Adamawa APC rejects Fintiri’s tribunal victory, moves to appeal

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State has expressed its disagreement with the election tribunal’s decision to award Governor Ahmadu Fintiri victory over the party’s candidate, Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, also known as Aishatu Binani.

The Adamawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal decided in favour of Fintiri earlier on Saturday, determining that he was the lawfully elected governor of the state.

In a decision that lasted until 4:30 in the afternoon, the tribunal ruled that the APC and its candidate for governor, Binani, were unable to prove their case against Fintiri and that the resident electoral commissioner, Hudu Yunusa-Ari, who, at one point, in the course of announcing results, declared Binani winner, committed a criminal act.

The hearing for the decision lasted until 4:30 in the afternoon.

Idris Shuaibu, the state chairman of the APC, provided a response to the ruling by saying that the verdict came as a surprise to both him and the party.

“We have hope, as we have two more avenues after the tribunal to express our grievances and for the tribunal judgement to be overturned,” he said. “We have hope because we have two more avenues after the tribunal to express our grievances.”

According to Shuaibu, a lawyer who once served as the legal counsel for the party in the state, the APC will work closely with the national leadership to ask for the certified record of the verdict, analyse it, and then proceed with an appeal.

According to Shuaibu, “This judgement does not accurately reflect the mandate that was given by Adamawa voters.”

He thanked party members for their support and advised them to maintain their composure.

He stated that the Adamawa State chapter of the All People’s Congress (APC) was “determined to pursue all legal means to get our mandate.”