The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has affirmed the judgment of the Gombe State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which dismissed the petition filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the re-election of Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had on March 18 announced Governor Inuwa Yahaya of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the governorship poll with 342,821 votes while Muhammad Jibrin Barde of the PDP scored 233,131.

Not satisfied with the INEC declaration, Barde approached the Tribunal, claiming that Yakubu’s victory at the poll did not comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.

Barde’s lawyers maintained that the PDP candidate scored the majority of the lawful votes cast during the poll, adding that multiple thumb printing and ballot box stuffing took place in nine local government areas of the state in favour of Governor Yahaya.

But the three-man panel of the tribunal chaired by Justice S.B. Belgore dismissed the PDP application for lacking merit.

The tribunal further expunged witness statements and exhibits of the PDP (INEC forms) for being baseless.

The PDP candidate then approached the Appeal Court for redress.

In its judgement on Thursday, the Appeal Court agreed with the Tribunal that the PDP’s case was void of merit.

“We have considered all the issues and have agreed that the appeal is void of merit,” the Appeal Court held while dismissing the appeal.