You Were Wrong In annulling Sule's Election-Appeal Court Tells Nasarawa Election Petition Tribunal

The Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, has overturned the verdict of the Nasarawa Election Petition Tribunal.

The court also affirmed the election of state Governor, Abdullahi Sule, whose victory was annulled by the tribunal on October 2 while declaring David Ombugadu, candidate of the PDP, winner of the election. 

The appellate court, led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, ruled that the tribunal erred in law by relying, in the main, on witness accounts that were not filed along with the petition or front-loaded within the 21 days stipulated by the constitution, as according to the court, no petition can lawfully be amended outside the 21 days allowed by law as wrongly done by the Tribunal.

The court added that the decision by the tribunal to nullify Sule’s election, based on such statement, was a grave error and denied the governor a fair hearing.

Among others, the court threw our the over-voting allegations relied on by the tribunal, insisting that the allegations were not established by law.

Speaking further on the petition filed by the PDP candidate, the court averred that the petition was null and void because the tribunal failed to consider and rule on the jurisdictional issues raised by the governor.

According to the lead Judge, the denial of a fair hearing against the governor was fatal to the case and thus rendered all decisions of the tribunal invalid.

It therefore reversed all orders made against Governor Sule and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.