Appeal Court Upheld Nasarawa Governor’s Election

Appeal Court upheld Nasarawa governor’s election

By Safiya Audu

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.

The court consequently reversed the October 2 judgment of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sacking Governor Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission declared Sule the winner in the March 2023 Governorship election but it was reversed at the Electoral tribunal.

But the appeal Court in its judgment on Thursday faulted the tribunal.

The three-member panel of the court held that the tribunal was wrong to have declined to determine the legal issues identified in the objection raised by the APC and Sule, challenging its jurisdiction to hear the petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, David Ombugadu and the competence of the petition.

The court also held that the petitioners at the tribunal – PDP and Ombugadu – failed to prove their allegations of over-voting and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The court, having delivered judgment on the main appeal, is giving its decisions on the remaining three cross-appeals.