THE 2023 governorship election took place in 28 states nationwide. The election was postponed from March 11 to March 18, 2023, after the presidential poll held on February 25.

Nigeria’s election umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced winners in different states.

Soon after the results were announced, the battle shifted to the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal across the country as parties dissatisfied with the results headed for the courts.

The governorship election petition tribunal has given judgments in several cases brought before them by the parties.

In this report, Bankole Abe looks at the tribunals’ rulings across the states.

Abia

The Abia State Petition Election Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, the state capital, affirmed the election of Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP) as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election.

The governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Ikechi Emenike, and his counterpart from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Okey Ahiwe, challenged Otti’s victory and sought his sack over allegations of non-resignation of his membership from the APC before joining the LP.

However, the petition was dismissed by the tribunal chaired by JTD Gwadah for lack of merit in a unanimous decision.

Adamawa

Adamawa State Governorship Electoral Petitions Tribunal on Saturday, October 28, dismissed the petition filed by Aishatu Dahiru Binani of APC against Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri.

Binani went to the court, seeking to nullify the declaration of Fintiri by INEC as elected governor.

Binani, in her petition, which had INEC, Fintiri and PDP as the first, second, and third respondents, respectively, asked the Adamawa governorship election petition tribunal to annul the governorship election over non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

In her judgement, the Chairman of the Tribunal, T. O. Uloho, dismissed the petition brought by Binani and affirmed Fintiri’s victory.

Akwa Ibom

In Uyo, Akwa Ibom, the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed the petition filed by the APC candidate, Akanimo Udofia, challenging the election of Umo Eno of the PDP as the election winner.

Udofia petitioned the tribunal to disqualify Eno because he had allegedly submitted falsified papers to INEC and had not received the most significant number of legitimate votes in the governorship race.

However, the Adekunle Adeleye-led tribunal gave its verdict on Thursday, September 28, and found that the petitioner had not provided enough evidence to support its claims of serious electoral law violations throughout the polling process.

Bauchi

INEC’s declaration of Bala Mohammed as the state’s legitimately elected governor was upheld by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Bauchi State.

The three-member panel, led by P.T. Kwahar, dismissed the petition by the APC and its candidate, Sadique Abubakar, a former Chief of Air Staff, contesting Mohammed’s re-election to a second term.

Benue

The Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal declared Hyacinth Alia of the APC the winner of the state gubernatorial election.

The Tribunal, which sat in Makurdi, dismissed the PDP and its governorship candidate, Titus Uba’s petition on Saturday, September 23.

Speaking on Uba’s case, the tribunal said the PDP candidate ought to have pursued his case of non-qualification, the nomination of Alia by the APC, and the allegation of a forged certificate and false information on Form EC9 against his deputy, Sam Ode, before INEC.

Cross River

The governorship election petition tribunal in Cross River State, on Tuesday, September 26, upheld the election of Bassey Otu as duly elected governor of the state.

The tribunal dismissed the petition filed by the governorship candidate of the PDP, Sandy Onor.

After deliberating for three hours without dissent, the three-member panel headed by Oken Inneh accepted the arguments put forth by the respondents.

They argued that Otu was duly elected because he was qualified to run for office.

Delta

 

In Delta State, the tribunal struck out the petition of the APC candidate, Ovie Omo-Agege, challenging the election of Sheriff Oborevwori.

The tribunal struck the petition out for lacking in merit.

Ebonyi

The Election Petition Tribunal affirmed Nwifuru of the APC as the governor of Ebonyi State.

The tribunal struck out all the petitions against Nwifuru’s victory in the poll.

The tribunal dismissed the petition of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), its candidate, Odoh, and the PDP’s and its candidate, Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii.

Enugu

 

Peter Mbah of the PDP was declared the duly elected governor of Enugu State by the state Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.

The LP and its candidate, Chijioke Edeoga, filed petitions against Mbah’s victory.

However, the three-member tribunal chaired by Kudirat Murayo rejected the petition, stating that the parties lacked evidence to support their claims.

In rejecting the petitioners’ application, the panel decided that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) discharge certificate was not required to run for governor.

Gombe

The Gombe State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal dismissed the petition filed by the PDP and its candidate, Mohammed Barde, against the victory of Governor Inuwa Yahaya’s victory. Yahaya belongs to the APC.

The tribunal, presided over by S.B. Belgore, struck out the case for lack of merit.

Kaduna

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal upheld APC’s Uba Sani’s victory as governor.

