On Friday, the Supreme Court confirmed Abdullahi Sule as the duly elected governor of Nasarawa state, concluding a legal dispute involving the incumbent governor, Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with its governorship candidate, Emmanuel David Ombugadu. In a judgment delivered by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who led the five-member panel of Justices, the court upheld the November decision of the Court of Appeal affirming Sule’s election as Nasarawa state governor.

Justice Kekere-Ekun, in dismissing the appeal, stated, “I have carefully reviewed the submissions of parties in the appeal and the documents tendered, and I resolve all the issues in this appeal against the appellants. This appeal lacks merit and is accordingly dismissed. The cross-appeals marked SC/CV/1214/2023, SC/CV/1215/2023 are also dismissed.” The Supreme Court thus affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal, overturning the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition’s decision that removed Governor Sule from office.

During the proceedings on January 19, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), the lead counsel to the PDP and its governorship candidate, urged the Supreme Court to set aside the Court of Appeal’s November 23 judgment and reinstate the October 2, 2023 judgment of the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in favor of PDP and Ombugadu. However, Governor Sule, INEC, and APC, in their submissions, requested the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking merit.

The Court of Appeal had previously overturned the Tribunal’s decision, ruling that the Tribunal acted in error by using witness statements not front-loaded as required by law. The Appellate Court also dismissed over-voting allegations and emphasized that the petition was invalid due to jurisdictional issues unlawfully ignored by the Tribunal. Ultimately, the Court of Appeal reversed all orders against Governor Sule, affirming him as the legitimately elected governor of Nasarawa state.