Dr. Umar Ardo, the candidate for governorship of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), launched an appeal before the Court of Appeal in Abuja on Friday, challenging the win of Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri as governor of Adamawa State. The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reserved judgment in the case and will issue it at a later date.
After listening to the arguments that were presented to the appellate court by Ardo, his deputy, Amos Yusuf, and the SDP, the court decided to postpone its decision until a date that would be announced to all of the parties involved in the case.
While Ardo, through his counsel, pleaded with the court to allow the appeal and nullify Fintiri’s election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Fintiri, Professor Kaletapwa Farauta, and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who are listed as the first to fourth respondents, urged the court to reject the appeal on the grounds that it lacked merit.
Ardo is appealing the decision of the Adamawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which rejected his petition to overturn Fintiri’s election as governor of Adamawa State. In his plea, Ardo sought to have Fintiri’s election declared invalid.
The petition was dismissed by the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice T. O. Uloho, who stated that it was incompetent, faulty, inconsistent, and not properly instituted, and that the petitioners were not certain with what it is that they seek. He continued by noting that the petition was dismissed because it was not properly instituted.
She announced that the petitioners had combined the grounds of corrupt activities and noncompliance with the Electoral Act, and that they had also neglected to file a written statement with the names of witnesses that they wanted to call as witnesses.
The election of Fintiri was upheld by the tribunal, and it also decided to give a total of N200,000 to INEC, Fintiri, Kaletapwa, and the PDP for their respective efforts.
Ardo went all the way up to the appellate court because he was unhappy with the verdict that had been handed down by the lower court. He asked the higher court to overturn the lower court’s decision and rule in his favor.