The PDP and its candidate, Isah Ashiru, petition failed to scale through at the tribunal, which delivered its judgment via Zoom.

Kano

The Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sacked the incumbent Abba Kabir Yusuf as governor.

The tribunal consequently declared the APC’s Nasir Gawuna the governor.

In its judgement on Wednesday, September 20, the three-person panel presided over by Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total votes and ordered INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Yusuf of the New Nigeria People Party (NNPP) and give it to Gawuna.

Kebbi

The Election Petitions Tribunal, which sat in Birnin Kebbi on Thursday, October 5, upheld the election of Nasiru Idris as the duly elected governor of Kebbi State.

In its ruling, the tribunal dismissed the petition filed by the PDP challenging the victory of Idris of the APC and his deputy, Abubakar Umar.

The tribunal described the petitioner’s application as lacking in merit.

Lagos

The Lagos Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal dismissed the petitions filed by Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour and the LP challenging the victory of Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the March 18 governorship election.

In the judgement delivered on Monday, September 25, the tribunal dismissed Rhodes-Vivour and LP’s petitions, describing them as lacking merit.

The Tribunal also dismissed the petition of Olajide Adeniran (Jandor) of the PDP.

Nasarawa

The governorship election petition tribunal in Lafia, Nasarawa State, sacked Abdullahi Sule of the APC as governor and declared David Ombugadu of the PDP as the election winner.

Two justices out of three ruled on Monday, October 2, that Ombugadu won the election, while one dissented.

In the judgement delivered virtually, the panel chairman, Ezekiel Ajayi, argued that there was no room for reasonable doubt, and the petitioner’s evidence was convincingly made.

Ogun

The Ogun State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal upheld the election of Dapo Abiodun of the APC.

On Saturday, September 30, the three-member tribunal dismissed the petition filed by Ladi Adebutu of the PDP.

The panel described the petition as “incompetent, defective, disjunctive and lack merits.”

Oyo

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Ibadan, Oyo, upheld the reelection of Seyi Makinde.

Babatunde Ajala of the Action Alliance (AA) had challenged Makinde’s victory at the tribunal. 

A three-member panel chaired by Ejiron Emudainohwo delivered the judgement that dismissed Ajala’s petition.

Plateau

The Election Petition Tribunal in Plateau affirmed the election of Caleb Mutfwang of the PDP as the state governor.

In its judgement, the court struck out the petition filed by Nentawe Goshwe Yiltwada of the APC.

Yiltwada has filed a complaint with the tribunal contesting Mutfwang’s election. He argued that Mutfwang was ineligible to run for the election because the PDP had no structure at the time of the election and could not legally nominate and sponsor him.

In its judgement on Friday, September 22, the tribunal dismissed the petition as lacking merit.

Rivers

The tribunal in Abuja affirmed the election of Siminalayi Fubara as governor of River State.

The APC candidate Patrick Tonye-Cole filed a petition challenging the election of Fubara, but the tribunal dismissed it.

The national leadership of the APC withdrew from the lawsuit, making the tribunal dismiss the petition.

Additionally, the court threw out the petitions of LP candidate Beatrice Itubo and Dumo Lulu-Briggs of the Accord Party (AP).

The Alliance Peoples Movement (APM) candidate Innocent Ekwu’s petition challenging Fubara’s election was also dismissed due to its lack of merit.

Justice Cletus Emifonye led the three-member tribunal.

Sokoto

In Sokoto State, the tribunal affirmed the election of Ahmed Aliyu of the APC as the governor.

The election petition tribunal, led by Haruna Mshelia, dismissed the petition filed by Sa’idu Umar of the PDP challenging Aliyu’s victory.

 

Taraba

The election of Agbu Kefas as the governor of Taraba State was upheld by the tribunal.

The three-man panel of justices led by G. A. Sunmonu dismissed the petition of the NNPP and its candidate, Sani Yahaya, for lacking merit.

The panel ruled that the petitioners claimed their candidate received the majority of legitimate votes but were inconsistent in their requests.

Zamfara

The Zamfara State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Sokoto affirmed the election of Dauda Lawal as the state’s duly elected governor.

The tribunal dismissed a petition filed by the former governor, Bello Matawalle, challenging Lawal’s victory.

In a judgement on Monday, September 18, the tribunal said the petition lacked merit.

As of the time of filing this report, tribunals have delivered judgment in 22 states. Court decisions from six states are still expected.

These comprise the states of Borno, Jigawa, Katsina, Kwara, Niger, and Yobe.