The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, reserved its judgement on appeal the Governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang, filed to challenge the nullification of his election by the Court of Appeal.
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A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Inyang Okoro, adjourned the appeal for judgement, after all the parties argued their case and adopted their processes.
Governor Mutfwang, through his team of lawyers led by a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Kanu Agabi, SAN, urged the Supreme Court to set aside the judgement of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which sacked him from office.
He argued that contrary to the position of the appellate court, the Plateau State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, admitted in evidence, plethora of exhibits that established that he was validly nominated by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to contest the gubernatorial election that held on March 18.
Agabi, SAN, argued that after the tribunal properly evaluated both documentary and oral evidence that were adduced by the parties, dismissed as lacking in merit, the petition that was lodged against the outcome of the governorship election by candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Nentawe Goshwe.
He insisted that the appellate court sacked his client from office on the wrong notion that PDP failed to fully comply with a High Court order that directed it to conduct congresses for the purpose of electing its State Executives.
According to Agabi, SAN, aside from evidence that was tendered to show that the said order was obeyed, under the Constitution of the PDP, the onus of conducting a primary election to select candidates to be sponsored in an election, rests on the National Executive organ of the party.
“A number of exhibits were tendered to prove that valid Congress was conducted and monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
“A video was played before the tribunal showing that congresses held and the person that instituted the court action was see in the video, participating in the process,” Agabi told the apex court.
He further argued that the sponsorship and nomination of a candidate in an election, being a pre-election issue, was outside the scope of jurisdiction of both the tribunal and the appellate court.
“More so my lords, the issue of disobedience to court order is not within the purview of section 177 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, relating to the issue of qualification of a candidate to stand an election.
“Invalid nomination and sponsorship of a candidate by a political party is not one of the grounds upon which a petition could be lodged before a tribunal.
“Their whole petition was based on the issue of nomination and sponsorship.
“While the tribunal held that it lacked jurisdiction over that matter, the Court of Appeal said the issue also related to qualification of the candidate.
“We are here because it seems to us that the Appeal Court departed from your precedent which is that the issue of nomination and sponsorship is a pre-election matter,” Agabi added.
He further contended that the APC candidate made incongruous pleadings in his petition by alleging on one hand that the entire election was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the law and also praying to be declared the winner of the same election.
Agabi, therefore, urged the Supreme Court to allow the appeal and restore the unanimous decision of the three-member tribunal which dismissed the case of the APC and its candidate.
Meanwhile, the APC candidate, through his own team of lawyers led by Prof. Joseph Olatoke, SAN, prayed the court to uphold the Court of Appeal judgement that ordered the INEC to issue Certificate of Return to him as the candidate that garnered the highest number of valid votes in the governorship poll.
He argued that PDP’s refusal to elect its State Executives as ordered by the court, rendered it structureless in Plateau State and therefore incapable of presenting a valid candidate in the governorship election.
Likewise, counsel to the APC, Mr. Omosanya Popoola, prayed the apex court to uphold the judgement that sacked the Appellant from office.
On its part, INEC, through its lawyer, Mr. S. Atung, SAN, withdrew a separate appeal it filed to challenge the Court of Appeal judgement against Mutfwang and it was accordingly dismissed.
After the panel had listened to all the parties, it said the judgement date would be communicated to them.
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