Supreme Court Affirms the Election Victory Of these Nigerian state governors

The Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed the outcomes of the governorship elections in Oyo, Kaduna, and Nasarawa States.  

The court upheld the elections after listening to separate appeals regarding the outcomes.

Seyi Makinde Wins

The Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed the election victory of Seyi Makinde of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Oyo State governor.

In a unanimous judgment, the Apex Court found merit in the appeal filed by Mr. Makinde that the majority judgment of the Appeal Court was a miscarriage of justice.

The Appeal Court had earlier ruled against the Oyo election tribunal which dismissed the petition by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate, Adebayo Adelabu.

Governor Makinde urged the Apex Court to set aside the decision of the court of Appeal and restore the judgment of the tribunal which affirmed his election as the governor of Oyo State.

After listening to both counsels, the panel headed by Justice Ejembi Eko went on a short recess and returned to deliver the judgment.

The court, therefore, affirmed the majority judgment of the tribunal which upheld the election of Makinde as the duly elected governor of Oyo State.

El-Rufai Triumphs

In the case of Kaduna state governorship election, Mr Isa Ashiru, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had approached the Supreme Court challenging the election victory of Nasir El-Rufai.

However, in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Centus Nweze, the appeal filed by Ashiru was dismissed for lacking in merit.

Also in Nasarawa State, the Supreme Court upheld the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule.

A seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili dismissed the appeal filed by David Ombugadu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to challenge Sule’s victory at the March 9, 2019 election.

The court held that the appellant failed to prove allegations of substantial non-compliance in the election.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has affirmed the election of  Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State on the grounds that the appellant, Mr. Adekunle Akinlade, did not prove beyond reasonable doubts his allegations of substantial non-compliance and irregularities in the election.

The Supreme Court also affirmed the election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State. The unanimous judgment was delivered on Wednesday by Justice Paul Galinje. He held that the reliefs sought by the appellant do not fall within the ambit of the schedule of the electoral act and that prayers sort before the court in an election matter are jurisdictional and must fall within the reliefs allowed by the law in section 138 of the electoral act.