The Court of Appeal in Abuja reserved decision on Saturday in the appeal filed by Nentawe Yilwatda Goshwe, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the Plateau State governorship election, against Governor Caleb Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Mutfwang was proclaimed the winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after receiving 525,299 votes to defeat 17 other contenders, including Goshwe, who received 481,370 votes.
Goshwe filed a challenge against Mutfwang’s election at the tribunal, arguing that the governor was not properly nominated and sponsored by his party (PDP), and that the PDP lacks the mechanism to support any candidate for governorship.
He further claimed that Mutfwang’s election was not conducted in accordance with the Electoral Act, and that the PDP candidate did not receive the majority of valid votes cast.
However, a three-member tribunal panel led by Justice R. Irele-Ifijeh unanimously dismissed the plea for lack of merit.
Not satisfied, the APC candidate filed an appeal against the tribunal’s decision, requesting that the appellate court declare him the winner on the grounds that the governor was not entitled to run in the election since he was not lawfully sponsored and nominated by a political party – the PDP.
He also claimed that the PDP lacked structure and was unqualified to run candidates in elections.
In his notice of appeal, the APC candidate further stated that there was over-voting and non-compliance with the 2022 Electoral Act during the state’s governorship election in 2023.
Prof. Goke Olagoke (SAN), lead counsel for the appellants, sought the court on Saturday to set aside the tribunal’s decision and declare his client the winner.
He told the court that the appellants’ contention is that the second respondent (Governor Mutfwang) was not qualified to run for office due to a lack of lawful sponsorship by a political party, which is a violation of Section 177 (C) of the 1999 Constitution.
Olagoke stated that his proposal was based on multiple court rulings, including appellate court decisions, and that the court is required to follow the decisions for consistency.
However, in a motion dated October 30 but filed on November 2, 2023, the governor, represented by a legal team led by a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Mr. Godwin Kanu Agabi (SAN), urged the appellate court to dismiss some grounds of the appeal as incompetent.
He also filed a notice of preliminary objection contesting the court’s jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
Attacking the appeal’s competence, Agabi brought the court’s attention to the fact that the nomination and sponsorship of a candidate for election are solely internal issues of a political party, which the court has no jurisdiction to investigate.
He claimed that the petitioner’s use of the phrase qualification was deceptive because the issue highlighted in the petition bordered on nomination and sponsorship.
Agabi, along with seven other Senior Advocates of Nigeria, including Damien Dodo, urged the court to consider the fact that the words sponsorship and nomination appear 23 times in the petition.
After hearing counsel for both parties’ statements, the three-member panel led by Justice Elfrieda Williams- Dawodu stated that “judgment is reserved to a date to be communicated to parties.”