Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and his main challenger, Isah Mohammed Ashiru, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have disagreed on the judgment of the election petition tribunal.
In the judgement delivered via Zoom, yesterday, the three-member panel headed by Justice Victor Oviawie had ordered a rerun in 22 polling units in seven wards across four local government areas within 90 days from the date of judgment.
The affected local government areas were not mentioned during the judgment.
Ashiru with 719,196 votes had challenged the declaration of Sani who scored 730,002 votes by INEC as the duly elected governor.
Reacting to the judgment, Sani said the judgment was a clear affirmation of the popular mandate given to him by the people of Kaduna State.
Governor Sani, in a statement he personally issued shortly after the judgment, said, he was extremely delighted and humbled by the ruling of the tribunal affirming his victory.
“The judgement is an unequivocal affirmation of the popular mandate graciously given to me by the good people of Kaduna State. I commend the Tribunal for their thoroughness and lucidity. They have enriched our jurisprudence and practice of electoral democracy.
“I also commend my dear brother, Hon. Isah Ashiru Kudan for approaching the Tribunal to ventilate his grievances. This is a clear demonstration of his belief in the principles of democracy and the imperative of civility in the conduct of political actors.”
But Ashiru, in a statement also claimed the judgment was in his favor.
“First, I give glory to God Almighty for the progress made so far in our effort to reclaim the mandate given to us by the good people of Kaduna State. I also thank the people of the state for widely believing in me and the PDP.
“Also, given the ruling of the Kaduna state election tribunal, it has become necessary to share with our teeming supporters, the true position of the ruling.”
According to him, the tribunal by a split decision of 2:1 nullified the election of the governor, ordered that the Certificate of Return be retrieved, and fresh elections be conducted in some polling units in 4 LGAs and the outcome thereof be reckoned with before the declaration of the winner of the governorship election in Kaduna state.”