Appeal court affirms Bala Mohammed as Bauchi governor

The court of appeal in Abuja has affirmed Bala Mohammed as the winner of the March 18 governorship election in Bauchi state.

Sadique Abubakar, governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), had challenged the judgment of the petition tribunal which upheld Mohammed’s victory.

In a unanimous decision, the three-member panel ruled that Mohammed was validly elected.

In March, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mohammed as the winner of the Bauchi governorship election.

The Bauchi governor polled 525,280 votes to defeat Abubakar, former chief of air staff, who secured 432,272 votes.

The former chief of air staff approached the tribunal to challenge the outcome of the election.

In September, the tribunal dismissed the petition filed by Sadique and the APC.

The tribunal had ruled that the petitioners failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the alleged manipulation of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in the election.

THE VERDICT

The panel ruled that the appellants failed to mention the polling units where they alleged that forms and booklets for the election were not properly filed.

The panel held that the appellants failed to adduce any evidence to back their allegations.

The panel also said the appellants’ witnesses were unable to prove that they understood the forms used for the election.

The court ruled that the appellants failed to prove that there was massive non-compliance with electoral laws during the election.