The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the judgment of the Adamawa State governorship election petition tribunal declaring Ahmadu Fintiri of the All Progressives Congress as the Validly elected governor of Adamawa State.
The court ruling on the preliminary objection filed by the respondents held that:
**The appellant brief is invalid due to the incompletion
**There shall be no room for speculation, as all processes necessary must be transmitted to the court of appeal.
**The Processes of the per-hearing not transmitted to the court renders the process incomplete.
**The record of appeal is incomplete and can not be accepted.
On the substantive appeal, the court held that:
**The premature application for issuance of pre-hearing notice rendered the petition incompetent.
**The appellate failed to call actual participants of the election, the evidence of PW 1,2,3 are hearsay.
**Noncompliance must be alleged within the provision of the Electoral Act.
**The petitioner did not prove its petition at the lower court.
The Appeal lacks merit
The sum of N 500,000 is awarded in favour of Ahmadu Fintiri and the PDP.
The Court also held that ‘No person outside the returning officer has the power to declare the results of an election’.
