The Supreme Court upheld the election of Bala Mohammed of the People’s Democratic Party as the governor of Bauchi State in a unanimous judgment delivered on Monday.

The ruling dismissed the appeal brought by the All Progressives Congress and its governorship candidate, Muhammed Abubakar.

Justice Dattijo Mohammed, reading the lead judgment, highlighted the inadmissibility of the evidence presented by the appellants’ witnesses at the election tribunal.

The court noted that the witness’s statement was incompetent and held no value under the law.

The crucial point in the judgment was the court’s dismissal of the appeal due to the witness’s deposition being made in Hausa, with only an English translation provided without the original Hausa statement.

Mohammed emphasized that the witness failed to prove the alleged infractions, as the appellant did not call witnesses for 307 out of the 336 polling units where infractions were claimed.

He declared, “The court remains persistent; it would align itself with the current findings of the two lower courts, unless it is demonstrated by the appellants that these findings are perversed. The appellants have failed to demonstrate the perversity in the concurrent decision of the two lower courts. I find no merit in this appeal and hereby dismiss the same.”

The Court of Appeal, Jos Division, had previously dismissed the APC’s appeal on November 29. The Election Petition Tribunal in Bauchi had earlier, on October 7, 2019, affirmed the victory of Governor Mohammed.