NKRUMAH BANKONG-OBI/Lafia
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has reserved judgement on the appeal filed by Governor Abdullahi Sule, challenging his removal from office by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, GEPT. The Court will also rule on the cross-appeal filed by David Emmanuel Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party, against the minority judgement of the Tribunal.
At the hearing on Wednesday, the panel of justices led by Onyemenam Uchechukwu listened to the counsels adopt their written addresses and canvassed the meat of their pleadings. Counsel to Governor Sule, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, argued that the appeal be allowed because the lower Tribunal erred when it depended on the results produced from the BVAS.
But counsel to Ombugadu, Godwin Agabi, SAN, prayed the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgment of the lower Tribunal.
Both litigants were told that a date for the delivery of judgement will be communicated to them accordingly.
It will be recalled that the GEPT had in June this year annulled the election of Governor Sule and ordered Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to withdraw the certificate of return issued to him and give same to Ombugadu, who the majority judgement said validly won the polls. In a split judgement of two to one, Justice Ezekiel Ajayi ruled Sule was wrongfully declared winner as the election was fraught with irregularities and did not meet the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022. Justice Ibrahim Mashi who read the minority judgement however said the governor won but with a slimmer margin after his retabulation of the figures presented by INEC
The governor has since called on his support to remain calm ahead of the expected judgement. Addressing a crowd of Party faithful who came on solidarity visit to the Nasarawa State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, Sule asked them to be law-abiding and avoid any confrontation with members of the opposition Party and continue to go about their lawful activities without fear.
He said the renewed conviviality among the rank and file of the All Progressives Congress, APC, especially with the presence of formers Abdullahi Adamu and Tanko Al-Makura is a clear indication that all is being done to retrieve the mandate given to the Party in the March 18, 2023 gubernatorial election.