Adamawa State All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Senator Aisha Binani has approached the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking its leave for a judicial review of the administrative decision of the INEC in respect of her declaration as winner of the governorship elections held on March 18 and the supplementary elections of April 15th.
Binani is also demanding the prohibition and certiorari preventing INEC and its agents from taking any further steps towards the declaration of the winner of the elections pending the determination of her appeal for judicial review.
She made the appeal pursuant to Order 34 rules 1a, order 3(1) & 3(2) a, b, c, Order 6 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure Rules) 2019 and Section 251 (1)q & r of the 1999 Constitution, as well as section 149 & 152 of the Electoral Act 2022.
In the grounds under which the application is brought, the governorship candidate stated that after the collation of results, INEC declared her as the winner of the elections but the PDP and its candidate Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, who was sued as the 2nd & 3rd respondents, resorted to fighting and causing a public disturbance which led to the beating and manhandling of an INEC official.
This crisis, noted, led INEC to cancel the initial declaration which she said it had no power to do as only the election petition tribunal is vested with such powers.
Senator Binani argued that the INEC usurped the powers of the election petition tribunal which is the only court vested with powers on the declaration on the conduct of an election by cancelling its results.
Binani through her lawyers led by Hussaini Zakariyau, SAN, argued that “a judicial review exists to enable the superior court to checkmate the actions and decisions of inferior courts as well as the legislative and administrative arm of government including agencies and public officers.”
The applicant further submitted that the INEC being an agency of the government can have its actions, records, and decisions checked by the court and only a court can nullify the actions of an INEC official and not the INEC itself.
