The court of Appeal Friday affirmed the election of Uba Sani as Governor of Kaduna State and set aside the judgment of the tribunal which had declared the election that produced Sani as governor inconclusive.
The appellate court voided the order for supplementary election while delivering judgment in two separate appeals by Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Isa Ashiru of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The three-member panel of the Court of Appeal voided the order of the Kaduna State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal for a supplementary election.
In voiding the decision of the lower tribunal, Justice Obietonbara Daniel-Kalio, who delivered the unanimous judgment, held that the evidence relied upon by the tribunal to declare the election inconclusive were manifestly bad, unreliable and ought not to have given any probative value.
While the three-member panel led by Justice Obietonbara Daniel-Kalio dismissed the appeal by Ashiru for lacking in merit, it held that that of Sani was meritorious and subsequently allowed it and granted the reliefs requested by the governor.
According to the judgment, the evidence the tribunal acted upon in ordering the conduct of supplementary polls in 22 polling units of four local government areas (LGAs) of the state where the exercise was deemed inconclusive was inadmissible.
Besides, the appellate court held that a key witness called by the PDP at the tribunal merely gave hearsay evidence because he was not present when the malpractices he alleged happened.