Nasarawa governor heads to appeal court after being sacked by tribunal

Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state says he would appeal the judgment of the Governorship Elections Petition Tribunal that annulled his declaration as the winner of March 18 election.

Governor stated this on Monday in Lafia while reacting the the spilt judgment of the tribunal.

He said that the judgment was a temporary setback that they would learn from in order to restrategise and come out stronger.

“I still remain the governor till Supreme Court decides otherwise because the law allows me to appeal and we will do that to reclaim our mandate,” Sule said.

The governor called on his supporters to remain calm and not take laws into their hands by engaging in street protests.

He cautioned the youths and supporters of APC against responding to the opposition, especially on social media.

The tribunal in a split judgment annulled the election of Gov. Sule of All Progressives Congress (APC) and declared Mr David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the rightful owner of the election.

The majority judgment was read by Justice Ezekiel Ajayi, Chairman of the tribunal.

Justice Chiemelie Onaga, a member of the panel, agreed with the lead judgment read by the panel chairman.

The only dissenting judgment was delivered by Justice Ibrahim Mashi, who dismissed the petition filed by the PDP candidate and upheld the declaration of the governor by the INEC.