The Bauchi state Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has fixed Monday, October 7th for judgement in the petition filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate in the state, Muhammed Abdullahi Abubakar.
The APC and its governorship candidate are asking the tribunal to declare him winner of March 9, 2019 election which was concluded on 23 March 2019 during a supplementary election, having scored the highest lawful votes.
The petitioner also prayed the court, in the alternative, to nullify the election in 336 polling units in three local governments – Bauchi, Tafawa Balewa and Bogoro LGAs – against the incumbent governor Senator Bala Muhammed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The presiding Judge of the three-man panel, Justice Salihu Shuaibu, announced the judgement date shortly after listening to both parties’ submissions in the petition and adoption of their addresses. He later adjourned the sitting.
Earlier, the lead Counsel to petitioner, Mamman Mike Usman SAN, told the tribunal that based on the quality of evidences brought before the court which were not contradicted by the respondents throughout the proceedings, the court should declared M A Abubakar as the elected governor of Bauchi state.
Usman insisted that they have proved their case which bothered on issues of over voting, non-compliance with the Electoral Act 2010 as amended during the election, with several evidences competent enough that cannot be said to be abandoned or dumped by the court. He refers the tribunal to several paragraphs and pages of their final address.
On their parts, the respondents, Counsels to Governor Bala Muhammed, Chief Chris Uche SAN, and PDP, Ibrahim Isiyaku SAN, argued that the court should dismissed the petition for the failure of the petitioner to link the evidences with the petition.
They added that 28 witnesses were not enough to warrant the nullification of the 336 contending polling units.
The counsel to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Illo Sunusi SAN, urged the tribunal to determine whether the court can act on interpreted statement of witnesses because the witnesses presented their evidences in Hausa while their Counsel adopted interpreted statement.
He argued that the court should also determined whether the evidences presented at the tribunal have contravene non-compliance with the electoral act, urging the court to dismiss the petition for lack of merit and award cost to the petitioner for academic exercise.
There was heavy security presence at the tribunal today following tension and speculation of disruption of the court proceeding by supporters of the opposing parties.
Police and other security operatives has cordoned off the linking roads to the premises of the tribunal by mounting road blocks along the Ahmadu Bello Way in Bauchi to prevent miscreants and other hoodlums from getting entry into the court.
Supporters of both parties also swarmed the surrounding areas hanging around for the outcome of the court proceeding.
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