The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Abba Yusuf as Governor of Kano State, reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal and the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which sacked the governor.

Justice John Okoro, who read the lead Judgement on Friday, said the Court of Appeal was wrong in affirming the decision of the tribunal which held that Yusuf did not win the majority of lawful votes cast in the governorship election of March 18, 2023.

In determining the case, the apex court raised two issues: whether the lower court was right in deducting 165,616 from the votes the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced for the governor and whether the lower court could determine the issue of party membership.

In the judgement, Justice Okoro held that the tribunal was wrong in deducting 165,616 votes accrued to Yusuf in the election on the grounds that the ballot papers were not signed and stamped by INEC officials.

According to him, Section 71 of the Electoral Act relied upon by the tribunal to deduct the disputed votes does not apply in the instant case.

The Supreme Court panel of five justices, subsequently went ahead to restore the deducted 165,616 votes to reinstate the victory of Yusuf in the governorship election.

On the second issue, the Supreme Court again faulted the Court of Appeal for holding that Yusuf was not a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as of the time he contested the poll, adding that the issue of nomination and sponsorship is a pre-election matter and outside the jurisdiction of the court.

Justice Okoro observed that contrary to the appellate court, the tribunal never held that Yusuf was not qualified to contest the poll but that his name was not in the NNPP’s membership register submitted to INEC.

The apex court subsequently set aside the judgment of the two lower courts for being perverse and restored the electoral victory of Abba Yusuf.

Supreme Court Reverses Sack Of Mutfwang As Plateau Gov

The Supreme Court has reversed the sack of Caleb Mutfwang, affirming him as Governor of Plateau State.

On November 19, the court of appeal in Abuja sacked Mutfwang as governor of the state. The appellate court held that the PDP violated the court order and ordered that a valid congress be conducted in the 17 Local Government Areas of Plateau.

The court said the party conducted congress in only five LGAs of the state “which amounted to a nullity.”

But a five-member panel led by Justice Emmanuel Agim reversed the decision of the appellate court for being perverse because the issue of the primary election that produced Mutfwang was outside the jurisdiction of the lower court.

The apex court pointed out that the validity of nomination and sponsorship is not a valid ground to void an election.

He held that the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to entertain it, besides the issue of sponsorship has elapsed long ago, adding that the petitioners not being members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PD) have no locus to challenge the party’s primary election.

On the issue of whether the order of the Plateau State High Court can affect the National Executive Committee (NEC), the apex court held that the appellate court was wrong in holding that the order affects the NEC.

Justice Agim further stated that the issue of primary is an internal matters of political parties which both the Tribunal and Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction.

Agim also pointed out that contrary to the claim of the petitioners and the judgment of the appellate court the order of the Plateau High Court was not disobeyed by the PDP as evidence showed that a fresh primary was conducted.

He warned the legal profession to wake up or else it would render itself irrelevant to the society.

The Presiding Justice, John Okoro also lamented that a lot of people have suffered because of the wrongful judgments of the appellate court which had sacked several legislators who won elections under the platform of the PDP.

In her submission, Justice Helen Ogunwumiju also berated the appellate court for going into the issue of nomination and sponsorship despite several decisions of the apex court to the effect that another political party cannot challenge the primary election of another.

Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 525,299 votes to beat the All Progressives Congress candidate, Nentawe Yilwatda, who garnered 481,370 votes during the 18 March governorship poll in Plateau State.

The governor’s election was upheld by the Plateau State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Jos, the state capital.

However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, in its judgement delivered on 19 November 2023, overturned Mr Mutfwang’s victory, prompting him to file an appeal at the Supreme Court to challenge the lower court’s decision.

Supreme Court Affirms Otti’s Victory As Abia Governor

The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the election of Alex Otti as the Governor of Abia state.

Justice Uwani Abba-Aji who read the lead judgment, held that the appellants failed to prove substantial non-compliance in their appeal.

On the issue of Otti’s membership, the appellant had contended that he wasn’t validly nominated and sponsored by the Labour Party (LP) at the time of the election. However, the appellate court held that the issue of membership is an internal affair and as such lacks jurisdiction.

The apex court faulted the appellants for bringing the appeal to the court, tagging it as frivolous and vexatious.

Alex Otti had scored 175,466 votes to defeat Okey Ahiwe of the PDP, who polled 88,529 votes in the election early last year.

Supreme Court Affirms Election Of Nwifuru As Ebonyi Governor

The apex court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, dismissing the appeal of Chukwuma Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for lacking in merit.

Last November, the Court of Appeal in Lagos affirmed the election of Nwifuru as the duly elected governor of Ebonyi State in the March 18 governorship election.

The three-member panel presided over by Justice Jummai Sankey, in its unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal filed by Odii and upheld the earlier verdict of the tribunal but the PDP candidate approached the apex court to seek redress.

The panel also resolved all the five issues raised against the appellant and dismissed the appeal for lacking in merit.

Justice Sankey had held that the PDP and its candidate lacked the legal right to meddle in the internal affairs of the All Progressives Congress as it relates to the nomination of candidates.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the Nwifuru as the winner of the March 18 poll in Ebonyi State.

Nwifuru polled 199,131 to defeat Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 80,191 and the Ben Odo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) who got 52,189.

Supreme Court Upholds Lawal’s Election As Zamfara Governor

The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the Zamfara Governor.

The apex court set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal Abuja, which had declared the Governorship Election as inconclusive and ordered a re-run in three Local Government Areas of the State.

He was declared the winner of the March 18 governorship election. In a shocking victory that dislodged then-incumbent Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he polled a total of 377,726 votes. Matawalle scored 311,976 votes.

The APC candidate, now serving as the Minister of State for Defence, had accused INEC of subverting his victory at the poll by failing to include the results of some ward areas.

In an earlier ruling on September 18, the Zamfara Election Petitions Tribunal held that the petition was devoid of merit. While upholding Lawal’s victory, the tribunal awarded the N500,000 fine against the petitioners.

An unsatisfied Matawalle, as observers expected, took the matter to the Court of Appeal in Abuja, to challenge the decision of the lower court.

Respite came for Matawalle at the appellate court as the three-member panel led by Justice Oyebisi Folayemi, nullified the return of Governor Lawal as the winner of the governorship poll.

Supreme Court Upholds Bassey Otu’s Election As Cross River Governor

The Supreme Court has upheld the election of Bassey Otu as the governor of Cross River State.

The apex court affirmed the judgement of the Court of Appeal which affirmed Otu as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Cross River State.

The appellate court had in November 2023 dismissed the appeal filed by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sandy Onor, for lack of merit.

Onor had earlier suffered the same fate before the election petition tribunal on September 26, 2023.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Otu winner of the polls, having polled a total of 258,619 votes winning in 15 of the 18 local governments of the state to defeat his closest rival, Onor who garnered 179,636 votes.

StreetReporters.ng