Tribunal upholds El-Rufai’s election as Kaduna governor

Kaduna Governorship Election Petition Tribunal Monday upheld the election of the State’s governor Nasir El-Rufai.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Alhaji Isah Ashiru filed an application seeking a recount of the votes cast during the March 9 election in the state.

El-Rufai, a candidate of the All Progressives Congress, polled total votes of 1,045,427 to defeat Ashiru who garnered 814,168 votes.

The petitioners, however, claimed that the poll was characterised by massive rigging, ballot stuffing, and violence in some parts of the state.

But the chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Ibrahim Bako, said the petitioners were unable to prove their allegations of massive rigging and other electoral irregularities against El-Rufai, before the Tribunal.

The tribunal also noted that Ashiru and his party did not have any factual evidence to prove INEC did wrong in returning El-Rufai of the APC as duly elected.

The petition was therefore dismissed for lacking merit.