Kaduna Governorship Election Battle Shifts to Appeal Court with Governor Sani, Ashiru’s Cross-Appeals

Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani has launched a cross-appeal at the Court of Appeal in the state capital, seeking to overturn the contentious alternative ruling of the Governorship Election Tribunal, which mandated a supplementary election in the state.

Despite prevailing in the primary decision of the tribunal on September 28, Governor Sani, a candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), is challenging the alternative majority ruling that favored the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Isah Ashiru.

In his own appeal submitted to the court of appeal, Ashiru has presented 24 grounds to reverse the rejection of his petition and is also requesting the higher court to nullify Sani’s victory.

The cross-appeal was lodged by Governor Sani’s legal team, led by former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN).

Ojo asserted that the tribunal’s double majority decision, which dismissed Ashiru’s petition for non-compliance with electoral laws but subsequently issued an alternative ruling in favor of the petitioners, created confusion in the political arena. He listed 14 errors made by the tribunal in arriving at this second decision.

The five reliefs sought in the intermediate court include an order to set aside the majority decision of the Kaduna State Governorship Election Petition that ordered a supplementary election in 22 polling units. The governor is also seeking orders to dismiss the alternative reliefs of the petition for a supplementary election, strike out the petition for being statute-barred, and dismiss the petition for non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.

Governor Sani specified the sections of the tribunal’s judgment he is contesting, including those granting the alternative reliefs ordering a supplementary election and the dismissal of his objection to the petition’s competence due to being statute-barred and non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022.

In his grounds of appeal, Uba, through Ojo, argued that the trial judges erred in law by failing to rule on the cross-appellant’s Motion on Notice, relied on legally inadmissible documents, and erroneously placed reliance on Forms EC40G series, among other points of contention. The governor believes these errors have breached his right to a fair hearing and require the court’s intervention.