Tag: Sule

Nasarawa governor, Abdullahi Sule, has said that the protest by the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the Appeal Court Judgment which affirms his election won’t make the party and its candidate the governor of the state.

Governor Sule in a statement signed by his special assistant on public affairs, Comrade Peter Ahemba, said ethics and religious sentiments with blackmail won’t make PDP govern the state.

He said: “We watched with great concern, another shameful outing by a group of individuals believed to have been hired by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Nasarawa State to stage an unwarranted protest against the recent verdict of the Court of Appeal.

“No doubt, the March 18th, 2023 governorship election which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Governor Sule as the duly elected governor of the State is a true reflection of the popular mandate freely given to him by the electorates of Nasarawa state.

“This is why they have remained firmly in support of the Governor and have been resisting all attempts by the PDP and its governorship candidate to take over power through the backdoor. Indeed, no one can harvest where he/she did not sow”

“The recent stage-managed protest against the Appeal Court judgement by a group of sponsored individuals under the aegis of “Coalition of Indigenous People of Nasarawa State” as a calculated attempt to discredit the courageous, sound and firm judgement of the Appeal Court and blackmail the nation’s judiciary for choosing to look at the appeal brought before it by the Governor on its merit rather than primordial sentiments.

“The call on the International Community to intervene in the internal affairs of the state and tagging of some ethnic groups as foreigners are laughable and have further exposed the opposition PDP of its ethnic agenda in the politics of Nasarawa state.

Read Also: Appeal Court voids tribunal verdict sacking Sule, affirms Otu, Yahaya

“The PDP as a party and its leaders must be reminded that the state is highly diverse in terms of ethnic and religious beliefs and that no ethnic group or religion has the capacity to produce the Governor of the State without the support of the others”

“We, therefore, condemn this show of desperation for power and urge security agencies in the state to note this dangerous rhetoric hovering very close to instigating hate amongst citizens by the opposition PDP and its sponsored groups in the state.

The statement added: “It is also laughable that the PDP-sponsored coalition alleged external interference in the affairs of the state when the opposition party relied solely on external forces to acquire power having been rejected by the electorates at the governorship poll”

 “It is public knowledge how the PDP sought and got the support of some unsuspecting individuals and organizations within and outside the country on the basis of sentiments in its quest to snatch the mandate given to Governor Sule and his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)”

“We are however confident and very optimistic that, with the facts of the matter, professionalism and fairness being demonstrated by the nation’s judiciary in the dispensation of justice, the will of the electorates will prevail even at the end of the legal battle.”

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 determine the issue of law. The decision of the tribunal is a nullity.”

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 leading 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 respondent’s witnesses

She, however, faulted the contention by the appellants that the judgment of the tribunal was a nullity because it was delivered virtually.

She added: “The fact that the judgment 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 judgment occasioned a miscarriage of justice in any way.”

Justice Onyemenam proceeded to allow the appeal and set aside the tribunal’s judgment and the consequential orders made with it.

Proceedings in the Nasarawa case were 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.

In two other judgments, another panel of the court, headed by Justice Theresa Orji-Abadua affirmed the election of Governor Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe state.

In the lead judgment in the appeal marked: CA/G/EP/GOV/GM/11/2023 by the PDP and its governorship candidate, Jibrin Mohammed Barde, Justice Orji-Abadua found that the appeal was without merit.

Read Also: Appeal Court verdict: Join me if you sincerely love Nasarawa – Sule tells Umbugadu

She resolved all four issues, identified for determination against the appellants.

Justice Orji-Abadua held that the petitioners at the tribunal failed to prove their allegations of non-qualification, supplying of false information, and certificate forgery raised in the petition were not proved.

She proceeded to dismiss the appeal and affirmed the judgment of the trial tribunal.

Justice F. A. Ojo, in the second judgment, also dismissed the appeal by the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and its candidate in the March 18 governorship election, Nafiu Bala.

Justice Ojo held that the appeal was without merit and affirmed the judgment of the trial tribunal.

Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule has called on his supporters, as well as the people of the state, to exercise some measure of restraint ahead of the Court of Appeal hearing fixed for Wednesday.

Governor Sule has filed an appeal challenging the judgment of the governorship election petition tribunal that ruled in favour of David Ombugadu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

Presiding over an expanded security meeting at the Government House yesterday, the Governor, while commending the people of the state and tolerance shown by some politicians during and after the tribunal judgment, however urged for more restraint ahead of the Appeal Court hearing.

“Let me also use the opportunity to commend the good people of Nasarawa State and the tolerance of several politicians, especially during and after the tribunal judgment.  I want to thank you sincerely for the maturity some have shown during that period.

“I want to also use the opportunity to call on the good people of Nasarawa State and also our leaders in particular, security agencies to continue to show that wisdom, especially with the hearing that is coming on the 15th and the subsequent judgment that would follow at the Appeal Court,” he stated.

Governor Sule said part of the reasons for convening the expanded security meeting was to deliberate on the unfolding regular attacks on farmers by suspected herders, with such attacks recorded in six local government areas namely Nasarawa, Doma, Akwanga, Keana, Obi and Awe.

Read Also: Governor Sule’s wife rallies Nasarawa women for Remi Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Initiative

He also raised the alarm over the influx of strange faces that is already generating tension particularly around Keffi Local Government Area.

“There is also, from what we have been able to gather, some level of influx of certain strangers that  generate tension, especially around Keffi Local Government Area. And we also had the opportunity to discover some criminal hideouts as riverside in Karu Local Government Area. We are also able to have information on the lodging of some suspected drug peddlers in certain hotels, as well as what they call sleeper cell in Nasarawa, Taraba, Kaduna, created by terrorist gangs,” he added.

Also, as part of the reasons for the meeting, the governor expressed willingness to fall back on the working relationship with traditional rulers towards ensuring security at the grassroots.

“Part of the reasons for this meeting is to appeal to traditional rulers to resume the engagement of the local vigilante groups like they did in the past, which has yielded positive results. We have relaxed on that, mostly on the part of government.  We are going back to engage all those security groups to work with our people,” he said.