A federal high court in Yola has sacked Aishatu Binani as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress for Adamawa state.
In a judgment delivered on Friday, Abdullahi Anka, the judge, held that primary election that produced Binani as governorship candidate did not comply with the dictates of the Electoral Act 2022.
The court declared that there will be no candidate for the APC in the state for the 2023 elections.
“My findings are that there’s non-compliance to the Electoral Act, as well as party guidelines and the constitution because there was manifest overvoting, which has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt,” the judge said.
“The first defendant (APC) cannot field a candidate for the 2023 general elections; the primary election is invalid, and the court, therefore, sees the return of Aishatu Ahmed Binani as unlawful. The plea for fresh elections is hereby refused.”
Binani, senator representing Adamawa central, defeated Nuhu Ribadu, former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and Jibrilla Bindow, former governor of the state, to win the primary election held on May 26.
Binani polled 430 votes to beat Bindow who had 103 votes and Ribadu, who secured 288 votes.
Ribadu filed a suit to challenge the outcome of the primary election, citing irregularities in the process.
The primary election was reportedly marred by malpractices — with cases of inducement and overvoting reported.
