Supreme Court Reserves Judgment In Nasarawa Guber Tussle

The Supreme Court has reserved judgement in the appeal against the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.

The legal tussle involves Governor Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with its governorship candidate in the 2023 election, Hon Emmanuel David Ombugadu.

During the appeal hearing, Kanu Agabi, SAN, the lead counsel for the PDP and its governorship candidate, appealed to the apex court to overturn the November 23 judgement of the Court of Appeal, which confirmed Sule as the duly elected governor.

Agabi urged the Supreme Court to reinstate the October 2, 2023 judgement of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which had favoured the PDP and Ombugadu.

Agabi contended that the Court of Appeal unjustly nullified the Tribunal’s judgement and improperly declared Sule as the winner of the March 18 gubernatorial election.

He specifically called on the Supreme Court to recognise the votes of Nasarawa State residents, declaring PDP and Ombugadu as winners, aligning with the Tribunal’s decision.

Akin Olujinmi, SAN, leading the legal team for the APC, urged the apex court to meticulously review the cited authorities supporting their plea for the case’s dismissal.

Following the arguments, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun announced that the judgement has been reserved, and the date for its delivery will be communicated to the involved parties.

In a previous judgement on November 23, the Appeal Court had overturned the State Election Petitions Tribunal’s decision on October 2, which had earlier nullified Gov Sule’s election.