By Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
THE Supreme Court of Nigeria has reversed the sack of Caleb Mutfwang, affirming him as Governor of Plateau State, just as the court also affirmed the victories of Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi), Dauda Lawal (Zamfara) and Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State.
Stonix News reports that on November 19, the Court of Appeal in Abuja had sacked Mutfwang as governor of the state.
The appellate court held that the PDP violated the court order and ordered that a valid congress be conducted in the 17 Local Government Areas of Plateau.
The court had said the party conducted congress in only five LGAs of the state “which amounted to a nullity.”
But a five-member panel of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, led by Justice Emmanuel Agim, reversed the decision of the appellate court for being perverse, saying the issue of the primary election that produced Mutfwang was outside the jurisdiction of the lower court.
The apex court pointed out that the validity of nomination and sponsorship is not a valid ground to void an election.
He held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it, and that beside, the issue of sponsorship has elapsed long ago.
He added that the petitioners, not being members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have no locus to challenge the party’s primary election.
On the issue of whether the order of the Plateau State High Court could affect the National Executive Committee (NEC), the apex court held that the appellate court was wrong in holding that the order affects the NEC.
Justice Agim further stated that the issue of primary is an internal matters of political parties which both the Tribunal and Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate on.
Agim also pointed out that contrary to the claim of the petitioners and the judgment of the appellate court, the order of the Plateau High Court was not disobeyed by the PDP as evidence showed that a fresh primary was conducted.
He, however, warned the legal profession to wake up or else it would render itself irrelevant to the society.
The Presiding Justice, John Okoro, also lamented that a lot of people have suffered because of the wrongful judgments of the appellate court which had sacked several legislators who won elections under the platform of the PDP.
In her submission, Justice Helen Ogunwumiju also berated the appellate court for going into the issue of nomination and sponsorship despite several decisions of the apex court to the effect that another political party cannot challenge the primary election of another.
It will be recalled that Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 525,299 votes to beat the All Progressives Congress candidate, Nentawe Yilwatda, who garnered 481,370 votes during the 18 March Governorship Poll in Plateau State.
The governor’s election was upheld by the Plateau State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Jos, but the Court of Appeal in Abuja, in its judgement delivered on 19 November 2023, overturned Mr Mutfwang’s victory, prompting him to file an appeal at the Supreme Court to challenge the lower court’s decision.
In the case of Ebonyi, the apex court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, dismissing the appeal of Chukwuma Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for lacking in merit.
The five-member panel, in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justices Lawal Garba and Adamu Jauro on Friday, also affirmed the declaration of the Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the March 18, 2023 Governorship Election in Lagos State, after dismissing two separate appeals challenging his victory.
The panel also affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal and dismissed the appeal by Sadique Abubakar of APC against Bala Muhammed of Bauchi for lacking in merit.
In the case of Dauda Lawal of the PDP as Zamfara governor, the Supreme Court affirmed the his election and set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal Abuja, which had declared the Governorship Election as inconclusive and ordered a re-run in three Local Government Areas of the state.
Stonix News reports that the Court of Appeal had, in November 2023, nullified the election of Lawal’s election, who was declared the winner of the March 18 Governorship Election.
In a shocking victory that ousted the then-incumbent Bello Matawalle of the APC, Lawal polled a total of 377,726 votes, while Matawalle scored 311,976 votes.
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