The Court of Appeal in Abuja postponed its decision on Wednesday in the appeal filed by Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, challenging the tribunal’s ruling that declared David Ombugadu, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, as the winner of the state governorship election.
In a split decision, the tribunal, presided over by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, concluded that Ombugadu garnered the majority of valid votes, supported by evidence from various polling units.
Governor Sule contested this decision and appealed to the Court of Appeal seeking its reversal. During Wednesday’s hearing, Wole Olanipekun SAN, representing the governor, argued that the tribunal misapplied the law in its judgment.
He claimed that the tribunal incorrectly relied on the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machine as evidence without proper demonstration by the petitioners or the court.
Olanipekun asserted that the tribunal did not find evidence of overvoting in the Independent National Electoral Commission Form EC8AS submitted by the petitioners but still invalidated his client’s election.
On the contrary, Kanu Agabi SAN, the lawyer for the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, countered Olanipekun’s arguments, stating that the tribunal thoroughly analyzed the BVAS, contrary to Olanipekun’s assertions. He emphasized that once a court has examined exhibits before it, its judgment cannot be deemed unfair.
Agabi urged the court to dismiss the appeal, citing time constraints that prevented him from presenting additional arguments. Nevertheless, the Court of Appeal chose to reserve judgment on the case.
