When the Federal High Court in Yola, this afternoon, declared nullity, the Adamawa gubernatorial primary election held by the APC in the month of May in which Sen. Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani was declared the winner, my phone and all my social media inboxes were inundated by calls and messages from friends and party faithful who wanted to know what the next step is.
The truth is that I am as shocked as many who were hoping for the best for Sen. Binani, potentially, the first woman in the history of Nigeria to have been elected as the Governor of a state come 2023.
It is sad that I am using past tenses on the issue, but hopefully, it will be short-lived as there may be room for appeal. I am yet to see the judgement, nor had a brief from anyone who might know the details of the ruling. Some lawyers that I have spoken to, however say there should be chance for appeal.
While some laymen who have so far commented on the judgement think that the prospect of the APC to participate in the 2023 governorship election in Adamawa State has been foreclosed, I am optimistic that the Appeal Court will overturn the judgement and Sen. Binani will be the candidate to beat at the polls.
Long before today’s development, many stakeholders have intervened by prevailing on AIG (Rtd) Nuhu Ribadu, the plaintiff in the case, to withdraw the suit in the interest of party unity and progress, but he refused to yield.
I do not want to comment futher as we await details of the judgement. One thing that is clear from this is that Mal. Nuhu Ribadu should know that he has nearly murdered APC in Adamawa State, and should the Party and Sen. Binani lose the chance to appeal, the consequences will have huge impact on the chances of the Party winning the presidential and all other elections in the state.
- Iyawa is former Nigerian Ambassador to Mexico
