Supreme Court Affirms Election Of Governors Of Oyo, Kaduna, Nasarawa

The Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde.

In a unanimous judgement, the apex court found merit in the appeal filed by Makinde that the majority judgment of the appeal court was a miscarriage of justice.

The court, therefore, affirmed the majority judgment of the trial tribunal which upheld the election of Makinde as the duly elected governor of Oyo State.

The judgment applies to the remaining three appeals emanating from the election.

The Appeal Court had earlier ruled against the election tribunal in Oyo State which dismissed a petition by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Adebayo Adelabu.

Governor Makinde urged the Apex Court to set aside the decision of the court of Appeal and restore the judgment of the trial tribunal which affirmed his election as the governor of Oyo State.

Makinde’s counsel, Wole Olanipekun said that the 180 allowed by law for a petition to be heard had already been exhausted at the trial tribunal and so there cannot be another petition tribunal.

The panel which is headed by Justice Ejembi Eko later went on a short recess and returned to deliver the judgment which affirmed Makinde’s election victory.

In a similar vein, the Supreme Court also affirmed the election of Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State as the winner of the March 9 guber polls in the state.

In a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Centus Nweze, the appeal filed by Isa Ashiru of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the election is lacking in merit and it is therefore dismissed.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna State had earlier in November dismissed an appeal by Ashiru challenging the verdict of the election petitions tribunal which affirmed El-Rufai’s victory at the 2019 election in the state.

The court ruled that El-Rufai was duly re-elected as governor of Kaduna state.

Ashiru then headed to the Supreme Court which eventually affirmed the ruling of the Court of Appeal.

Also, the court affirmed the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.

The seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili dismissed the appeal filed by David Ombugadu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to challenge Sule’s victory at the March 9, 2019 election.

Makinde contested the 2019 polls under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while El-rufai and Sule contested under the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC).

The court also ruled that the PDP’s petition in Kaduna and Nasarawa states lacks merit.