Fintiri: Tension At Adamawa.
An uneasy calm has enveloped ADAMAWA state following the Supreme Court ruling that nullified the election of former Governor Ihiodeha of Imo state that declared Hope Ezodinma as the Governor.
Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of ADAMAWA state is equally having a similar case with former governor Muhammed JIBRILLA in the apex court and this informed the uneasy calm as people gather in groups to discuss and analyze the ADAMAWA case.
A resident who spoke to Vanguard on condition of anonymity stated that with what happened in the Supreme Court on the Imo State case, anything can happen as far as that of the state is concerned.
But, a Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs to Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, Barrister Sunday Wugira has expressed optimism that the Imo state issue will not in anyway rattle Adamawa State government,
In a phone chat with our reporter, Wugira who is a legal practitioner dismissed optimism by the All Progressives Congress APC in Adamawa State in the wake of the Imo ruling saying that the cases presented in the two states are completely opposite.
“The two cases are not even close to each other. So there is no cause for concern. Nobody is even worried.
” Those that are making noise are political jobbers who want to capitalize on the judgement to derive personal gains.
“The case that Hope Uzodinma brought was completely different from the one presented by the APC.
” Uzodinma has presented result sheets and witnesses to convince the court that votes belonging to him were excluded during counting during the governorship election.
“But APC in Adamawa complained that card readers were not used coupled with massive irregularities but yet cannot produce a single witness to prove their case,” he said.
The Adamawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Yola on October 11, 2019, dismissed the petition filed by All Progressives Congress challenging the election of Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Peoples Democratic Party.
The tribunal, headed by Justice Adediran Adebara, while giving its judgment on the petition on Friday, declared that the petition was dismissed because it lacked merit.
The tribunal chairman said the petitioner also failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
Adebara said the petitioner could not prove the case of over-voting and non-compliance with the Electoral Act as well as irregularities during the March 2019 re-run governorship election.
The judge averred that even the witnesses of the petitioner APC were inconsistent in their submissions prompting him to discard their submissions.
Similarly, the Appeal Court sitting in Yola on December 5, 2019, affirmed the earlier judgement by the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal upholding the victory of Adamawa state governor, Ahmad Umaru Fintiri.
The tribunal had earlier dismissed the motion filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the election of Fintiri on the grounds that the petitioner failed to prove allegations of electoral irregularities.
The court presided over by Justice Ali B. Gumel dismissed the appeal by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and affirmed Fintiri as duly elected governor.
The APC state organizing secretary, Ahmad Lawan, however, said the party would approach the Supreme Court for redress.
“We are waiting to receive the judgement for the next line of action. But we will definitely go to the Supreme Court to retrieve our mandate,” he said.
Bashir.
