S'COURT DELIVERS VERDICT ON KANO, PLATEAU, LAGOS, 4 OTHERS TODAY

the governorship appeals from Kano, Plateau, Zamfara, Bauchi, Lagos, Ebonyi, and Cross River states.

While the appeals from Kano, Zamfara, Bauchi, and Lagos were heard and reserved last December, that of Plateau was heard on Tuesday, and the appeal from Ebonyi was heard on Wednesday.

Cross River was among the three heard yesterday and subsequently fixed for judgement today.

The nervousness seemed to be more intense, with fears of snowballing into violent protests, in Kano and Plateau states, where the incumbent governors had been ordered to vacate office by the lower courts.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Abba Yusuf of New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Kano State, saying he won majority of the lawful votes cast at the election.

But the Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, in a judgement in September last year, voided Yusuf’s election after deducting over 160,000 votes belonging to NNPP on the grounds that the ballot papers used for the poll were not signed and stamped by officials of the electoral umpire.

The deduction then gave Nasiru Gawuna of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the lead and he was subsequently declared the duly elected governor of Kano State.

Besides affirming the judgement of the tribunal, the appellate court went ahead to void Yusuf's participation in the March 18 governorship election, and said he was unlawfully nominated and sponsored for the election.

But Yusuf and NNPP, in their appeal, urged the apex court to set aside the two lower courts’ decisions because the tribunal erred in law when it deducted his over 160,000 votes on account of ballot papers not being signed and stamped by INEC officials.

The appellants further faulted the judgement of the appellate court, and argued that the issue of nomination and sponsorship was a pre-election matter, which the appellate court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain.

They, therefore, urged the Supreme Court to nullify and set aside the concurrent judgments of the two lower courts and affirm his election as the duly elected governor of Kano State.

There was also palpable tension in Plateau State, where the winner of the governorship election was sacked by the appellate court over alleged unlawful nomination.

INEC had on March 20, 2023 declared Caleb Mutfwang of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) winner of the Plateau governorship election, saying he scored 525,299 votes, against the 481,370 votes of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Nentawe Goshwe.

Nut in its judgement in last September, the three-member panel of the Plateau tribunal affirmed Mutfwang's election and dismissed Goshwe's petition for being incompetent and lacking in merit.

Not satisfied, the petitioners proceeded to the appellate court, where the three-man panel voided the judgement of the tribunal and ordered the sack of Mutfwang as governor on the grounds of illegal nomination.

The appellate court agreed with the appellants that the primary election that produced Mutfwang as candidate of PDP was illegal and constituted in violation of a court order.

The Court of Appeal subsequently ordered INEC to issue a fresh Certificate of Return to Goshwe after withdrawing the earlier one issued to Mutfwang.

Dissatisfied, Mutfwang approached the apex court to set aside the judgement of the appellate court on the grounds that the issue of qualification was a pre-election matter. He also said his party did not at any time violate the order of court with respect to organising a fresh congress.

The Supreme Court, during the hearing on Tuesday, raised the issue of jurisdiction, and pointed out that the order of the High Court was made outside jurisdiction as courts could not interfere with the internal matters of political parties.

Other matters slated for judgements included that of PDP's Abdulazeez Adediran, popular known as Jandor, and Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of APC had polled 762,134 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Rhodes-Vivour, who scored 312,329 votes, with Jandor coming a distant third with 62,449 votes.

The apex court had adjourned for judgement in the appeal filed by Professor Sandy Onor and his party, PDP, against the election of Bassey Otu as Governor of Cross River State, shortly after lawyers adopted and argued their cases for and against the appeals.

The appellants were challenging the concurrent judgements of the Cross River State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal and the Court of Appeal on the grounds that the judgements were perverse and should be upturned by the apex court.

Their lawyer, Dr Joshua Musa,

SAN, told the apex court that the two lower courts erred in law in holding that Otu was a lawful candidate of APC, even though he had defected from PDP and refused to vacate his seat at the state Assembly in line with the judgement of a Federal High Court.

Musa argued that the refusal to vacate office was an act of disobedience to the court. He added that the implication was that he remained a member of PDP and could not have been validly sponsored by APC.

In their responses, INEC and Otu, represented by Professor Mike Ozekhome, SAN, urged the court to dismiss the appeal for being incompetent and lacking in merit.

Ozekhome pointed out that the case of the appellants was a complete waste of the apex court's time because the issue had already been decided by both the tribunal and Court of Appeal, adding that the issue which bordered on qualification was a pre-election matter, well outside the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.

The appeal court in Lagos had on November 22, 2023, affirmed the election of Otu as the governor of Cross River State.

The appellate court, in the unanimous judgement, dismissed the appeal of Onor and PDP and upheld the judgement of the Election Petition Tribunal delivered on September 26 last year, which upheld the election of Otu of APC and his deputy, Peter Odey.

INEC had in March last year declared Otu winner of the governorship poll. It held that the APC candidate polled a total of 258,619 votes and won in 15 of the 18 local governments of the state, to defeat his closest rival, Senator