Rumpus In Kaduna Over Conflicting Tribunal Verdicts On Gov’ship Election

There seems to be a disquiet in Kaduna State over Thursday’s judgement of the State’s Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.

The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the March 18 election, Isah Ashiru, has insisted that the governorship election remains inconclusive, saying that the claim by Governor Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that his election was affirmed by the Tribunal was misleading.

Ashiru stated this at press briefing on Friday following the judgement of the Tribunal which torched on the merit of the case

LEADERSHIP reports that the Tribunal upheld the preliminary objection by the APC and the candidate but went ahead in a split judgement of 2:1 to order a rerun in four local government areas of the State.

According to Ashiru, “Governor Uba Sani is claiming that his mandate was upheld by the tribunal. This is misleading and very unfortunate. It is unexpected of a leader of his calibre to claim such.The truth of the matter is that I have met with my legal team and we discussed extensively about the outcome of the tribunal judgment. We are going to recover our mandate. The tribunal has declared the election inconclusive in four local government areas where election did not take place.The tribunal has done its bit. We are going to address the grey areas raised at the Appeal court. So the good people of Kaduna should remain calm and law abiding because we are going to reclaim our mandate”.

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But, a press statement by the State Secretary of the APC, Yahaya Baba Pate, knocked Ashiru, saying the Tribunal has scuttled his long-time ambition of ruling Kaduna State in 2023 and beyond.

For the APC Secretary, “The attention of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Kaduna State Chapter has been drawn to a statement with the heading: ‘Tribunal Nullifies Uba Sani’s Election’ issued by Hon. Isa Mohammed Ashiru, the Kaduna State gubernatorial Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections.

“Ordinarily, we wouldn’t have responded to his position because the ruling of the tribunal scuttled his long-time ambition of ruling Kaduna State in 2023 and beyond. For the sake of the unsuspecting populace and the many contradictions that laced his statement, we deem it necessary to set the record straight.

“In a statement issued on Thursday after the judgment of the tribunal affirming the election of His Excellency, Governor Uba Sani, Hon Ashiru mischievously informed his followers that the tribunal nullified His Excellency’s election. Ashiru stated that: “On the preliminary objection, the tribunal, based on the majority of 2:1 judges upheld the preliminary objection of the respondent to the effect that the application for pre-hearing was done prematurely i.e. before the service of the last set of petitioners’ reply to the 2nd respondent’s reply to the petition was served.

“This is an open admittance of the fact the tribunal agreed with the lawyers of the respondents and threw out his case, thereby exposing the duplicity in his claim that his petition succeeded. In an open concession to the legal mishap that befell him, he stated that he would pursue an appeal process. We wonder how a victor in a legal battle will suddenly run to announce his willingness to pursue an appeal. Hear him; “I want to again thank the people of the state while urging them all to remain abiding while we pursue the appeal process.”

“Rather than restrategising and working hard to convince the superior courts to set aside the extant ruling, he resorted to counting his chicks before the eggs are hatched. It is clear to us that the Kaduna electorate were right in rejecting the candidacy of Hon. Isah Ashiru. A man who speaks from both sides of his mouth, lacks knowledge of legal processes and is given to creating confusion, cannot be saddled with the responsibility of leading a complex and diverse state like Kaduna. No wonder the good people of Kaduna State settled for the urbane, resourceful, experienced and pro-people Senator Uba Sani as Governor.

“It is on record that Hon. Isah Ashiru Mohammed hinged his campaigns on many busted falsehoods. In one of those unfounded stories, he claimed that as an erstwhile lawmaker, he built a Police College in Kudan LGA. Inquisitive minds went to verify his claim, and they discovered that it was a Skill Acquisition Centre that was uninhabitable. That also applied to the misinformation he churned out about building Police Stations in his federal constituency.

“The APC wishes to call on the PDP gubernatorial candidate to refrain from spreading misleading information about the court judgment and join hands with the elected Governor of Kaduna State,Senator Uba Sani to move our dear State forward.”