Nasarawa: Supreme Court Dismisses Appeal Seeking To Sack Gov Sule

A 5-man panel of the Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party seeking to upturn the electoral victory of Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State. Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Sule as winner of the election with 347,209 votes to beat his closest challenger, Ombugadu, who polled 283,016 votes. Not happy with the results declared by INEC, Ombugadu and his party, the PDP, filed a petition at the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the outcome of the polls. On October 2, 2023, a 3-man panel of the election petition tribunal led by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, in a split decision of two-to-one, declared Ombugadu, the validly elected governor of Nasarawa State. However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, affirmed the election of Abdullahi Sule as Nasarawa State governor, after overturning the earlier decision of the election petition tribunal that removed him from office. Delivering judgement on the appeal filed by Sule, a three-member panel of the appeal court held that the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal was wrong to have declared David Ombugadu, as the winner of the 18 March election. Not relenting, Ombugadu appealed at the apex court. But in a lead judgment, Justice Kudirat Kekere Ekun dismissed Ombugadu’s appeal for being ‘devoid of merit, vexatious and incompetent. The panel unanimously held that all the sister appeals abide by the instant judgment. More so, the panel ordered parties to bear their respective costs. Recall that Governor Sule was initially declared the winner of the polls by INEC. But Ombugadu challenged the election outcome at the tribunal, arguing that he won the majority of valid votes during the contest. In a split decision of the tribunal on October 2, two members, forming the majority, declared Ombugadu the winner of the election, while the minority opinion of the only other member affirmed Sule’s victory. Sule subsequently appealed against the majority decision of the tribunal, and won.

Delta Guber: Ovie Omo-Agege lose, Supreme Court affirms Oborevwori

The supreme court, Friday, dismissed judgments on three separate appeals seeking to nullify the election of Sheriff Oborevwori as Delta state governor. The court held that the appeals instituted by the aggrieved candidates, including Ovie Omo-Agege, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ken Pela of the Labour Party (LP) and Kenneth Gbagi of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), is incompetent and lacks merit. In separate judgements, delivered by a five-man panel of the Justices read by Justice Inyang Okoro, the Apex court held that the appallants failed to prove that the court below erred in it’s judgement by affirming the election that declared Sheriff Oborevori winner of the March 18 election in the state. The court held that haven considered the arguments of the Counsels, the extent laws and evidences therein as far as the authorities cited, it concluded that appeal has no singular merit. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Oborevwori, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the winner of the governorship election held on March 18. Aggrieved by the outcome of the poll, other candidates, including Ovie Omo-Agege, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ken Pela of the Labour Party (LP) and Kenneth Gbagi of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), filed separate petitions before the governorship tribunal. However, all the appeals were dismissed by the tribunal. The court of appeal also affirmed Oborevwori’s election. At the supreme court session on Tuesday, the appellants, through their respective counsels, faulted the verdicts of the two lower courts. Omo-Agege contended that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act. He told the apex court that the results of the governorship election were not properly recorded at some polling units, adding that the forms that contained some of the recorded results did not have serial numbers. Gbagi on the other hand prayed the court to declare that Oborevwori was not eligible to contest the election. Pela, the LP candidate, prayed the supreme court to nullify the entire election and order a fresh one. After listening to all parties, a five-member panel of the court said a date for judgment would be communicated.

