Sagir Koki of the New Nigeria Peoples Party defeated Muntari Ishaq Yakasai of the All Progressives Congress in the Kano Municipal House of Representatives election that was held on February 25, 2023, according to the National/State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal, which met in Kano on Thursday.
at its ruling, the three-judge panel presided over by Justice Flora Azinge found that the petitioner had failed to substantiate the claims of excessive voting and a lack of collation of results at 25 of the constituency’s polling places during the election.
The tribunal argued that the petitioner failed to establish his case for the alleged irregularities by offering insufficient and improbable witnesses.
In a similar vein, the tribunal determined that the petitioner’s witnesses were “second-hand and hearsay witnesses.”
“In their sworn testimony, the witnesses stated that they were not in the polling places where the alleged overvoting allegedly took place. They are not deserving of your trust.
“None of the witnesses introduced that direct experience-based evidence is not believable to be believed.
He additionally provided unrelated evidence to support the claims of anomalies, overvoting, and noncompliance with the Electoral Act of 2022.
The petitioner must submit both the voter registration and the BVAS machine in each polling place where the overvoting is alleged to have taken place before the tribunal will grant the reliefs requested by the petitioner against the respondents.
“The petitioner failed to meet his or her obligation to prove the respondents’ guilt.
We have no obligation to prevent Sagir Koki from being recognized by INEC as the victor of the Kano Municipal Federal House of Representatives Election held on February 25, 2023, or from being returned as the winner.
“N100,000 in costs are accordingly granted in favor of the Respondents against the Petitioner.
According to Justice Flora, “the petition is hereby dismissed for lack of proof.”
