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Appeal Court Reinstates Nasarawa Gov Sule, Overturns Tribunal Decision
The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned the dismissal of Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule by the State Election Petitions Tribunal.
The Appellate Court ruled that the Tribunal, led by Ezekiel Ajayi, had committed a serious error by relying on witness testimonies that were not front-loaded as required by law.
Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, delivering the judgment, emphasized that the Tribunal had erred by considering witness statements not presented within the 21-day period prescribed by law.
The Court held that any petition cannot lawfully be amended outside the stipulated 21-day timeframe.
Highlighting the procedural flaw, the Court stated that since the statements used by the Tribunal to nullify the Governor’s election were not front-loaded in compliance with the law, they held no probate value for a legal decision.
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The Court also dismissed the over-voting issues that led to the annulment of the election, asserting that the allegations were not legally established.
Justice Onyemenam further declared the petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship candidate as null and invalid, citing the unlawful disregard of jurisdictional issues raised by the governor during the Tribunal’s proceedings.
The judgment underscored that the Tribunal’s failure to consider and make findings on the jurisdictional issues amounted to a denial of a fair hearing for the governor, rendering all decisions of the Tribunal invalid.
As a result of the Court of Appeal’s ruling, all previous orders against Governor Abdullahi Sule and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were reversed. The Court affirmed Sule as the lawfully elected governor of Nasarawa State.
In the governorship election, INEC had declared Abdullahi Sule the winner, securing a total of 347,209 votes, surpassing his closest opponent David Emmanuel Ombugadu, who garnered 283,016 votes.
