Appeal Court Reverses Tribunal Verdict, Upholds Election Of Nasarawa Gov

Abdullahi Sule

The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has reversed the judgement of the Nasarawa Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which sacked Governor Abdullahi Sule.

This is even as the Court upheld the election of Sule as the duly elected Governor during the March 18 gubernatorial poll in the state.

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the election.

He polled 347,209 votes to defeat his closest opponent, David Emmanuel Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who secured 283,016 votes.

But the Appellate court on Thursday held that the tribunal headed by Ezekiel Ajayi acted in grave error by using witness statements on oath and not front loaded as required by law to arrive at the unjust conclusion of nullifying the election of the governor.

In a judgment delivered by Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam, the court said that the tribunal was legally bound to act on witness statements filed along with the petition or front loaded within 21 days as stipulated by law.

The court insisted that no petition can lawfully be amended outside the 21 days allowed by law as wrongly done by the tribunal.

Onyemenam said that since the statements used by the tribunal to sack the governor were not front loaded in compliance with the law, that it was a product of illegality with no probate value for a law court to act upon.

The court also dismissed the over voting issues used to annul the election, saying that the allegations were not established by law.

Justice Onyemenam held that the petition by the candidate of the PDP was a nullity and invalid on the ground that the jurisdictional issues raised by the governor was unlawfully ignored by the tribunal.

The court submitted that the tribunal denied the governor fair hearing by not considering and making findings on the issues of jurisdiction raised at the hearing of the petition.

Onyemenam stated that the denial of fair hearing against the governor was fatal and therefore, rendered all decisions of the tribunal invalid.

The court also reversed all orders made against the governor and the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.

Comments

National Parks Panacea In Mitigating Climate Change- Olory

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja The Conservator of Park, Cross River National Park, CP Caroline Olory has disclosed that National Parks hold the key to mitigating climate change across the country. She stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at a workshop organised by the Development Agenda in collaboration with Environmental Media Correspondents Assodiation of Nigeria with the theme: "Climate Change and COP28: The Way Forward For Nigeria." The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) scheduled to hold in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, will garner more than 70,000 participants, including heads of state and government, government officials, representatives of international organisations, business leaders, academics and civil society organisations. Olory lamented that climate disasters are happening at frightening rates in Nigeria, and a panacea to cushion the effect is the standing forest which serves as carbon sink that would absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. She informed

Emerging Diseases: EHCON Faults Health Workers For Neglecting PPEs

BY CHIKA OKEKE, Abuja L-R: Registrar of Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) Dr Yakubu Baba and Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Mr Mahmud Adam Kambari during a Ministerial press briefing on Monday in Abuja. The Environmental Health Council of Nigeria (EHCON) has faulted health workers for neglecting the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) in treating patients taunted by emerging diseases. This followed the outbreak of an Acute Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF) suspected to be Lassa Fever at the Accident and Emergency unit of the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital in Kaduna State last week. News Rider reports that a circular issued on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, by the Acting Corps Commander of the Nigerian Army Medical Corps, Brigadier General S.O Okoigi revealed that the index patient died at the hospital after presenting symptoms of febrile illness while three health workers died within 48 hours. The PPEs are goggles, masks, glov

Video: Civil Servants Write Promotional Exams In Darkness

Staff of Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Abuja are currently writing their promotional examination in darkness. In the 11 seconds video, the civil servants were seen writing the examination with torchlight and assistive light from their phones. Findings revealed that the hall, which has poor lighting and ventilation compelled staff battling with poor eyesight to struggle to read the examination. Regretably, the question papers were not typed but hand written, photocopied and distributed to the civil servants. An eyewitness told News Rider that the promotional exams earlier scheduled for November 9, 2023 by 10am, started at the Conference Hall, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Phase 1, Federal Secretariat Abuja. "The question we are asking is what of the money budgeted for the promotion examination that the ministry cannot distribute a typed question paper "The staff are writing exams with the touch light of their phones

News Rider

Search This Blog