There were speculations that an insignificant vote otherwise termed ‘overvoting’ could deprive Aishatu Ahmed Dahiru Binani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship she had secured in Adamawa State, but Sadiq Ibrahim Dasin, a former lawmaker in the state dismissed the hypothesis on legal grounds.
Dasin, a lower chamber lawmaker who represented Fofure/Song constituency in 2011, noted that the so-called overvoting does not invalidate Binani who clinched the APC guber ticket by polling 430 votes to outplay her major contender, Nuhu Ribadu, the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), who scored 288 votes.
READ: Adamawa Female Politician, Binani Wins APC Gov’ship Ticket, To Challenge Fintri
According to Dasin, Binani candidature would restore APC to power in the state.
Disputing the speculations, Dasin who is also a lawyer said, “there is what is called ‘de minimis les curate lex’ which is the legal principle that the law is not concerned with insignificant or minor matters.”
WikkiTimes learned that the speculations were irked by “two votes in contention,” according to Dasin who argued that the scenario can never change the outcome of the primaries that saw Binani to APC flag bearer in Adamawa.
“So, to me, where the overvoting is so insignificant as to change the outcome of the election, the two votes recorded as overvoting would, at worst, be deducted from the votes scored by the winner,” Dasin said. “And if the two votes are deducted, Binani still wins.”
He added: “So I don’t think people should bother themselves with the issue at all. Besides the Guidelines even says it is the Electoral officer that would declare the election void and he didn’t do it.”
