The Supreme Court on Friday, January 12, 2024, delivered judgements on the appeals involving governorship elections in eight states of the federation.
The separate judgements are all related to the outcomes of the March 18, 2023, governorship elections in the affected states.
A summary of the judgment shows the APC won in 3 states, the PDP won three states, and the LP and NNPP won one state each.
APC
1. Lagos State
The Supreme Court, on Friday affirmed the election of Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the duly elected Governor of Lagos State.
Justice Garba Lawal read the lead judgment of the apex court.
He dismissed the appeal filed by Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of the Labour Party (LP).
To him, the deputy governor of Lagos, Obafemi Hamzat, was duly qualified to contest the March 18, 2023, governorship election.
2. Ebonyi State
The Supreme Court on Friday, affirmed the election of Francis Nwifuru as the Governor of Ebonyi State.
Nwifuru contested and won the March 18, 2023 election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) but his victory was contested in court.
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Justice Tijani Abubakar read the lead judgment of the apex court.
He held that the appeal filed by Chukwuma Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is unmeritorious.
3. Cross River State
Nigeria’s Supreme Court also affirmed the election of Bassey Otu As the Governor Of Cross River State.
In its ruling on Friday, the court dismissed the appeal filed by Professor Sandy Onor and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In the lead judgment, Justice Helen Ogunwumiju held that the appellants failed to prove their case.
PDP
1. Bauchi State
The Supreme Court on Friday, affirmed the election of Bala Mohammed as the elected Governor of Bauchi State.
The apex court in a lead judgment read by Justice Ibrahim Saulawa, dismissed the appeal by Sadique Abubakar of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to him, the petition lacked merit.
2. Zamfara State
The Supreme Court has affirmed Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the authentic Governor of Zamfara State.
Lawal had approached the apex court after the court of appeal in November, declared the governorship election in the state inconclusive.
They had ordered a supplementary election in some local government areas in the state.
A former Governor of the state, Bello Matawalle, had challenged the victory of Lawal at the Court of Appeal.
3. Plateau State
The Supreme Court has declared Caleb Muftwang as the duly elected Governor of Plateau State.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the March governorship election had appealed the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which sacked him as governor.
NNPP
1. Kano State
The Supreme Court on Friday affirmed Abba Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as the duly elected Governor of Kano State.
It was Justice John Okoro that read the lead judgment.
He held that the lower court was wrong in its judgment to have deducted 165,616 votes from the vote secured by Governor Yusuf.
Labour Party
1. Abia State
In Abia, the Supreme Court affirmed Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP) as the duly elected Governor of Abia State.
This comes after the apex court, earlier on Wednesday, reserved judgment in the appeals.
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The appeals were filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) against the election of Alex Otti as the state governor.
