Again, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has sacked the Deputy Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly, Jamilu Umaru Dahiru Barade.
The three-man panel of judges in a judgement delivered on Monday set aside the judgement of the Bauchi State House of Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal which affirmed the election of Barade as a duly elected member representing Bauchi Central Constituency.
Similarly, the judges also ordered a rerun election in some polling units, where the appellant, APC Candidate, Aliyu Abdullahi Ilela alleged overvoting.
The court ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to retrieve the Certificate of Return earlier issued to the Deputy Speaker.
The judgement came a few days after the appellate court sacked the Speaker of the House, Abubakar Sulaiman.
Reacting to the judgement, one of the counsels to the Deputy Speaker, Barrister Aminu Balarabe Isah said the number of polling units where rerun elections will be conducted is not clear, adding that due to time constraints, the judges only gave a summary of their judgement.
He said that the number of affected polling units will be known when the Certified True Copy of the judgement is made available by the court.
On his part, one of the lawyers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Barrister UB Darazo said the judgement is just and fair
He said the APC and its candidate are thrilled and happy with the judgement. “It is an indication that the 2023 election in Bauchi was faulty,” he said.
