Kaduna Election Tribunal: I’m sure of victory, PDP’s Isah Ashiru says

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election in Kaduna State, Isah Ashiru, has assured his supporters and citizens of the state that his party, the PDP, will triumph at the governorship election tribunal sitting in Kaduna.

In a chat with PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday, Mr Ashiru said he was confident he would win at the tribunal when the judgement is delivered.

The PDP is challenging the declaration of Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the 18 March governorship election.

Mr Sani polled a total of 730,002 votes to defeat his closest rival, Mr Ashiru, who polled 719,196.

The Labour Party (LP) candidate, Jonathan Asake, came in a distant third with 58,283 votes, while the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) candidate, Suleiman Hunkuyi, scored 21,405 votes.

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“Thank you, Premium Times; it was quite an honour to speak with you again. Interestingly, I have never felt so confident about the election tribunal as now that we are waiting for the judgment. We have presented our case, and we are optimistic about the outcome.

“There is nothing hidden in what we are challenging; we are clear with all our presentations; our lawyers were on it, and they did what was necessary. There are no two ways about it. We are robbed of our winnings. Kaduna people are robbed.

“They voted for us, and we will get back their mandate and serve them better than they ever had. We are not expecting any contrary judgment other than winning at the tribunal. That is what we are hoping, and God’s willing, it shall be so.

“All I want to say is to thank the people of Kaduna for standing by us throughout the tribunal sitting. As we await the pronouncement of the judgment by the court.

” I enjoin the people to remain calm; we shall get back their stolen mandate.

PDP rejects results

The PDP and Mr Ashiru rejected the results of the election alleging that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the wrong person winner of the election.

READ ALSO: Ashiru defeats Yero, Sidi to clinch PDP governorship ticket in Kaduna

Mr Ashiru and the PDP alleged irregularities and electoral fraud during the election.

Tribunal sittings

At the last sitting of the court in Kaduna, on 3 September, all the parties presented their final written addresses before the tribunal, with APC’s Sani’s legal team led by a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Bayo Ojo, SAN, arguing that the petitioners had helped in proving he won the poll fair and square, pointing in particular to the admission of a star witness for the petitioner, Bonett Gwazah, a senior system analyst (SSA) in the VR/ICT Department of INEC in Kaduna State.

However, the PDP argued that two conflicting election results emerged from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the governorship election in the state.

The party’s lead counsel, Oluwole Iyamu, SAN, accused INEC of manipulating the result of the election in favour of Sani.