The Sokoto State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has rejected the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Saidu Umar. The petition challenged the victory of the All Progressives Congress and its candidates, Ahmad Aliyu and his Deputy Idris Gobir, in the state’s governorship election held on March 18.

Umar contested the election of Governor Aliyu and Gobir on the grounds of alleged non-qualification and electoral fraud. 

However, the Tribunal Chairman, Justice Haruna Mshelia, stated in a unanimous judgement that the petitioners failed to substantiate the six grounds outlined in their petition.

These grounds included allegations of ineligibility to contest, falsification of certificates, variation of names, election fraud, and non-compliance with electoral guidelines. 

Justice Mshelia noted that the petitioners could not provide sufficient proof for these allegations as required by law.

He further explained that a significant portion of the exhibits presented were irrelevant as they pertained to state assembly elections conducted on the same date. 

The tribunal also found issues with the evidence provided to support allegations of forgery and ‘variation of names’.

The testimonies of three subpoenaed witnesses were deemed inadmissible as they were not the creators of the documents from the alleged primary school. Other witnesses who testified about 28 polling units could not adequately identify themselves or their roles.

Justice Mshelia concluded that the alleged frauds in 138 polling units were not demonstrated to indicate substantial non-compliance with the Election Act that could affect the election outcome.