The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by Alhaji Idris Mamman Gatumba, a director at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, challenging the election of Professor Babagana Umara Zulum as Governor of Borno state.
The court also dismissed a similar appeal filed by Kaakenna Alkali Monguno, who had challenged the election of Senator Abubakar Shaib Kyari representing Borno North.
The panel of five justices led by Justice John Inyang Okoro dismissed both appeals for lacking in merit.
Idris and Kaakenna, who separately challenged the September/October, 2018 APC primaries in Borno state, had approached the apex court after losing at both the Court of Appeal in Jos and the Federal High Court in Maiduguri.
At the apex court, counsel to Idris and Kaakenna, I K Bawa, had prayed the court to invoke its powers and set aside the concurrent judgements of the Jos and Maiduguri courts.
The counsel wanted the court to remove Zulum and Kyari from their offices and declare Idris and Kaakenna validly elected as governor and senator, respectively.
However, counsel to the governor and Senator Kyari, Yusuf Ali, represented in court by K K Eleja, argued that the appeals were statute barred and therefore lacks merit.
He argued that the appeals be summarily dismissed to which all five judges agreed.
