Justice, fairness and competence celebrates today, as, in affirmation of what has already been written in the annals of history, Honourable Shamsudeen Bello Dambazau, the APC House of Rep member representing the Takai/Sumaila federal constituency in Kano in the 9th Assembly, has come up victorious again against rival PDP candidate, Suraja Kanawa, in the broiling legal battle over who gets the seat at the House of Representatives.
For weeks, the good name of Hon. Shamsudeen Bello, son of former minister of interior, Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazzau (Rtd), had been dragged and his rightful position as the representative of Takai/Sumaila constituency of Kano State in the 9th Assembly had been questioned. The good honourable who had secured three previous victories against his opponent in the case in the state and national levels had again been challenged by his opponent who had filed a claim of incompetence at the national and state Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Kano. The challenge fell flat today when the Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division allowed Shamsudeen's appeal and struck off Suraja Kanawa's petition, handing deserved victory to Hon. Shamsudeen for the fourth time, and sealing his position as the rightful occupant of the contested seat in the National Assembly.
The entire affair has been a rout of incontinence from a disgruntled and fairly defeated opponent, the Senior Legislative Aide to Hon. Shamsudeen Bello Dambazau, Mr. Sadiq Samaila, made clear when questioned about the victory of the day and what the next steps are. "I am grateful to Allah SWT who has once again granted us victory today, and in effect has placed His seal of approval on our capable honourable. It has been a grueling set of weeks from tribunal to court, but in the end, justice, fairness and competence has the day, and there is cause for celebration.
Mr. Samaila continued, "Let me repeat that the mandate [of Hon. Shamsudeen Dambazau] to the people of Takai/Sumaila will never be ignored, overlooked, or taken for granted. We are well positioned to bring needed change to our constituency, and this victory proves that."
The court of appeal held that the decision of the tribunal was null and void and the tribunal was incompetent when it assumed jurisdiction to entertain the petition as filed by the PDP and its candidate Suraja Kanawa. Since Hon. Shamsudeen was not a party in the suit at the tribunal, no order can affect him. Failure to join him rendered the judgment of the tribunal a nullity.
The court's swift and just ruling has paved way for more from Hon. Shamsudeen Bello Dambazau.