Appeal court sacks Bauchi speaker, orders rerun

The court of appeal in Abuja has nullified the election of Abubakar Suleiman, speaker of Bauchi state house of assembly.

Suleiman is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) representing Ningi central constituency of Ningi LGA of the state.

Suleiman was declared winner of the March 18 elections with 16,866 votes, while Khalid Abdulmalik-Ningi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) polled 15,065.

Abdulmalik-Ningi had challenged the outcome of the election at the governorship and state assembly election petition tribunal.

However, his petition was dismissed by the tribunal. He then went ahead to appeal the tribunal’s ruling at the appellate court.

Delivering judgement on Friday, a three-member panel of the court held that the election that produced Suleiman was full of irregularities and set aside the ruling of the tribunal.

The appeal court also ordered a rerun in 10 polling units in the constituency.

Reacting to the ruling in a statement by Abdul Burra, his spokesperson, Suleiman described it as a minor political setback.

“Following the Court of Appeal ruling in Abuja today that set aside the judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal that affirmed the election of Speaker of Bauchi State House of Assembly Rt. Hon. Abubakar Y. Suleiman, as a member representing Ningi Central ordered a rerun in ten polling units, the speaker urges his supporters and all people of the constituency to remain calm,” the statement reads.

“He said that although the judgment is unfavourable, as a Muslim he believes in all fates, thus he accepts the judgment in good faith.

“While describing the judgment as a minor political setback which is not new in his political career, the speaker said that he is ever ready for the rerun election to add to the almost two thousand votes margin he gave his opponent.

“Rt. Hon. Abubakar Y Suleiman states that the support and solidarity he has been enjoying in Ningi remain intact and no amount of effort to pull him down will succeed.”