Election Tribunal Dismisses Case against Kwankwaso

The state and National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Kano has dismissed the petition filed by Alhaji Bashir Garba Lado, challenging the victory of the immediate past governor of the state, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, in the race for Kano Central senatorial district. Dismissing the petition in Kano yesterday, the presiding judge, Justice Cornelius Akintayo, said the petitioner failed to establish a prima facie evidence against the respondent hence the decision to dismiss the case for lack of merit. The judge held that the respondent was eminently qualified to contest for the seat of the Kano Central senatorial district. He added that petitioner’s petition challenging the substitution of the name of Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, the man who had initially purchased the nomination form, with that of Kwankwaso was untenable and lacked merit. Akintayo however, stated that the tribunal had found no incontrovertible evidence to declare the election null and void, saying it considered the outcome of the Kano Central senatorial district election credible in the absence of any admissible evidence to prove otherwise. Counsel to the petitioner and the respondents had unanimously concurred that the verdict of the tribunal was sound and credible and said his client would be fully consulted on the next line of action. The tribunal’s verdict was however greeted by considerable euphoria and jubilation by Kwankwaso’s die-hard supporters who had seen the futility in challenging the outcome of the election they considered as free, fair and credible. According to an APC chieftain in the state who craved for anonymity, the petitioner had only wasted his energy and resources in chasing a wild goose which could not deliver the golden eggs that were expected. He said the petitioner was only myopic in his political calculation given the landslide victory recorded by the immediate past governor, stressing that the petitioner was a victim of the new revolution in Nigeria’s politics. But in the words of one of the staunch supporters of the petitioner, Malam Garba Maidoya, the petitioner had proven his mettle as a politician worth his onion considering the courage he had summoned in taking his case to the tribunal, challenging the outcome of the election. While describing the petitioner as a gallant fighter, Maidoya also called on him to remain dogged in the pursuit of his political interest in future, affirming that his chances are still bright in the present political dispensation. This Day