- Ribadu wants the court to disqualify Binani and declare him as the governorship candidate
A federal high court sitting in Yola, Adamawa State has adjourned the suit filed by the former chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), former presidential aspirant and governorship aspirant, Malam Nuhu Ribadu, challenging the credibility of the process that produced Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed a.k.a Binani as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Adamawa state to July 20, 2022.
Ribadu prays for the nullification of the primary election conducted on May 27, over what he alleged as votes buying, over-voting and delegates inducement infractions, in which Binani emerged victorious.
Ribadu wants the court to disqualify Binani and declare him as the governorship candidate of the APC in Adamawa state.
Ribadu sought for an order restraining APC from submitting Binani’s name to INEC as governorship candidate of APC on grounds that she had emerged from an invalid, unlawful exercise.
In his response to APC and Binani’s notice of preliminary objections, Ribadu, through his Counsel, Matthew Burkaa (SAN), urged the court to dismiss the notice of preliminary objections.
Ribadu further submitted that the commencement of the suit marked FHC/YL/CS/12/2022, was done in accordance with the rules of the court.
But in their separate replies to motion on notice filed by Ribadu, APC and Binani through their Counsels, Sule J. Abul and Sam Ologunorisa, filed notice of preliminary objections and counter affidavits.
While APC is challenging the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter, Binani in her preliminary objection argued that Ribadu’s suit was not properly constituted.
She described the suit as incompetent, contentious, rancorous and contains allegations of fraud commission of crime, and that it cannot be heard or determined by way of originating summons.
After Counsels’ submissions, the court adjourned the case to the 20th July, 2022 for a hearing in substantive suit and pending applications.
One would have thought that the aggrieved presidential aspirants and other gubernatorial candidates in other states would register their grievances before the law. However, it is said that Malam Nuhu Ribadu remains the lone candidate, at least in the north, that is said to have taken the conduct of the gubernatorial election to the court. He is not also joined by other aspirants of the party who could not make it to the poll.
Perhaps it was among the reasons that some individuals earlier urged Ribadu to withdraw the case.
The court case would not however in any way deter the political activities of Binani, who only but yesterday, introduced Hon. Titsi Ganama to her party executive and the Adamawa electorates as her running mate for a victory in the forthcoming governorship election.