Caleb Mutfwang, the governor of Plateau State, has been fired by the Court of Appeal located in Abuja.
In the state’s March 18 governorship election, Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party received 525,299 votes, while Nentawe Goshwe, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, received 481,370 votes.
Goshwe contested Mutfwang’s victory at the tribunal, arguing that the governor’s nomination and party support were invalid.
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Additionally, he claimed that the election did not follow the Electoral Act.
In a unanimous ruling, the three-person tribunal panel led by Justice R. Irele-Ifijeh dismissed the petition on the grounds that it lacked merit.
The APC candidate filed an appeal of the tribunal’s decision because he was unhappy with it.
Citing Section 177 of the Constitution, the three-member Court of Appeal bench headed by Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu ruled on Sunday that the governor was not lawfully sponsored by the PDP for the election.
According to her, the party disobeyed a court order requiring it to hold a legitimate congress in each of the state’s 17 local government districts.
She claimed there was no proof the PDP followed an ongoing ruling by the High Court requiring it to have a legitimate party congress before endorsing the gubernatorial and other candidates.
In contrast to the tribunal’s ruling that the appellant lacked the jurisdiction to challenge the respondent’s legitimacy, the court determined that the qualification issue is both a pre-election and a post-election matter.
The court further underlined that a political party’s exclusive right to support a candidate who satisfies the conditions is stipulated in Section 134 of the Electoral Act.
She then instructed the Independent National Electoral Commission to obtain the Certificate of Return that had been given to the governor and provide Goshwe with a new certificate.
In the meantime, the court upheld Rimvjat Nanbol’s removal from his role as the legislator for the Langtang Central State Constituency in Plateau State.
The Labour Party’s Daniel Listic was proclaimed the victor of the state constituency election by the judiciary.
According to Justice Okon Abang’s reading of the verdict, the tribunal was correct to conclude that it had the authority to oversee a political party’s internal matters, including non-qualification and sponsorship disputes.
“It is my opinion that there would have been no PDP party in the election if the court injunction had not been followed.
“A political party defying a court order is a joke gone too far,” he continued.
He pointed out that a court of law has the authority to hear a case involving a political party, particularly if the party is in violation of an existing court order.