points of complain.
The tribunal stated that none of the agents was summoned to testify on the controversy over issue of over voting by PDP as well as result slip which they refused to sign.
It said the petitioner, instead, relied on what the Tribunal described as 'hear-say evidence' which amounted to nothing in law. The tribunal Chairman said, testimonies of 19 prosecution witnesses summoned by the petitioner were full of inconsistencies and failed to flow adding that the contradiction was noticed during cross examination by lawyers of the respondents.