The Supreme Court on Tuesday reserved judgement on a suit filed by Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, seeking to restore his mandate to lead the state.

John Okoro, who led a five-member panel of justices, reserved the judgement after he took arguments from lawyers for both parties in the case.

The apex court is expected to deliver a verdict on the matter before January 16, when the appeal will expire.

Mr Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party scored 525,299 votes to beat the All Progressives Congress candidate, Nentawe Goshwe, who garnered 481,370 votes during the March 18, 2023 governorship poll in the 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 overturned the victory, necessitating Mr Mutfwang’s appeal at the Supreme Court.

Mr Mutfwang had urged the apex court to nullify the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which sacked him from office. The governor, who made this request in his appeal filed before the apex court by an eight-man team of Senior Advocates of Nigeria, led by Kanu Agabi, accused the lower court of not giving him and his party, the PDP a fair hearing.

A three-man panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu nullified the election of Mr Mutfwang on November 19, 2023, and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to issue a Certificate of Return to the candidate of the All Progressive Congress, Mr Goshwe.

The appellate court held that the appeal brought by Mr Goshwe was valid as the qualification issue was both a pre- and post-election matter under Section 177(c) of the Nigerian Constitution and Sections 80 and 82 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

Dissatisfied with the judgment, the governor formulated eight grounds of appeal on why the Supreme Court should validate his election.

He argued that the issue of nomination and sponsorship, which underpinned ground one of the petition by the APC, is not only a pre-election matter but within the internal affairs of the fourth

He submitted that as such the PDP, the first and second respondents lacked the locus standi to canvass it.

The appellant further contended that the lower court’s November 19, 2023, ruling was gravely faulty due to a lack of jurisdiction with respect to Section 285(2) of the Constitution (supra).

He insisted that disobedience of court order was not one of the grounds for maintaining an election petition under Section 134 of the Electoral Act (supra), nor is it part of Section 177(c) of the Constitution (supra), let alone disqualifying the appellant from contesting the election.

The governor further maintained that given the overwhelming oral and documentary evidence, including but not limited to exhibits U and 2RA3, the fourth respondent complied with exhibit G1 by conducting a state congress on September 25, 2021, in Plateau.

He also contended that the evidence of the 16th prosecution witness was thoroughly discredited and controverted, and as such, the lower court was wrong to heavily rely on it against him.

“The first and second respondents woefully failed to discharge the requisite burden of proof on them and, as such, were not entitled to the reliefs sought in their petition, more so that, having impugned the election as invalid for non-compliance, it is absurd of them to lay claim to victory for the same election.

“The lower court was in grave error when it held that the tribunal was wrong in striking out the offensive paragraphs of the appellant’s reply and utilising evidence of PW16, PW24, PW27 and PW28 as a tribunal of first instance.

(NAN)