THE Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has nullified the election of Governor Caleb Muftwang of Plateau State.
Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), had 525,299 votes while the candidate of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Nentawe Yilwatda, polled 481,370 votes in the March 18 governorship election in the state.
Dissatisfied, Yilwatda and APC filed a petition challenging the outcome of the election.
Delivering judgment, the tribunal led by Rita Irele-Ifijeh, held that the issues raised by the petitioners on party structure were pre-election matters, noting that Yilwatda and APC lacked the locus standi to challenge it.
The tribunal also held that PDP held a repeat congress on September 25, 2021, in compliance with the order of a Jos high court delivered by S.P. Gang, the judge.
Aggrieved by the tribunal’s judgment, the APC and its candidate filed an appeal.
In her ruling on Sunday, November 19, 2023, the lead Justice, Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu, set aside the judgment of the Tribunal which affirmed the election of Governor Mutfwang, describing it as highly incompetent.
She held that the party violated a court order directing it to conduct a valid congress in the 17 local government areas of that state.
She said there was no evidence that the PDP complied with a subsisting High Court order which had directed it to conduct a valid party congress prior to its sponsorship of the governorship and other candidates.
The court said the issue of qualification is both a pre-election and a post-election matter contrary to the position of the tribunal which held that the appellant lacked the locus to contest the validity of the respondent.
It also noted that under Section 134 of the Electoral Act, it is the sole right of a political party to sponsor its candidate having met the requirements to do so.
While evoking section 136 of the Electoral Act, the court ordered INEC to retrieve the certificate of return issued to Governor Mutfwang and issue a fresh certificate of return to the Goshwe.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via nyahaya@icirnigeria.org and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.