Tobias Sylvester
The Kwara State House of Assembly Rerun Election Petition Tribunal has sacked Adam Rufai, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the by-election for Patigi Constituency, over alleged irregularities in his names.
The tribunal consequently declared Hon Salihu Yahaya Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the exercise held in March 2020.
The seat became vacant when Rufai’s brother, Saidu Ahmed, died in December 2019 after a brief illness.
Delivering judgment, Chairman of the tribunal, Aminat Aliyu, said, “Adam’s name on the EC9 form was different from the one on his primary school certificate, declaration of age, voter card, and in the letter forwarded to the INEC on January 15, 2019.”
However, the Kwara State chapter of APC had rejected the judgment, explaining that the ruling was based on the difference between ‘Adam’ and ‘Adama’ on the certificate of the candidate of the APC.
Also reacting to the verdict, Kwara PDP congratulated its candidate in the bye election, Hon Salihu Yahaya Mohammed, for his victory at the tribunal.
A statement by the state Chairman of the party, Engr Kola Shittu, said: “The judiciary should be hailed for standing up for the truth by declaring Hon Salihu Yahaya Mohammed, as winner of the House of Assembly bye election which was held on March 14, 2020, following the indictment of the APC candidate over alleged forgery of his certificate.”
KanyiDaily recalls that Former Senate president, Bukola Saraki had begged the people of Kwara to forgive whoever among the PDP candidates that might have offended them previously one way or the other, and say no to APC in the state.
