APC, PDP Clash as Appeal Court Sacks Third Opposition Governor

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the All Progressives Congress, APC clashed on Sunday following the sacking of Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State by the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja.

In a judgment on Sunday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Mutfwang and issue a fresh one to Nentawe Goshwe of the APC whom the court declared as the valid winner of the March 18 governorship election.

Mutfwang was the third opposition governor to be sacked by the Court of Appeal within three days.

Last Thursday, the appellate court nullified the election of another PDP Governor, Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State, declaring that the governorship election in the state was inconclusive.

The following day, the same court invalidated the election of the Kano State Governor, Abba Kabir Yusuf, of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP.

Worried by the serial losses suffered by their governors and lawmakers at the courts, the PDP Deputy Legal Adviser, Okechukwu Osuoha, declared that the recent court judgments were not in tandem with the law.

But the Director of Publicity for the APC, Bala Ibrahim, posited that people who do not understand how the judicial process works were accusing both the APC and the Presidency of trying to turn Nigeria into a one-party state.

Mutfwang of the PDP had scored 525,299 votes while the candidate of the APC, Goshwe polled 481,370 votes in the March 18 governorship election in the state.

Goshwe challenged the victory of Mutfwang at the tribunal claiming that the governor was not validly nominated and sponsored by his party.

He also said there was non-compliance with the Electoral Act in the election.

The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal had dismissed his petition for lacking in merit, but Goshwe headed to the appellate court.

However, Justice Williams-Dawodu, in the lead judgment, set aside the decision of the tribunal.

The judge held that Mutfwang was not validly sponsored by the PDP and that he was not qualified to have contested the election because the PDP did not conduct valid state, local government, and ward congresses ordered by a High Court of Plateau State and it had no structure as at the time of the election.

Citing section 177 of the Constitution, she held that the governor was not validly sponsored by the PDP during the election