The tribunal's ruling took place on Saturday, effectively bringing an end to the legal challenges that had been mounted against David Umar Gurara and Hon. Bashir Shadow.
Both Gurara and Shadow were elected to represent their respective federal constituencies in the House of Representatives during the election that was conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on February 25th, 2023.
However, their victories were met with opposition as the candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Gabriel Haar Zock and Hon. Mukhtar Zakari, filed petitions against them.
In his petition, Zock made the assertion that elections had not been properly conducted in 43 polling units. As a result, he urged the tribunal to nullify INEC's official declaration and mandate a fresh round of elections in the affected constituencies.
On the other hand, Zakari's petition focused on Shadow, alleging that Shadow had presented a forged school certificate. Zakari sought the tribunal's intervention to compel INEC to issue him a certificate of return, as he claimed to have secured the second position in the election.
The tribunal's verdict on these petitions was delivered by its Chairman, Justice H.H Kereng.
In the case of the petition filed by Gabriel Haar Zock, the tribunal found that the petitioner had not succeeded in providing credible and substantiated evidence to support his claims. Justice Kereng consequently dismissed Zock's petition in its entirety.
Similarly, Justice Abdu Maiwada Abubakar, another tribunal judge, delivered the ruling on Zakari's petition against Shadow, dismissing it for lacking sufficient merit.
The outcome of these judgments showcases the tribunal's careful examination of the evidence presented by the petitioners and their capacity to substantiate their allegations.
As a result, the tribunal deemed the petitions unconvincing and determined that they did not meet the necessary criteria to proceed.
Following the rulings, Barrister Kassai Jessy, who was one of the lead counsels representing the respondents in these cases, expressed satisfaction with the tribunal's decisions.
Jessy confirmed that the tribunal had dismissed the petitions due to their lack of merit. He also noted that the tribunal had chosen not to impose any financial penalties on the petitioners, demonstrating a sense of leniency despite the legal challenges brought before it.