Judgment in the Adamawa State Governorship legal battle between the All Progressives Congress, APC, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and their governorship candidates reserved since December 5 by the Court of Appeal in Abuja is now for delivery, today, December 18.
At the center of the disputed election conducted on March 18 is Senator Aisha Dahiru Binani of the APC and the incumbent Governor, Umaru Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP, who was declared winner of the poll by the Adamawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.
A judgment delivery notice sighted and confirmed to have been served on Binani and Fintiri’s legal teams indicated that the Court of Appeal would deliver the judgment by 12 noon.
The notice advised lawyers to the two political camps to take care of the notce and make themselves available for the judgment delivery as required by law.
Bukola Gaa, Personal Assistant on Media to the President of the Court of Appeal confirmed the decision of the appellate court to our correspondent, adding that necessary security arrangements and other measures to make the judgment delivery hitch-free have been put in place.
A three-member panel of justices of the court had on December 5 reserved judgment in the appeal after taking arguments for and against the election by the two parties involved.
While a former Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, and Minister of Justice, Akin Olujimi, SAN, who represented Binani and APC at the hearing appealed for setting aside of the judgment of the Tribunal which affirmed the election of Fintiri and the PDP, the respondents- the INEC, Fintiri and the PDP, through their various counsels, prayed the court to dismiss the appeal for being incompetent and lacking in merit.
The Adamawa State Governorship Electoral Petitions Tribunal had, in October, dismissed the petition filed by Binani seeking Fintiri’s sack from office.
Binani had approached the Tribunal with a petition seeking to quash Fintiri’s declaration as the winner of the election by INEC.
Binani, in her petition, which had INEC, Fintiri and the PDP as the first, second, and third respondents, respectively, asked the Adamawa State governorship election petition tribunal to annul the governorship election over non-compliance with the electoral act.
The Tribunal, in its judgment, delivered by Justice T. O. Uloho, dismissed the petition for lacking in merit and affirmed the victory of Fintiri, the declared winner of the March 18 governorship election.