Binani Drags INEC, PDP, Fintiri To Court Over Nullification Of Declaration As Adamawa Gov
LAGOS JULY 11TH (NEWSRANGERS)-The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Adamawa governorship election, Aisha Dahiru, popularly called Binani has filed a lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC declared null and void the purported declaration of Binani by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) as the winner of the state governorship election held on Saturday, March 18.
Binani, through her counsel, Michael Aondoaka, SAN, filed a fresh lawsuit before Justice Donatus Okorowo of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The lawsuit, an ex-parte motion with reference number FHC/ABJ/CS/935/2023, names INEC, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Governor Ahmadu Fintiri as the first, second, and third respondents, respectively.
Binani said she is seeking a judicial review of INEC’s decision to overturn her initial announcement as the winner of the election by the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hudu Yunusa-Ari.
During the motion hearing on Monday, Aondoaka argued that the election petition tribunal held the authority to determine Binani’s fate in accordance with Section 149 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
He argued that INEC’s decision would deprive Binani of the provisions of Section 285(6), which provides for a 180-day period for the resolution of her petition, which she filed with the tribunal on May 6.
Aondoaka informed the court that a similar suit had previously been filed before Justice Inyang Ekwo, who directed Binani to approach the tribunal because the matter was election-related.
He, therefore, sought a review of INEC’s action.
The lawyer also mentioned that an undertaking had been signed, demonstrating that the current lawsuit was not frivolous and that they were willing to bear any costs if the court found the case to be without merit.
Following Aondoaka’s submission, Justice Okorowo adjourned the case for ruling.
Binani had previously withdrawn the suit before Justice Ekwo on April 26, following Fintiri’s declaration as the winner of the governorship election.
Binani’s counsel, Mohammed Sheriff, had informed Justice Ekwo of the filed notice of discontinuance and requested that the case be dismissed.
However, Justice Ekwo reminded Sheriff of a previous order directing him to address the court on the issue of jurisdiction.
The judge decided to dismiss the suit because Sheriff failed to comply with the court order.
The Guardian Nigeria
Short URL: https://newsrangers.com/?p=111531
Posted by News Rangers
on Jul 11 2023. Filed under National.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
