Caleb Mutfwang, the Governor of Plateau State, has been sacked by the Appeal Court in Abuja.
The lead Justice, Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu, directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give a Certificate of Return to the All Progressive Congress candidate, Nentawe Goshwe, in her verdict on Sunday.
Justice Williams-Dawodu overturned the Tribunal’s decision to uphold Governor Mutfwang’s election, calling it “highly incompetent.”
The tribunal’s decision to dismiss the petition filed by the APC and its candidate on the grounds that the duo had no business meddling in the affairs of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on whose platform Mutfwang was elected is a violation of Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution as amended and Section 134 (C) of the Electoral Act, according to the court.
The court further found that, contrary to the tribunal’s finding that the concerns in the appellants’ petition were pre-election problems, they were both pre-election and post-election matters and could not have been deemed status barred.
The panel stated that Mutfwang was not legitimately sponsored by the PDP during the election, citing Section 177 of the Constitution.
It held that the party violated the court’s decision that a legal congress be held in all 17 local government districts of that state by holding congress in only five of them, and that the congress was thus null and void.
While dismissing the Plateau State Election Petitions Tribunal’s decision, the court held that the issue of qualification is both a pre-election and a post-election matter, contrary to the tribunal’s findings that the appellant lacked the locus to contest the respondent’s validity.
The court also stated that under Section 134 of the Electoral Act, it is a political party’s sole authority to sponsor its candidate after meeting the relevant qualifications.
Invoking Section 136 of the Electoral Act, the court directed INEC to retrieve Governor Mutfwang’s certificate of return and issue a new certificate of return to the Goshwe.
