Court nullifies Binani’s election as Adamawa APC guber candidate

A federal high court in Yola has nullified the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary that produced Aishatu Binani as the party’s governorship candidate for Adamawa state.

 

In a judgement delivered on Friday, the court also declared that there will be no candidate for the APC in the state for the 2023 elections.

 

Binani, the senator representing Adamawa central, defeated Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Jibrilla Bindow, former governor of the state, to win the primary held on May 26.

 

She was the only female in the contest for the governorship ticket of the party.

 

Binani polled 430 votes to beat Bindow who had 103 votes and Ribadu, who secured 288 votes.

 

Aggrieved, Ribadu instituted a suit marked FHC/YL/CS/12/2022.

 

In the judgment, Abdulaziz Anka, the presiding judge, nullified the entire primary election.

 

He held that the process was not compliant with the 2022 Electoral Act, the Nigerian constitution, and the party guidelines.

 

The judge said Binani’s victory was in clear contravention of Section 85 of the Electoral Act because there was “manifest overvoting”.

 

“My findings are that there’s non-compliance to the Electoral Act, as well as party guidelines and the constitution because there was manifest overvoting, which has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt,” the judge said.

 

“The first defendant (APC) cannot field a candidate for the 2023 general elections; the primary election is invalid, and the court, therefore, sees the return of Aishatu Ahmed Binani as unlawful. The plea for fresh elections is hereby refused.”