The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Adamawa governorship election, Aisha Dahiru, popularly known as “Binani” has taken legal action against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the cancellation of her declaration as Adamawa governor in the March 18 governorship election.
Binani’s lawyer, Michael Aondoaka, filed the new suit in a Federal High Court, in Abuja.
Binani has once again requested a judicial review of INEC’s decision to overturn her initial announcement as the election winner.
Aondoaka argued that it was the election petition tribunal’s role to determine the outcome for his client, according to the Electoral Act, 2022.
The lawyer argued that INEC’s decision would violate Section 285(6), which stipulates a 180-day limit for Binani’s petition, submitted on May 6, to be resolved.
Aondoaka informed the court that a similar suit had been filed before Justice Inyang Ekwo, who directed Binani to approach a tribunal with her complaint as it was election-related.
Aondoaka affirmed that an undertaking had been signed, indicating to the court that this current lawsuit was not without merit.
In this commitment, they expressed readiness to bear any costs if the court deemed the case frivolous. After hearing Aondoaka’s arguments, Justice Okorowo postponed the case for a ruling.
It should be recalled that Binani had previously withdrawn a similar suit on April 26 after Ahmadu Fintiri was declared the governorship election winner.
Binani’s counsel at that time, Mohammed Sheriff, requested the case be stricken from the record.
However, the judge dismissed the case as Sheriff did not address whether the court had jurisdiction over the case, as previously ordered.
