The Court of Appeal in Abuja has reversed the judgment of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sacking Governor Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
A three-member panel of the court held that the tribunal was wrong to have declined to determine the legal issues identified in the objection raised by the APC and Sule, challenging its jurisdiction to hear the petition by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, David Ombugadu and the competence of the petition.
The court held that the petitioners at the tribunal – PDP and Ombugadu – failed to prove their allegations of over-voting and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
In the lead judgment, Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, who headed the panel, held that the tribunal was wrong when it failed to determine the issue of jurisdiction raised by the respondents at the trial tribunal (APC and Sule) and the competence of the petition.
Justice Onyemenam held that the tribunal was duty bound to consider the preliminary objection and resolve the issue of law raised , particularly as it touched on its jurisdiction to have heard the petition.
She added: “The preliminary objection was properly raised and ought to have been determined one way or the other.
“The ruling on the preliminary objection by the tribunal did not determine the issues of law and facts raised.
“The tribunal was in error by failing to determining the issue of law. The decision of the tribunal is a nullity,” the judge said.
Justice Onyemenam expunged from the court’s record, the evidence of eight of the 22 witnesses called by the PDP and Ombugadu at the trial tribunal and the documents tendered through them, on the grounds that their written statements on oath were not filed along with the petition as required.
She noted that without the evidence of the eight witnesses – petitioners witnesses (PW) 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 20 and 21 the evidence lead through the remaining witnesses was insufficient to sustain the judgment of the trial tribunal.
The judge held that the tribunal was wrong not to have expunged the witness statements on oath of witnesses that were not front-loaded .
Justice Onyemenam also held that the tribunal was wrong to have deducted 1868 votes from the votes of the appellants (APC and Sule) when the petitioners failed to prove their claim of over-voting.
She held that the tribunal was wrong to have granted the reliefs sought by the petitioners at the tribunal, when the petitioners did not prove their case of over-voting.
The judge also faulted the tribunal for dismissing the evidence of some of the witnesses called by the APC and Sule, by holding that they were not witnesses of truth without giving reasons for rejecting the evidence of the respondents’ witnesses
She however faulted the contention by the appellants the the judgement of the tribunal was a nullity because it was delivered virtually.
“The fact that the judgement was delivered virtually did not make the decision of the trial tribunal a nullity.
“The appellants did not show that the mode of delivery of the judgement occasioned a miscarriage of justice in any way.”
Justice Onyemenam proceeded to allow the appeal, set aside the tribunal’s judgement and the consequential orders made with it.
Proceedings in the Nasarawa case was witnessed by chieftains of the APC and the PDP, including former National Chairman of the APC, Abdullahi Adamu, former Governor of Nasarawa State, Umaru Al-Makura and former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku. (the Nation)