Hassan Omar has finally pulled out of his appeal against a High Court decision that upheld the election of Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho.

The former Mombasa Senator had challenged the judgment by Judge Lydia Achode citing irregularities during vote counting and tallying. But the judge threw it out citing lack of sufficient evidence.

In her February ruling, Justice Lydia Achode said the petitioners, Omar and his running mate Linda Shuma, failed to prove allegations of ballot stuffing, voter bribery, and unstamped ballot papers.

She said election petitions should not be used to seek repeat polls forcing Omar to move to the Appellate Court.

Governor Joho countered Omar’s move with a cross petition seeking to quash his appeal.

The matter was expected to come up for hearing in the court of Appeal on Monday but both Omar and Joho, through their lawyers, withdrew their respective petitions.

The three-judge bench allowed the withdrawal of the two appeals.

The appellate judges Alvishram Nassir, Marthan Koome, and Sankale Ole Kantai also reduced the cost the High court had awarded to Joho and IEBC from Sh4 Million each to Sh1.5 Million.