January 20, (THEWILL) – The Supreme Court on Friday in its determination of several appeals from the Court of Appeal affirmed the position of the governors of Delta, Gombe, Kebbi, Ogun, Nasarawa and Kaduna States.
Delivering a unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal brought before it by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Ovie-Omo-Agege, against the election of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The Apex court, in the lead judgment delivered by Justice John Inyang Okoro, held that Omo-Agege, failed woefully to establish that the election was invalid for alleged corrupt malpractices.
Justice Okoro said that none of the allegations against the March 18, 2023 election was established as required by law.
The Supreme Court rejected the plea by Omo-Agege that the election be nullified on the allegation that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
Justice Okoro also rejected Omo Agege’s claim that the results of the governorship election were not properly recorded in some polling units and the allegations that the forms that contained some of the recorded results did not have serial numbers.
The apex court therefore affirmed the judgments of the Delta State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal and the Court of Appeal which had earlier dismissed Omo-Agege’s petition for want of merit.
In another judgement, the Supreme Court upheld the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, dismissed the appeal filed by David Umbugadu of the PDP who challenged Governor Sule’s victory.
In the judgement, Ms Kekere-Ekun said, “The issues in this appeal are resolved against the appellant. The appeal lacks merit and it is hereby dismissed.”
She said the Court of Appeal in Abuja was right to have “set aside the decision of the tribunal” which had declared Umbugadu the winner of the poll.
“The appeal is frivolous, vexatious and lacking in merit. It is hereby dismissed,”Tijjani Abubakar, a member of the Supreme Court panel, said while contributing to the lead decision.
THEWILL recalls that the Court of Appeal had, on November 23, overturned the decision of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.
In its ruling, the appellate court said the tribunal was wrong to have concluded that Governor Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) did not win the majority of lawful votes cast at the polls.
In the lead judgement given by Uchechukwu Onuemenam, the appellate court held that the record before it established that the tribunal relied on legally inadmissible evidence to declare the candidate of the PDP, Ombugadu, as the winner of the governorship election.
It explained that under section 285(5) of the Nigerian constitution, section 132(7) of the Electoral Act 2022, and paragraphs 4(5) (6) and 14(2) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, every written statement on oath must be filed alongside the petition within the statutorily allocated time.
The appellate court struck out all the evidence and exhibits that were tendered before the tribunal by the eight witnesses.
It further held that the tribunal acted wrongly when it recomputed votes and made the declaration that returned the PDP candidate as the winner of the election.
In another decision, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal filed by Ladi Adebutu of the PDP challenging the election of Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State and validated the election of Abiodun as governor of the state.
“In the end, this appeal is unmeritorious and deserves to be dismissed. It is hereby dismissed,” Justice Tijjani Abubakar, who led the five-member panel, held.
The state election petition tribunal and the Appeal Court had earlier affirmed Governor Abiodun as duly elected. The judgement finally put an end to the governorship election dispute in Ogun State.
The Supreme Court also same Friday upheld the election that produced Uba Sani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Kaduna State Governor in the 2023 election.
The apex court gave the ruling after dismissing an appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Mohammed Ashiru.
According to the apex court, the election petitions tribunal and the Appeal Court were right to have dismissed Ashiru’s appeals as lacking merit.
INEC in March 2023 declared that the APC candidate, Sani, received 730,001 votes to defeat the PDP candidate, Ashiru, who polled 719, 196 votes.
However, dissatisfied with the result of the election, the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal to challenge it.
The petitioners claimed that Governor Uba was not duly elected by a majority of valid votes cast in the election. They also said the election was marred by corruption and noncompliance with the Electoral Act 2022, adding that the results of some polling units were wrongly annulled.
But the tribunal led by Justice Victor Oviawie said the PDP and its candidate failed to file their pre-hearing application within the time frame provided by law. The Court of Appeal had earlier dismissed the appeal in November.
The Supreme Court affirmed his election victory and thus gave him peaceful atmosphere to govern the state.
A five-member panel of the apex court, in a unanimous decision, held that there was no merit in an appeal that the PDP and its candidate, Mohammed Ashiru, filed to challenge the outcome of the governorship election that was held in the state on March 18, 2023.
In the lead judgement delivered by Justice Abubakar, the apex court held that the petition the PDP and its candidate filed to challenge Governor Sani’s election was incompetent.
It held that since the originating petition was incompetent, no relief could be granted to the appellants in the matter.
Consequently, the apex court upheld the earlier judgement of the Court of Appeal, which dismissed the case for being devoid of merit.
“The appeal is frivolous, vexatious, and irritating. It therefore deserves to be dismissed, and it is hereby dismissed,” Justice Abubakar held.
The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed the elections of Governors Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State and Nasir Idris of Kebbi State, respectively. Both governors belong to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Their elections were disputed in court by their challengers after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared them the winners of the 18 March 2023 elections in their various states.
The Supreme Court affirmed their elections in separate judgements.
In its decision on the Gombe case, a five-member court panel led by Kudirat Kekere-Ekun dismissed the appeal filed by Jibrin Barde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenging Governor Yahaya’s election.
Barde questioned the outcome of the March 2023 polls, alleging electoral malpractices and perjury against Governor Yahaya.
But affirming Yahaya’s election in the Supreme Court’s lead decision, Ms Kekere-Ekun said, “Having critically considered the concurrent decisions of the lower court and the Court of Appeal, I find no merit in this appeal. The decisions of the courts below are hereby affirmed.”
The Court of Appeal in Abuja had in November last year affirmed the election of Yahaya as governor of Gombe State.
At the appellate court, Theresa Orji-Agbadua, who delivered the lead decision of the court’s panel of justices, said Barde’s case lacked merit.
The court, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel, dismissed as lacking in merit, an appeal that was brought before it by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Aminu Bande.
The court, in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel, dismissed as lacking in merit, an appeal that was brought before it by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Aminu Bande.
The Supreme Court, on Friday also upheld the election of Governor Nasir Idris of Kebbi State.
In the lead judgement which was delivered by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, the Court held that it found no reason to set aside the concurrent verdicts of the Court of Appeal and the Kebbi State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which declared Nasir of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the valid winner of the gubernatorial poll that was held in the state on March 18, 2023.
THEWILL recalls that the INEC, declared the Kebbi State governorship election inconclusive owing to massive vote cancellations and over-voting in 20 of the 21 LGAs in the state.
The Commission subsequently conducted a supplementary election on April 15, at the end of which it declared that Governor Idris of the APC polled 409,225 votes to beat Bande of the PDP who got 360,940 votes.
However, dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, the PDP and its candidate approached the tribunal to challenge the result.
In its judgement, the Justice Ofem Ofem-led tribunal dismissed the petition as lacking in merit.
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
