Appeal Court Reverses Sack of Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has reversed the sack of Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule by the State Election Petitions Tribunal.

Delivering judgment, the three-member panel led by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, held that the Tribunal acted in grave error in using witness statements on oath not front-loaded as required by law to arrive at the unjust conclusion of nullifying the election of the governor.

According to the Appeal Court, the Tribunal was legally bound to act on witness statements filed along with the petition or front-loaded within 21 days stipulated by law.

The Court held that no petition can lawfully be amended outside the 21 days allowed by law as wrongly done by the Tribunal.

According to the Court of Appeal, the Tribunal denied the governor a fair hearing by not considering and making findings on the issues of jurisdiction raised at the hearing of the petition.

The Court also dismissed the over-voting issues used to annul the election, adding that allegations were not established by law.

The Court subsequently reversed all orders made against the governor and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and affirmed Abdullahi Sule as the lawfully elected governor of the state.