The Supreme Court, on Friday, affirmed the Court of Appeal judgement that voided the nullification of the election of Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule.
In a unanimous decision by a five-member panel, the Supreme Court upheld the declaration of Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the governorship election that was held in the state on March 18, 2023.
In its lead judgement delivered by a Justice of the Supreme Court (JSC), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the apex court dismissed the appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and its candidate, David Ombugadu, saying that the application lacked merit.
It is instructive to note that the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, in a two-to-one split judgement delivered on October 2, 2023, nullified Governor Sule’s election and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), to issue a fresh Certificate of Return to Ombugadu.
The tribunal further held that it was satisfied that Governor Sule was a beneficiary of over-voting that occurred in several polling units in the state.
Dissatisfied, Governor Sule approached the Court of Appeal for redress, asking it to set aside the verdict of the tribunal and restore his mandate.
The Court of Appeal in Abuja, on November 23, reversed the sacking of Sule and vacated the decision of the tribunal.
The appellate court further held that the tribunal erred in law when it concluded that Governor Sule did not win the majority of lawful votes that were cast in the election.
The appellate court also maintained that the record before it established that the tribunal relied on legally inadmissible evidence to declare the PDP candidate as the valid winner of the governorship contest.
It added that the tribunal wrongly relied on the evidence of eight of the witnesses that were produced by the PDP candidate, whose witness statements on oath were not front-loaded alongside the petition.
Citing Section 285(5) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, Section 132(7) of the Electoral Act 2022, and Paragraphs 4(5) (6) and 14(2) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, the appellate court held that every written statement on oath must be filed alongside the petition within the statutorily allocated time.
The appellate court thereafter struck out all the evidence and exhibits that were tendered before the tribunal by the eight witnesses.
It also held that the evidence of the 12 remaining witnesses who testified for the PDP candidate was not sufficient to sustain the judgement of the tribunal, saying that the tribunal was in error when it deducted a total of 1,868 votes that were credited to Governor Sule on the premise that over-voting occurred in four polling units.
The appellate court held that the tribunal was wrong in its decision since the petitioners did not provide the necessary documents needed to prove over-voting.
It further held that the tribunal acted wrongly when it recomputed votes and made the declaration that returned the PDP candidate as winner of the election.
The appellate court consequently vacated the order of the tribunal that directed INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return that was issued to Governor Sule and to issue a fresh one to Ombugadu of the PDP.
Dissatisfied with the judgement of the appellate court, the PDP and Ombugadu later approached the Supreme Court for redress.
