Tribunal sacks Gov. Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa, declares PDP’s Ombugadu winner
The Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, on Monday, nullified the victory of Governor Abdullahi Sule.
Delivering the judgment virtually, Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, declared Emmanuel Ombugadu of the PDP as the lawfully elected governor of Nasarawa State.
Two of the justices agreed that the election was won by the PDP while one judge dissented.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lafia, declared Abdullahi Sule the winner of the governorship election in Nasarawa State in March.
Prof Ishaya Tanko, the INEC returning officer said that the APC candidate polled a total of 347,209 votes to defeat his closest opponent, David Ombugadu, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who got 283, 016 votes.
However, the PDP candidate had expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the election, citing irregularities.
Earlier, the tribunal sitting in Lafia had dismissed the case brought by the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), challenging the confirmation of Governor Abdullahi Sule as the duly elected governor of Nasarawa State for lack of merit.
According to him, the petitioner failed to prove his case beyond reasonable doubt for alleged over voting, disruption of votes, among others.
However, the tribunal had refused to award costs against the NNPP.
