The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja on Thursday affirmed the victory of the Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Sule of the All Progressives Congress the winner of the election, while David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party came second.
But the state election petition tribunal led by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi in a split judgment held that based on evidence from the various polling units, Ombugadu had the majority of valid votes at the election
But Sule appealed the judgment and asked the appellate court to set it aside.
Delivering judgment on the matter on Thursday, the court expunged from its records the evidence and exhibits from PWs 5, 6,7,8,12,13,20, and 21 which the tribunal relied on.
Reading the lead judgment, Justice Uchechukwu Onuemenam, held that the statements of the witnesses were not front-loaded.
The court noted that Section 285(5) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, Section 132(7) of the Electoral Act 2022, and Paragraphs 4(5) (6) and 14(2) of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, state that written statements on oath must be filed alongside the petition within the simulated time.
“Where a trial court admitted and acted on an illegally inadmissible evidence, it is the duty of the appellate court to ensure that such illegally inadmissible evidence is expunged, ” she held.
According to her, the remaining statements and evidence from PWs1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 22 cannot sustain the judgment of the tribunal.
Also, the court ruled that the tribunal was wrong to have deducted 1,868 votes from the governor’s votes based on the allegation of over-voting in four polling units.
“A party alleging over-voting must present voter registers in the affected polling units, BVAS machine, and Form EC8. The petitioners merely dumped their evidence on the tribunal without showing how over-voting occurred , “she said.
Punch
