Tribunal gives verdict on petition seeking to sack Fintiri as Adamawa governor

The Adamawa state governorship election petition tribunal has dismissed the petition filed by the Action Alliance (AA) challenging the declaration of Ahmadu Fintiri as the winner of the April 16 governorship election.

The petitioner officially withdrew the petition, resulting in the dismissal of the case during a pre-hearing sitting in Yola, the Adamawa state capital, on Friday, July 14, Channels TV reported.

Legit.ng gathers that three petitions were filed against the declaration of Fintiri of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner.

The petitions were filed by the Action Alliance (AA) and its candidate, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its candidate, Dr Umar Ardo, as well as the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Senator Aishatu Binani Dahiru.

The case of Action Alliance was dismissed after the applicant and their counsel filed a notice of withdrawal.

The PDP and its candidate Fintiri also filed a motion asking the tribunal to dismiss the case brought by the APC and its candidate Binani.

In SDP's case, the attorney failed to produce witnesses. As a result, the hearing has been adjourned to July 21, 2023.

Adamawa 2023: How Governor Fintiri was declared winner

On April 18, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Governor Fintiri the winner of the drama-filled supplementary election in Adamawa state.

Fintiri polled 9,337 votes in the rerun to defeat Senator Binani of the APC, who scored 6,513 votes. Overall, Fintiri garnered 430,861 votes, defeating Binani, who received 398,738 votes.

However, during the collation of the supplementary election results, the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa Ari, prematurely declared Binani the winner, contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act.

The declaration caused controversy as it was made before results had been declared for all the local government areas. The REC's actions were quickly followed by an acceptance speech by the APC candidate.

In response to Binani's premature declaration, INEC declared it to be of no effect and suspended the collation of results of the supplementary election in Adamawa.

The electoral body criticised the REC for usurping the power of the Returning Officer.