The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Adamawa State, Aisha Dahiru, popularly called Binani, on Wednesday, withdrew her suit seeking a judicial review of the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission to reverse her declaration as the poll winner.
Recall that controversy ensued when the Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, in the early hours of April 16, sneaked into the state governorship collation centre to declare Binani the winner of the governorship poll after the supplementary poll held in the state on April 15.
But on April 19, the INEC Returning Officer for the election in the state, Muhammed Melee, declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party and incumbent governor, Ahmadu Fintiri, the winner of the governorship election.
Binani and the APC, in the motion ex parte marked FHC/ABJ/CS/510/2023, had asked the court to review the decision of INEC to nullify her declaration as the winner.
Joined as respondents in the suit were INEC, the PDP and Fintiri.
At the Wednesday proceedings, Binani’s counsel, Mohammed Sheriff, told Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja that a notice of discontinuance had been filed, urging the court to strike out the case.
Justice Ekwo reminded Sheriff that an order was given on the last adjourned date directing him to address the court on whether the court had the jurisdiction to entertain the case or not.
The lawyer, who informed the court that a lot of issues had come up between the last date of adjournment and Wednesday, prayed for an order striking out the suit.
The judge, however, held that since Sheriff had failed to go by the order of the court, the appropriate thing to do was to dismiss the matter.
“I hereby make an order dismissing this suit,” Justice Ekwo held.
Meanwhile, PDP protesters, on Wednesday morning, stormed the office of the Department of State Services in Yola, demanding the release of three party members.
The PDP chairman in the state, Tahir Shehu, who led the protest, alleged that the detainees, identified as Yusuf Mohammed, Zira John and Solomon Abafras, had been in DSS custody for seven days.
He argued that the PDP members were being detained beyond the 48 hours allowed by the constitution for security agencies to detain a suspect before taking them to court.
Shehu explained that the PDP members were arrested in the wake of the crisis that erupted following the controversial declaration by the REC.
The party submitted a letter of complaint to DSS, demanding the release of the detainees.
