Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State received a favorable outcome on Friday as the Supreme Court validated his election victory. In a unanimous decision, a five-member panel of the apex court dismissed an appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Mohammed Ashiru, challenging the results of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in the state. Justice Tijjani Abubakar, delivering the lead judgment, deemed the PDP’s petition as incompetent, concluding that no relief could be granted due to its ineffectiveness.

The Supreme Court, therefore, upheld the previous judgment of the Court of Appeal, which had dismissed the case for lacking merit. Justice Abubakar described the appeal as “frivolous, vexatious, and irritating” and accordingly dismissed it.

Governor Sani, representing the All Progressives Congress (APC), secured 730,001 votes, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), defeating PDP’s Ashiru, who polled 719,196 votes. Dissatisfied with the results, the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal, alleging irregularities, including corrupt practices and noncompliance with the Electoral Act 2022. The tribunal, in a two-to-one split decision on September 28, dismissed the petition on technical grounds but suggested that if considered on merit, it would have ordered a supplementary election in 22 polling units within 90 days. The tribunal also recognized the merit in the petitioner’s case regarding the margin of victory between the two leading candidates.