The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday asked the Independent National Electoral Commission to continue and conclude the collation of the results of the March 9, 2019 governorship election in the Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
The PDP Governorship Candidate, Senator Bala Mohammed who was leading in the March 9 election and the March 23 re-run election could not be declared as the winner. But with this development he is now heading to victory.
Delivering judgment, Justice Inyang Ekwo set aside his earlier order of March 19, 2019, which stopped the collation of the results
After declining jurisdiction to hear the substantive case, the judge ruled in his judgment on Monday that “the defendant (INEC) should be allowed to continue its constitutional duty”.
“There is no legal impediment before the defendant to go on with the decision of the defendant to execute its decision in its press release,” the judge ruled.
The suit was filed by the All Progressives Congress and its candidate in the governorship election in the state, Governor Mohammed Abubakar.
INEC is the sole defendant.
T
he claimant had sued INEC to challenge the commission’s decision to resume and conclude collation and announce the final results of Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of the state, after the election in the state had been declared inconclusive.
But INEC had insisted that only the Election Petition Tribunal had the jurisdiction to hear the matter since the election had already held in part.