Ganduje Files Defence, Lines Up 203 Witnesses Against PDP

 

 

Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje has finally filed his defence at the Kano State Election Petitions Tribunal, to defend his victory at the last governorship election in the state.

 

He has also moved to present 203 witnesses in court, to testify that there was a free and fair election in the state on 23rd March, 2019.

 

This is in response to the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Abba Kabir-Yusuf, challenging his victory.

 

It would be recalled that Ganduje, who contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), won with a margin of more than 9,000 votes after the collation of figures for the supplementary elections held on March 23, 2019

 

The defence sighted by Igbere TV on Saturday, is a 1,800-page document.

 

Ganduje's lawyer, Musa Abdullahi Lawan, (SAN), also confirmed the report on Saturday.

 

He spoke after filing the Governor’s defence before the State Election Petitions Tribunal sitting at Milla road, Kano.

 

Lawan, who is one of the leading counsels to the governor, said the PDP’s petition was unnecessary in the first place but since it is filed, they would still have to grapple with losing.

 

His words: “We brought in our processes in defense of the petition and we have done it with the time and we are very confidence of winning and right from the beginning we are saying PDP petition was unnecessary.”

 

Asked about the proposed 203 witnesses, the lawyer told Igbere TV that they are bringing in witnesses who are “key” and “ready” to tell the Court that there was indeed an election and that the PDP petition was baseless.

 

The governor’s defense counsel noted that with the filing of the petition within 20-25 days, the trial in the governorship election would fully commence.

 

He added that they have filed their petition within the stipulated time of 21 days, claiming that even PDP exhausted their time before they filed in their petition.

 

“We are highly confidence of winning this case because the whole world admits that their was an elections and that Governor Ganduje actually wins the election,” he said.