The Adamawa State governorship candidate during the March 18 gubernatorial election, Aisha Dahiru, popularly known as “Binani,” has initiated legal proceedings against the Independent National Electoral Commission in response to the Commission’s decision to invalidate her claim to the governorship of the state.
According to NAN, Binani filed a new petition before Justice Donatus Okorowo of a Federal High Court in Abuja through her counsel, Michael Aondoaka, SAN.
She sued the INEC, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, as the first, second, and third respondents in the ex-parte motion with the case number FHC/ABJ/CS/935/2023.
Binani is seeking a judicial review of the electoral umpire’s decision to overturn Resident Electoral Commissioner Hudu Yunusa-Ari of Adamawa State’s initial pronouncement that Binani had won the election.
On Monday, Aondoaka moved the application on behalf of Binani, contending that Section 149 of the Electoral Act, 2022 gave the election petition tribunal the authority to decide the future of his client.
According to him, Binani would lose the 180-day window provided by Section 285(6), which she submitted with the tribunal on May 6, if INEC’s decision were to stand.
Although a similar complaint had previously been brought before Justice Inyang Ekwo, the sister court instructed Binani to contact a tribunal for her suit because it is an election-related subject.
As a result, he requested that the INEC’s action be reviewed.
He stated that an undertaking had been signed to demonstrate to the court that the current complaint was not frivolous and that they were willing to bear any costs if the court determined that the lawsuit was frivolous.
After hearing from Andoaka, Justice Okorowo adjourned the case for further consideration.