Ombugadu loses as supreme court affirms Abdullahi Sule as Nasarawa governor

The supreme court has affirmed Abdullahi Sule as the duly elected governor of Nasarawa state.

In the judgment on Friday, Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, who read the lead judgment, held that the verdict of the court of appeal, which affirmed Sule’s election, was “comprehensive and well considered”.

Consequently, all five-member panel of the apex court dismissed the appeals filed by David Ombugadu, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last elections.

In March 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Sule as winner of the election with 347,209 votes.

Ombugadu polled second with 283,016 votes.

However, the PDP candidate had expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the governorship election, citing alleged irregularities.

In October 2023, the election petition tribunal in Lafia nullified Sule’s victory and declared Ombugadu as winner of the poll.

Consequently, Sule and the APC sought to overturn the verdict of the tribunal.

In November 2023, the court of appeal faulted the verdict of the tribunal and affirmed Sule’s election as governor.