The Court of Appeal in Abuja has deferred judgment in the appeal filed by Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule challenging the tribunal’s ruling that declared Peoples Democratic Party candidate David Ombugadu as the winner of the state’s gubernatorial election.
The tribunal, led by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, had reached a split decision, citing evidence from various polling units to declare Ombugadu as the victor.
Governor Sule, dissatisfied with the judgment, appealed to the Court of Appeal, seeking to overturn the decision.
During the recent hearing, Wole Olanipekun SAN, the governor’s counsel, argued that the tribunal had misapplied the law, particularly in its reliance on the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machine, without proper demonstration by the petitioners or the court.
Olanipekun asserted that there was no evidence of overvoting in the INEC Form EC8AS submitted by the petitioners, yet the tribunal nullified Sule’s election.
On the contrary, Kanu Agabi SAN, the counsel for the PDP candidate, contended that the tribunal had thoroughly analysed the BVAS contents, contrary to Olanipekun’s assertions.
The Court of Appeal has reserved judgment in this matter.
Source: Daily Nigerian News