The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Kaduna, yesterday upheld the election of Governor Patrick Yakowa as the duly elected governor of Kaduna State.
The tribunal Chairman, Justice Garba Ayuba Kwajafa, while ruling on the petition by? the candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC),Haruna Sa’eed Kajuru, held that the petitioner had failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt?
The tribunal also dismissed the evidence of the three expert witnesses called by the petitioners on the ground that they lacked basic knowledge in election matters.
According to it, the experts brought in by the petitioners busied themselves with vote counting, pointing out that only the tribunal has the right to order recount of votes declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The tribunal also said that a witness did not become an expert because he or his lawyer said so, but must based on his qualification, training and experience state the reason for his opinion.
Kwajafa therefore ordered the evidence tendered by the experts to be expunged from the records of the tribunal and described it as documentary hearsay.
After reviewing the submissions by all the parties, the tribunal said the petitioners were unable to prove that there was violence, ballot snatching and ballot stuffing, among others.
It noted that the petitioners had the responsibility to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the election did not comply significantly with the provisions of the law, before the respondents could be called to prove compliance.
While making reference to its earlier ruling in the course of the trial, the tribunal ruled that since the Peoples Democratic Party was not joined in the petition, all allegations concerning them should be expunged from the proceedings
Reacting to the judgment, Kajuru said the tribunal has been compromised and vowed to challenge its ruling.
He said, “We have seen what the tribunal has done and we know that they have compromised. We know that they have erred. We know that the judgement was well decided ahead of today and so you can see that the pattern of the presentation was very clear.
“Without delay, we will not allow this miscarriage of justice to continue unabated. We will continue to pursue the case.We will move on and insha Ahhahu, the victory will come back.”
He however urged his supporters to be law-abiding while promising that he would do everything within the law to reclaim their mandate.
?But Yakowa who addressed a mammoth crowd of party faithful at the Government Hous, attributed his victory to God and offered a hand of fellowship to the CPC l candidate and other members of the party.
He said, “I called on my brother and friend, Haruna Sa’eed, all his supporters in the CPC and other opposition parties to join hands with me so that we can build a virile state.
“What happened today is yet another confirmation of God’s divine mandate as demonstrated on the 28th April 2011 even as the victory is affirmed again.
“I urge you all to continue to live in peace, eschew bitterness and shun every form of violence. By the grace of God, we will deliver on our promised dividends of democracy that will further bring about peace, progress and development of the state.