The makeup of the Supreme Court panel that will hear the lawsuit between Governor Abdullahi Sule of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the Nasarawa State governorship election has caused unease in the opposition camp.
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The state governorship election was scheduled for Tuesday, January 16, 2024, by the Supreme Court.
The five members of the Supreme Court panel are Justice Kudirat M. O. Kekere – Ekun – Lagos State; Justice Uwani Abba Aji – Yobe State; Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba – Zamfara State; Justice Ibrahim M. M. Saulawa – Katsina State; and Justice Tijani Abubakar – Yobe State, according to a report by SaharaReporters.
Members of the opposition camp are upset because two panellists are from Yobe State, where the governor is purportedly hailing from, according to information obtained online.
The panel’s two judges hail from the same Yobe. We disapprove of this composition,” an opposition camp member who wished to remain anonymous said.
Remember how the PDP’s David Ombugadu petitioned the Nigerian Supreme Court to declare Governor Sule’s election invalid?
This was seen in a copy of the notice of appeal that Ombugadu’s legal team filed, in which the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sule Audu Alhaji, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were named as respondents before the supreme court.
It was also reported how the Court of Appeal in Abuja validated the election of Sule as governor of Nasarawa State on November 23, 2023.
The Nasarawa State governorship election petition tribunal’s decision to dismiss APC candidate Governor Sule was overturned by the appeal court, which made this decision unanimously among its three-judge panel.
Following the tribunal’s decision to remove Governor Sule from office and proclaim Ombugadu the election winner, Governor Sule filed an appeal.
Ombugadu went to court even though the electoral commission had proclaimed Sule the winner of the governorship race.
Sule defeated his nearest rival, who received 283,016 votes, with a total of 347,209 votes, according to INEC.
On October 2, the tribunal declared Ombugadu the winner and declared Sule’s election to be invalid due to a divided vote.
However, Sule, through his counsel, Wole Olanipekun (SAN), sought the appellate court to upturn the judgement of the tribunal and approve his appeal.
