The Court of Appeal will rule on the appeal filed by Adamawa State Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Aishatu Ahmed (Binani), today, December 18.
Binani is in court challenging the win of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) nominee in the 2014 governorship election, Ahmadu Fintiri, who has since served as the state governor.
According to several sources in Adamawa on Sunday, the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which had previously heard the matter and reserved decision, will issue the awaited ruling on Monday.
Binani petitioned the Court of Appeal shortly after the Adamawa State Governorship Electoral Petitions Tribunal denied his petition in October 2023.
Binani has petitioned the tribunal to overturn the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) pronouncement of Governor Fintiri as the elected governor of Adamawa State.
Binani petitioned the tribunal to overturn the governorship election held by INEC on March 18, 2023, citing noncompliance with the Nigerian Electoral Act. She listed INEC, Fintiri, and the PDP as the first, second, and third respondents, respectively.
However, the tribunal dismissed Binani’s petition and upheld Fintiri’s victory, prompting Binani to file an appeal with the appellate court.
As the Court of Appeal’s ruling is awaited on Monday, followers of the two main players – Fintiri and Binani – are tense.
While Fintiri has the tremendous support of an incumbent governor, Binani, who did remarkably well in the March 2023 election, receiving 398,788 votes to Fintiri’s 430,861, is also quite popular.
Binani has lost many people’s respect by accepting, or perhaps organizing, an unlawful announcement of herself as governor-elect while collation was still ongoing after the March 2023 election, but she still has a large following throughout the state.