The tribunal in its judgement submitted that the Petition of Adokwe and PDP against the victory of Senator Tanko Almakura failed as the entire Petition is predicated on the ‘hearsay’ evidence of their principal witness, Ayiwulu Baba Ayiwulu.
The tribunal further buttressed that a court or tribunal has no business to entertain, consider or rely on the evidence of persons who did not have a first hand, direct, actual and positive interaction with the facts in issue.
The election tribunal further observed that “it is undesirable for counsel to appear in a professional capacity in a case in which he is a material witness.”
The tribunal also stressed that despite the manifest failure of the Petitioners to prove their Petition, Senator Almakura’s Counsels still led credible evidence to show the weakness of the Petitioners’ case and the futility of the court granting their reliefs. Contrary to the claim of the petitioners, The tribunal held that the election was peaceful and conducted in accordance with Electoral Act, 2010 and the Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of 2019 elections.
The Tribunal also held that since Adokwe and PDP have failed to show by credible evidence that they scored higher than the votes scored by Senator Almakura in the said election, the sanctity of the declaration made by INEC returning Senator Almakura as the winner of the election is upheld.