The Supreme Court has overturned the decision to sack Caleb Mutfwang as Governor of Plateau State by the Appeal Court.
A five-member panel led by Justice Emmanuel Agim reversed the decision of the Appeal Court for being perverse because the issue of the primary election that produced Mutfwang was outside the jurisdiction of the lower court.
The apex court pointed out that the validity of nomination and sponsorship is not a valid ground to void an election.
Agim further stated that the issue of primary is an internal matter of political parties which both the Tribunal and Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction.
He warned the legal profession to wake up or else it would render itself irrelevant to the society.
The Presiding Justice, John Okoro also lamented that a lot of people have suffered because of the wrongful judgments of the appellate court which had sacked several legislators who won elections under the platform of the PDP.
In her submission, Justice Helen Ogunwumiju also berated the appellate court for going into the issue of nomination and sponsorship despite several decisions of the apex court to the effect that another political party cannot challenge the primary election of another.
In the 18 March governorship poll in Plateau State, Caleb Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the election with 525,299 votes.
His opponent, Nentawe Yilwatda of the All Progressives Congress, garnered 481,370 votes.
The Plateau State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Jos upheld Mutfwang’s victory.
However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja overturned Mutfwang’s victory on November 19, 2023, prompting him to file an appeal at the Supreme Court to challenge the lower court’s decision.
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