The Abuja Division Court of Appeal has removed the Deputy Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Jamil Umar Dahiru Barade, and ordered re election in several polling units.
This comes days after the Bauchi State House of Assembly Speaker Abubakar Suleiman’s election for the Ningi Central Constituency in Ningi Local Government Area of the state was declared null and void.
In a ruling handed down on Monday, November 28, a three-judge panel reversed the Bauchi State Assembly Election Petition Tribunal’s decision in favor of the election of Dahiru Balade, who was duly elected to represent Bauchi State Central Constituency.
As a result, the court ordered a re-election in several polling units in the constituency where Aliyu Abdullahi Ilera of the All Progressives Congress (APC) claimed over-voting.
The APC candidate in the same election filed a motion with the court challenging Dahiru’s declaration of victory, claiming that nine polling units had been overvoted, but the court dismissed the motion.
However, dissatisfied with this ruling, the APC candidate appealed, and the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Dahiru, ordering a re-election in several voting units.
The court further ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to retrieve the previously issued election certificates issued to the deputy chairpersons and conduct a re-election in the affected voting units before determining the final winner.
The court therefore ordered elections in several voting units in the constituency where APC’s Aliyu Ilera claimed overvoting.
Similarly, the Court of Appeal dismissed Yusuf Ahmed, also of the PDP, representing the Zungur/Galambi/Miri constituency, and ordered a re-election in several polling units.
