In a significant development, the Court of Appeal in Abuja reversed the decision of the Nasarawa State Election Petitions Tribunal, which had sacked Governor Abdullahi Sule on October 2. The Appellate Court, led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, deemed the Tribunal’s actions as a grave error, particularly in using witness statements not front-loaded as required by law.
Justice Onyemenam highlighted the legal obligation for the Tribunal to consider witness statements filed along with the petition or front-loaded within the stipulated 21 days. Any amendments made outside this timeframe were declared unlawful by the Court.
The Court ruled that the statements used by the Tribunal, which led to the Governor’s removal, lacked probate value due to their non-compliance with legal procedures. Additionally, the Court dismissed over-voting allegations, stating they were not established by law.
The judgment emphasized that the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Governorship candidate was considered null and invalid. This ruling was based on the Tribunal’s unlawful disregard of jurisdictional issues raised by the governor, denying him a fair hearing.
Justice Onyemenam asserted that the denial of a fair hearing was a fatal flaw, rendering all Tribunal decisions invalid. Consequently, the Court of Appeal reversed all orders against Governor Abdullahi Sule and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), affirming Sule as the duly elected governor of Nasarawa State.
Previously declared the winner by INEC with 347,209 votes, Governor Sule’s victory was reinstated by the Court of Appeal, refuting the tribunal’s earlier nullification decision in favor of David Emmanuel Ombugadu.
