Bauchi gov’ship: Court okays collation of result

A Federal High Court in Abuja has vacated its earlier order stopping the collation of results in the March 9 Bauchi State governorship election.

Justice Ekwo ruled that only the Elections Petitions Tribunal can attend to the issues raised by both APC and Governor Mohammed Abubakar.

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had filed an objection to the order of a Federal High Court in Abuja halting the collation and announcement of results of the governorship election held in Bauchi State on March 9.

In a counter affidavit, which was deposed to by one Hassan Adamu, a Higher Executive Officer in INEC’s Legal Services Department, the commission argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to dabble into a post-election matter such as the outcome of the Bauchi governorship election.

The deponent informed the court that the decision of INEC to conclude collation for the disputed Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area was made based on figures contained in the duplicates of results of the election.

INEC contended that the election petitions tribunal had the exclusive jurisdiction to review the decision of the commission in electoral matters.

The commission further stated that though it had declared the elections inconclusive, it “rescinded its decision based on facts that emerged later and made a return, any grievance arising therefrom now rest with the election petitions tribunal,” he said.

The court, presided by Justice Inyang Ekwo, had on Tuesday granted an ex parte injunction restraining INEC from resuming, concluding and announcing the governorship election result pending the determination of the issues raised by the APC and Governor Mohammed Abubakar.