Tribunal Upholds APC’s Ado Doguwa’s Victory

The Kano Election Tribunal has affirmed that the former House of Representatives Majority Leader, Honourable Alhassan Ado Doguwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was the winner of the Doguwa/Tudunwada Federal Constituency, Kano.

The tribunal ruled that the petitioner, Salisu Yushau Abdullahi of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), lacked merit to challenge the victory.

Justice L.B. Owolabi delivered the judgement on Monday, stating that the petitioner failed to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The grounds relied upon by the petitioner, including alleged corrupt practices by Doguwa, non-compliance with electoral law, and failure to win lawful votes, were deemed baseless and insufficient to annul the election.

Regarding the allegation of violence during the election, the judge noted that the petitioner’s 21 witnesses testified to the absence of violence during the election.

As a result, the court unanimously agreed that the 32 witnesses called by the petitioner failed to provide compelling evidence to challenge the election.

Furthermore, the presiding judge questioned how all the witnesses arrived at their respective polling units at the same time and claimed to have witnessed over-voting without recognising their result sheets. This inconsistency led to the rejection of their evidence.

Justice Owolabi concluded by affirming the election of Alhassan Ado Doguwa, returning him as duly elected by a majority vote.