The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, yesterday, sacked the governor of Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang.
The court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, held that Mutfwang was not validly nominated and sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to participate in the March 18 gubernatorial election.
The appellate court held that all votes credited to him and the PDP after the election amounted to a waste.
The Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu-led panel ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the Certificate of Return it issued Mutfwang as winner of the governorship poll.
It also ordered that the candidate that had the second majority lawful votes should be sworn in as governor.
The case followed an appeal against Muftwang’s election by the governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda.
INEC had declared that Mutfwang won the gubernatorial contest with 525,299 votes, ahead of Goshwe, who polled 481,370 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, Goshwe had approached the Plateau State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. He contended, among others, that the PDP lacked a political structure in the state and was, therefore, incapable of validly nominating or sponsoring any candidate for the poll.
He also argued that the election of Mutfwang was not conducted in compliance with the Electoral Act, insisting that the PDP candidate did not win the majority of lawful votes cast during the election.
Mutfwang had, earlier, appealed to people of the state to remain calm in the face of the oncoming ruling.
He told supporters and senior government officials who had come to receive him at the Yakubu Gowon Airport in Jos, following his return from a foreign trip: “I was following the judgment while I was away, and I know that Plateau people who actually voted massively for the PDP are not happy on those judgments.
“Let me appeal that in a contest, the wind can blow but does not mean it will bring you down. And I want to assure the people of Plateau State that the victory they gave us will be sustained. We have had some setbacks; we will be looking at them, these few days, to see what we will be able to do to remedy such situations.”
He added: “We are on top of the situation, and there is no cause for alarm. Our confidence in the judiciary has not been broken. We have confidence that the judiciary consists of men and women of integrity that will still do what is right when the time comes.”
