Supreme Court postpones decision on Plateau governorship poll

Court would not rule on the Plateau governorship contest.
Mr. Mutfwang had pleaded with the supreme court to set aside the Court of Appeal’s ruling.

Governor of the Plateau, Caleb Mutfwang
Governor of the Plateau, Caleb Mutfwang Thank you, Caleb Mutfwang.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court postponed making a decision in a lawsuit brought by Caleb Mutfwang, the governor of Plateau State, in an attempt to regain his authority over the state.

After hearing arguments from the attorneys for both sides in the case, John Okoro, the head of a five-person panel of justices, deferred the decision.

The appeal will expire on January 16th, and the supreme court is expected to rule on the case before then.

The Peoples Democratic Party’s Mr. Mutfwang received 525,299 votes, while Nentawe Goshwe, the candidate for the All Progressives Congress, received 481,370 votes in the state’s governorship election on March 18, 2023.

The Plateau State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in the state capital of Jos validated the results of the governor’s election.

But the Abuja Court of Appeal reversed the decision, forcing Mr. Mutfwang to file an appeal with the Supreme Court.

Mr. Mutfwang had pleaded with the supreme court to overturn the Court of Appeal’s decision to remove him from office. The governor claimed that the lower court had denied him and his party, the PDP, a fair hearing in his appeal, which was submitted before the supreme court by an eight-person team of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, led by Kanu Agabi.

On November 19, 2023, a three-person bench of the Court of Appeal, chaired by Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu, declared Mr. Mutfwang’s election to be void and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to grant Mr. Goshwe, the All Progressive Congress candidate, a Certificate of Return.

According to Section 177(c) of the Nigerian Constitution and Sections 80 and 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022, the qualifying problem constituted both a pre- and post-election question, hence the appellate court determined that Mr. Goshwe’s appeal was admissible.

The governor, not pleased with the ruling, developed eight grounds for appeal explaining why the Supreme Court ought to uphold his election.

In support of ground one of the APC’s appeal, he contended that the nomination and sponsorship issue is not only a pre-election issue but also falls under the purview of the fourth estate’s internal affairs.

According to him, the PDP did not have the necessary standing to be canvassed by the first and second respondents.

The appellant further argued that the lower court lacked authority to rule on Section 285(2) of the Constitution (above), which rendered its decision on November 19, 2023, egregiously flawed.

He argued that disobedience to a court order is not grounds for filing an election petition under Section 134 of the Electoral Act (above) or for the appellant to be disqualified from running for office under Section 177(c) of the Constitution (above).

The governor further contended that the fourth respondent complied with exhibit G1 by holding a state congress in Plateau on September 25, 2021, in light of the overwhelming oral and documentary evidence, including but not limited to exhibits U and 2RA3.

Additionally, he argued that the lower court erred in primarily relying on the widely discredited and controverted testimony of the 16th prosecution witness against him.

It is absurd for the first and second respondents to claim victory in the same election after contesting the election as invalid due to non-compliance, as they completely failed to meet the burden of proof required of them. As a result, they were not entitled to the reliefs sought in their petition.

“The lower court erred greatly when it determined that the tribunal was incorrect to use PW16, PW24, PW27, and PW28 evidence as a tribunal of first instance and to strike out the objectionable lines of the appellant’s reply.