The Supreme Court has reversed the sack of Caleb Mutfwang, affirming him as Governor of Plateau State

The Supreme Court reverses the ruling and has affirmed Caleb Mutfwang election as the Governor of Plateau state.

The apex court pointed out that the validity of the nomination and sponsorship is not a valid ground to void election.

A five man panel lead by Justice Emmanuel Agim reversed the decision of the appellate court for being preserve because the issue of the primary election that produced Mutfwang was outside the jurisdiction of the lower court.

Justice Agim further stated that the issue of primary is an internal matters of political parties which both the Tribunal and Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction.

Agim also pointed out that contrary to the claim of the petitioners and the judgment of the appellate court the order of the Plateau High Court was not disobeyed by the PDP as evidence showed that a fresh primary was conducted.

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.

Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 525,299 votes to beat the All Progressives Congress candidate, Nentawe Yilwatda, who garnered 481,370 votes during the 18 March governorship poll in Plateau State.

The governor’s election was upheld by the Plateau State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal in Jos, the state capital.

However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, in its judgement delivered on 19 November 2023, overturned Mr Mutfwang’s victory, prompting him to file an appeal at the Supreme Court to challenge the lower court’s decision.