The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the election victory of Abdullahi Sule as the governor of Nasarawa State, overturning the decision of the election petition tribunal that initially nullified his win.
In a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, the appellate court declared the verdict of the tribunal as void and reinstated Governor Sule, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Abdullahi Sule secured victory in the election, as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), with 347,209 votes. The People Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate, David Ombugadu, trailed with 283,016 votes.
However, dissatisfaction with the outcome led to a legal challenge by Ombugadu, who alleged irregularities. On October 2, the election petition tribunal nullified Sule’s victory and declared Ombugadu as the winner.
Appeal Court Judgement
The appeal court, led by Justice Uchechukwu Onuemenam, highlighted that the tribunal relied on legally inadmissible evidence to declare Ombugadu as the winner. Specifically, the tribunal wrongly considered the statements of eight PDP witnesses, which were not filed alongside the petition, as required by statutory provisions.
“The duty of the appellate court is to ensure that such illegally inadmissible evidence is expunged,” Justice Onuemenam stated, emphasizing the court’s commitment to acting only on legally admissible evidence.
All evidence and exhibits presented by the eight witnesses were struck out by the appellate court. It also noted that the remaining 12 witnesses failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the tribunal’s judgment.
The court criticized the tribunal for deducting 1,868 votes credited to the APC candidate, citing over-voting in four polling units. The appellate court deemed the petitioners’ failure to provide necessary documents to prove over-voting as a critical flaw.
The dismissal of the evidence of witnesses who testified for the APC candidate was described as “perverse,” and the court concluded that none of the witnesses called by the PDP provided valid evidence.
In light of these findings, the Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Governor Abdullahi Sule, dismissing the majority judgment of the tribunal delivered on October 2.