A 5-Man Panel of Justices of the Supreme Court, has dismissed an appeal by David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, seeking to upturn the electoral victory of Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.
Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Kudirat Kekere Ekun dismissed Ombugadu’s appeal for being ‘devoid of merit, vexatious and incompetent.
The panel unanimously held that all the sister appeals abide by the instant judgment and ordered parties to bear their respective costs.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had declared Sule as winner of the election with 347,209 votes to beat his closest challenger, Ombugadu, who polled 283,016 votes.
But Ombugadu challenged the election outcome at the Nassarawa State Governorship Tribunal, arguing that he won the majority of valid votes during the contest.
In a split decision of the tribunal on October 2, last year, two members, forming the majority, declared Ombugadu the winner of the election, while the minority opinion of the only other member affirmed Sule’s victory.
Sule subsequently appealed against the majority decision of the tribunal, and won.
However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, affirmed the election of Abdullahi Sule as Nasarawa State governor, after overturning the earlier decision of the election petition tribunal that removed him from office.
Not relenting, Ombugadu appealed at the apex court.