TEI Gears Up for February Bye-Elections with Intensive Training Workshop

In preparation for the upcoming Bye Elections and Court-Ordered Fresh/Re-run Elections scheduled for February 3rd, 2024, The Electoral Institute (TEI) orchestrated a one-day Training-of-Trainers Workshop. Attended by TEI Trainers, collaborating department staff, and State Training Officers (STOs) participating remotely through ZOOM, the workshop aimed at arming participants with the latest insights into electoral process advancements. The primary focus of the workshop was to empower Coordinating Trainers with the skills necessary to conduct detailed and effective training sessions across all states affected by the impending elections. Special emphasis was placed on training Supervisory Presiding Officers, Presiding Officers, and Assistant Presiding Officers in billing and counting procedures. Participants were also familiarized with the operation of the Biometric Voter Authentication System (BVAS) and guided through the process of uploading election results onto the INEC Result portal using the INEC Results Viewing Device (IREV). Dr. Sa’ad Umar Idris, Director-General of TEI, stressed the importance of embracing innovations and new initiatives, underlining the crucial role of participants in passing on this knowledge to election personnel. He highlighted TEI’s significant contributions to the electoral process, including the use of E-learning platforms and the INEC Training bot during the 2023 General Elections. Prof. Abdullahi Abdu Zuru, National Commissioner, and Chair of the Board of Electoral Institute (BEI), officially inaugurated the training on behalf of the DG Electoral Institute. Prof. Zuru urged participants to serve as exemplary ambassadors of the Commission, emphasizing their critical roles as Trainers, Coordinators, and Monitors throughout the entire electoral process across the Federation.

INEC Releases Final List of Candidates for February Bye-Elections 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially unveiled the roster of candidates for the upcoming by-elections scheduled for February 3, 2024.  The bye-elections are necessitated by the unfortunate death or resignation of members from both the National and State Houses of Assembly. According to a statement issued on Wednesday by INEC National Commissioner Sam Olumekun, the electoral process will span nine states, encompassing two Senatorial Districts, four Federal Constituencies, and three State Constituencies.  Notable areas include Ebonyi South, Yobe East, Kebbi State, Lagos State, Ondo State, and Taraba State, among others. The timetable, schedule of activities, as well as the personal particulars and final list of candidates, have been made accessible in INEC state offices and the relevant constituencies.  INEC has also adhered to the provisions of Section 29(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, by publishing this information on their official website and social media platforms. Commissioner Olumekun urged Nigerians to meticulously examine the personal details, including Form EC9 and academic credentials, of the candidates. He emphasized that individuals with reasonable grounds to believe that a candidate provided false information during party primaries can challenge the nomination in a Federal High Court, as stipulated in Section 29(5) of the Electoral Act 2022. Importantly, the commissioner clarified that this publication is exclusively for the upcoming bye-elections, which involve fresh elections with candidates nominated through party primaries. For re-run elections occurring on the same day, the list and personal particulars of candidates were published before the 2023 General Election, as they are not open to new or disqualified candidates.

Taraba: Deputy Gov Alkali confident of victory at S’Court

Deputy Governor of Taraba State, Aminu Abdullahi Alkali has expressed optimism that the People’s Democratic Party PDP and governor Kefas Agbu will emerge victorious in a legal battle against them at the Supreme Court. The New Nigeria People’s Party NNPP and its governorship candidate, Prof Yahaya Sani are contesting the victory of the governor and PDP in the last year March 18 gubernatorial election in Taraba State. The Deputy Governor, who was at the Apex Court on Wednesday to witness proceedings in an appeal filed by NNPP and Sani said that the coast has appeared very clear for the two respondents to be victorious. He praised the transparent and unambiguous ways and manners proceedings at the Supreme Court are being conducted adding that the court has shown that there can never be miscarriage of justice. The position of the Deputy Governor followed the request by the lead counsel to governor Agbu and PDP, Kanu Agabi SAN to the apex court to either strike out the case the appellants or dismiss it outrightly. Agabi who led a retinue of senior lawyers told Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun led panel of five Justices that the case of the NNPP and its governorship candidate was lacking in merit and substance. He said that the appeal of the appellants was grossly incompetent to be considered because of the several flaws in the way the case was couched and presented at the Apex Court. The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC adopted the arguments canvassed by the governor’s lawyer in resolving the dispute on the governorship election. However, lead counsel to the NNPP and Sani, Olusegun Jolaawo SAN appealed to the Justices to allow the case of his clients and grant all the reliefs they are praying. The Court of Appeal had in Abuja affirmed the election of PDP and Kefas Agbu as Governor of Taraba State. The three-member panel of the appellate court in two separate appeals held that Agbu, was lawfully declared winner of the March 18 governorship election in Taraba State. The appellate court held that the allegations of non-compliance, irregularities and other malpractices were not proved by the appellants in line with the provisions of the law. In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Peter Affen, the appellate court had faulted the appellants for dumping documents on the court, stressing that even if there was manifest incidents of malpractices or irregularities on the face of the documents, the appellants ought to have led oral evidence to support the allegations. Besides, the court of appeal had dismissed the appeal for being incompetent and lacking in merit on grounds that the record of proceedings transmitted to the appellate court was not complete. It will be recalled that a three-man panel of justices led by Justice G. A. Sunmonu of the Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had on September 30 dismissed the petition filed by the NNPP and its governorship candidate for lacking in merit.

