The Supreme Court has re-affirmed Sule Abdullahi as the duly elected Governor of Nasarawa State in the March 18th Governorship poll. The decision follows the earlier declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 20, stating that Abdullahi, the incumbent from the All Progressives Congress (APC), won with 347,209 votes against his closest challenger, David Emmanuel Ombugadu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who had 283,016 votes.
Dissatisfied with the election results, Ombugadu and the PDP approached the tribunal seeking redress. The tribunal, in a leading judgment of 2-1, upheld the petition and sacked Governor Sule, affirming Ombugadu as the winner. The tribunal cited calculation errors that aided the declared victory of Governor Sule and ordered INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to him and award it to Ombugadu.
Governor Sule, displeased with the tribunal’s decision, appealed to the Court of Appeal, which nullified the majority decision of the tribunal and re-affirmed him as the duly elected and returned Governor. The Court of Appeal held that Governor Sule was not given fair hearing and expunged certain evidence from the records of the court.
Ombugadu then approached the Supreme Court to contest the decision of the Court of Appeal. In consolidated appeals, the panel led by Justice KMO Kekere-Ekun unanimously upheld the judgment of the Court of Appeal, affirming Sule Abdullahi as the duly elected Governor of Nasarawa State. The Supreme Court emphasized that the well-considered ruling of the Appeal Court could not be punctured, bringing an end to the legal disputes over the governorship election.
