The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Abdullahi Sule as the duly elected Governor of Nasarawa State, dismissing the appeal filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, David Ombugadu.
A unanimous decision by a 5-member panel, led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, on Friday held that the comprehensive and well-considered Judgment of the court of appeal cannot be faulted.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had initially declared Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner with 347,209 votes, while David Ombugadu secured 283,016 votes.
However, Ombugadu and the PDP contested the results, alleging irregularities. The election petition tribunal, on October 2, nullified Sule’s victory, declaring Ombugadu as the winner.
In response, Sule and the APC sought to overturn this decision.
The Court of Appeal, on November 23, rejected the tribunal’s verdict, affirming Sule’s election. Uchechukwu Onuemenam, delivering the lead verdict, criticised the tribunal for relying on legally inadmissible evidence.
The appellate court further held that 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; stipulates that every written statement on oath must be filed alongside the petition, within the statutorily allocated time.
The appellate court proceeded to strike out all the evidence and exhibits that were tendered before the tribunal by the eight witnesses.
It held that the evidence of the 12 remaining witnesses who testified for the PDP candidate were not sufficient to sustain the judgment of the tribunal.
Furthermore, the court criticised the tribunal’s deduction of 1,868 votes from the APC candidate, citing over-voting in four polling units. It argued that the petitioners failed to provide the necessary documents to prove over-voting.