Uzodimma Dissolves Imo State Cabinet

Governor Hope Uzodomma of Imo State has dissolved the State Executive Council and sacked the Local Government Area Chairmen. The governor disclosed this on Tuesday during a state executive council meeting at the Sam Mbawke Executive Chambers at the Government House, Owerri. Those affected included the Secretary to the State Government, Commissioners, Special Advisers and Senior Special Advisers, the Chief of Staff, and the Chief Press Secretary. While dissolving the cabinet, Uzodomma thanked his former appointees for their contributions towards the success of his administration during his first term in office. He said the dissolution has become necessary to rejig the new administration for optimum performance and new direction and to meet up with the realities of the moment. The governor also apologised for any wrongdoing to any appointee during his first tenure and promised to carry everyone along in his second tenure in the interest and development of the state. Uzodimma is expected to constitute a new cabinet by sending commissioner-nominees to the state assembly for confirmation. Governor Uzodinma and his deputy, Lady Chinyere Ekomaru, on Monday, took their oath of offices at the Dan Ayiam Stadium in Owerri, the Imo State capital. President Bola Tinubu, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, the Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Speaker of the House of Representative Tajudeen Abbas, and other All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains were among those in attendance.

S’Court reserves judgment on Nasarawa guber appeal

The Supreme Court of Nigeria, Tuesday, reserved judgment in the Petition seeking to sack the incumbent governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressive Congress (APC). The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Hon Emmanuel David Ombugadu, is praying the apex court to set aside the November 23 judgment of the Court of Appeal which upheld Sule as the lawfully elected governor. The Petitioners, through Kanu Agabi SAN submitted that the October 2, 2023 judgment of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in favour of PDP and Ombugadu be restored. According to him, the Court of Appeal unjustly nullified the Tribunal’s judgment and unjustly declared Sule as winner of the March 18 gubernatorial election. Agabi specifically called that the Supreme Court should allow the votes of Nasarawa state people to count and be meaningful be declaring PDP and Ombugadu as winners as rightly done by the Tribunal. However, Sule and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and APC, prayed court to dismiss the appeal for want of merit. APC lawyers, led by Akin Olujinmi SAN while adopting his brief of arguments asked the apex court to carefully looked into the cited authorities to back up their request for dismissal of the case. After taking arguments from lawyers, Justice Kekere-Ekun announced that judgment has been reserved and that the date for its delivery would be communicated to parties involved. The Appeal Court had on November 23 last year reversed the sack of Gov Sule by the State Election Petitions Tribunal in its judgment delivered on October 2. The Appellate Court held that the Tribunal headed by Ezekiel Ajayi 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. In a judgment delivered by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, the Court of Appeal had said 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. “Since the statements used by the Tribunal to sack the Governor were not front-loaded in compliance with the law, the statements were a product of illegality with no probate value for a law Court to act upon”. The Court also dismissed the over-voting issues used to annul the election, adding that the allegations were not established by law. Justice Onyemenam held that the petition by the Governorship candidate of the PDP was a nullity and invalid on the grounds that the jurisdictional issues raised by the governor were unlawfully ignored by the Tribunal. The Court of Appeal ruled that 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. Justice Onyemenam agreed that the denial of a fair hearing against the governor was fatal and tendered all decisions of the Tribunal invalid. In all, the Court of Appeal reversed all orders made against the governor and INEC and affirmed Sule as the lawfully elected governor of the state. INEC had declared Sule the winner of the governorship election on the grounds that he polled a total of 347,209 votes to defeat his closest opponent David Emmanuel Ombugadu who secured 283,016 votes.

