Senator Binani of the All Progressive Congress seeks an order to prevent the electoral umpire from declaring election results until her application for judicial review is determined. The PDP and its governorship candidate, Ahmadu Fintiri, are defendants in the lawsuit filed with the Commission.
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The case which was filled at the Federal High Court in Abuja declined hearing Senator Aisha Binani Dahiru’s request to prevent Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) from invalidating her governorship election win in Adamawa State. She had requested judicial review of INEC’s administrative decision on April 16th regarding the election held on March 18th and supplementary elections on April 15th.
The leave application for judicial review was filed on April 17, 2023 ex parte. The application was made under various court rules and constitutional provisions, including the Federal High Court (civil procedure rules) 2019 and the Electoral Act, 2022. The senator argued that only the Election Petition Tribunal has the power to make a declaration about election conduct.
She criticized the cancellation of her declaration, blaming the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor Ahmadu Fintiri for the crisis that happened during the election. She believed that INEC had no authority to nullify the declaration and accused them of overstepping the Election Petition Tribunal’s jurisdiction.
Justice Ekwo instructed Benani’s lawyer to address the issue of jurisdiction before proceeding. Benani has two days to file her statement on whether the court has jurisdiction to hear the application.
