The petition filed by Alhaji Ahmad Maccido challenging the election of Senator Aliyu Wamakko of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was on Friday dismissed by the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Sokoto State.
The tribunal also dismissed the petition filed by Aminu Shagari of PDP challenging the election of Abubakar Yabo of APC for lacking in merit.
Shagari, son of former Preseident Shehu Shagari and immediate past house member contested the 2019 election for Yabo/Shagari Federal Constituency on the platform of the PDP.
Maccido contested the 2019 senatorial election on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Sokoto Central District and was defeated by Wamakko.
He approached the tribunal challenging the declaration of APC’s Wamakko as the winner.
The PDP candidate told the court that the election was marred by irregularities and non-compliance with the electoral law.
However, in his judgment, Justice Peter Akhihiero, held that the petitioner was unable to discharge the burden of proof with satisfactory evidence.
Akhihiero held that the burden relies on the petitioner as the tribunal lacks powers to scrutinise documents which were not analyzed by the witnesses.
The judge also upheld the preliminary objections raised by Wamakko that the petition was filed outside the 21 days stipulated period.
Dr. Hassan Liman (SAN), represented Senator Wamakko while Mr. Ibrahim Abdullahi served as Maccido’s Counsel.