Rivers Guber: S’Court dismisses APM’s appeal against Fubara

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed the appeal of the Allied People’s Movement against the victory of Rivers State governor, Siminalayi Fubara. The five-member panel of the apex court led by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun also reserved judgment in the appeal by the All Progressives Congress and its candidate, Patrick Tonye-Cole. The counsel for the APM and its candidate in the March 18 election, Innocent Kere, at proceedings on Monday opted to withdraw the appeal. The appeal was subsequently dismissed by the apex court. Tonye-Cole and APC appeal was reserved for judgment, after the court listened to the arguments of the party involved in the matter. Tonye-Cole, among others, is asking the apex court to sack Fubara, adding that the governor did not resign as the Accountant General of the state under the deadline stipulated by the constitution and the Electoral Act. The lower courts had dismissed all appeals against Fubara and upheld his election.

Former Speaker Bright Omokhodion withdraws from APC governorship race

The former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Bright Omokhodion, has officially withdrawn from the race for the governorship on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Omokhodion, a top-level contender from Edo Central Senatorial District, announced his decision citing gross discontent with the screening committee’s skewed screening process of APC governorship candidates. The withdrawal was made public in a statement personally signed by Omokhodion. His words: “Compatriots, I wish you a blessed season’s best. It has become imperative to inform you that due to my gross discontent with the SKEWED screening process of APC governorship candidates by the screening committee, I am withdrawing from the 2024 Edo Governorship race. “This decision is purely the outcome of consultation with my campaign team; we have jumped many hurdles and impediments in our quest but regrettably reached this decision after a stormy meeting. “I must thank all of you for sharing in my vision and desire for a greater and productive Edo of our dreams. I will in due course advise our followers of the next line of action, while we continue to support the aspirations of my party, APC. “Once again, thank you for keeping the SMILES-VISION project alive.”

Adamawa Guber: S/Court affirms Gov Fintiri’s election

The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Governor Ahmed Fintiri as the authentic governor of Adamawa State. This is following the withdrawal of an appeal brought before it by the Social Democratic Party(SDP) and its governorship candidate, Dr Umar Ardo, challenging Fintiri’s victory for want of merit. SDP and its candidate had scored 6,000 votes and challenged the declaration of Fintiri and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who polled over 430,000 votes at the March 18, 2023 election. Specifically, Ardo and his party argued that the election was not conducted in compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022. The appellants in their submissions through Sylvester Imhanobe, upon discovering the hint of the apex court, the appellants withdrew their appeal, having been found unmeritorious. Justice John Inyang Okoro, who led a 5-man panel of Justices of the Court, dismissed the appeal without any cost against the appellants, thereby, affirmed the election of Fintiri as being validly elected and lawfully declared as the Governor of Adamawa State. Ardo and his party had filed a petition at the Adamawa Governorship Election Petition Tribunal after Fintiri, the candidate of PDP, was declared the winner of the poll. The petitioners had sought the nullification of Fintiri’s election on the grounds that there was substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act, corrupt practices, threats, and violence during the voting exercise. However, the tribunal, led by Theodora Uloho, dismissed the petition for being incompetent and not properly filed. They, however, headed to the Supreme Court for further interpretation.