Appeal court restores Binani as Adamawa APC gov candidate

The Appeal Court in Yola, Adamawa State, on Thursday set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court, which last month nullified the All Progressives Congress governorship primary conducted in May and declared that the party had no validly elected candidate.

The Appeal Court, presided over by Justice Tani Yusuf Hassan, in a unanimous judgment, dismissed the appeal by the APC and a former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, who are two of the three appellants in the case asking for a fresh primary.

The court upheld the appeal of Aishatu Binani who sought reinstatement as the governorship candidate of the APC for the 2023 election in the state.

Ribadu, who instituted the initial high court case, prayed the court to order a fresh election from which Binani should be excluded while the APC was particular about a fresh election for an opportunity to elect a candidate so that the party will participate in the 2023 governorship election.

While APC challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter, Binani in her preliminary objection argued that Ribadu’s suit was not properly constituted.

In its judgement on Thursday, Justice Hassan ordered that Binani’s name be immediately reinstated by the Independent National Electoral Commission.