Headlines
Supreme Court Affirms Makinde, Sanwo-Olu, El-Rufai, Five Others’ Elections
The Supreme Court on Wednesday validated the election of Governor Oluseyi Makinde of Oyo State and the victories of the governors of seven other states at the March 9, 2019 governorship elections held in their various states.
A seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili, in separate judgments, affirmed the elections of Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State, David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Aminu Masari of Katsina State, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State and Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State.
While Makinde, Emmanuel and Umahi were of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sanwo-Olu, El-Rufai, Masari, Abiodun and Sule contested on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
The panel heard the appeals on the governorship tussles from the eight states in two batches on Wednesday.
After each lap of hearing, the members of the panel retired to their chambers to prepare their judgment and returned about an hour after to give the summary of their verdicts on the appeals.
The Oyo State governorship dispute turned out to be the most contentious among the appeals decided by the apex court on Wednesday, as all the parties to the case filed separate appeals against the November 11, 2019 judgment of the Ibadan Division of the Court of Appeal.
Although, the Court of Appeal, had in its split judgment of four-to-one substantially upheld the case of the APC and its candidate in the governorship poll, Adebayo Adelabu, it refused to make any order nullifying Makinde’s election.
Therefore, the APC and Adelabu, through their lawyer, Aliyu Umar (SAN), had filed an appeal against the Court of Appeal’s judgment, urging the apex court to make a specific order nullifying Makinde’s victory at the poll.
Makinde, had also through his lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), filed an appeal praying the apex court to set aside the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal and affirm the judgment of the election petition tribunal, which affirmed him as the duly elected governor of the state.
The PDP, through its lawyer, Nathaniel Oke (SAN), and the Independent National Electoral Commission, through its counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), had also filed separate appeals against the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal.
At the hearing earlier on Wednesday, the apex court decided that its decision on the appeal filed by Makinde would be binding on the rest of the appeals on the governorship election in the state.
Justice Ejembi Eko, who delivered the lead judgment, overturned the November 11, 2019 judgment of the Ibadan Division of the Court of Appeal and restored the judgment of the Oyo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which had declared Makinde and his party, the winner of the election.
Justice Eko said, “After going through the briefs of arguments, I find merit in this appeal.
“The judgment of the lower court is mainly based on perversity.
“The majority judgment is hereby set aside.
“The minority judgment/decision of the lower court represents a more sober reflection on the issues.”
In upholding El-Rufai’s election as Kaduna State governor, Justice Centus Nweze, who delivered the lead judgment, dismissed the appeal by Isah Ashiru of the PDP.
Justice Nweze noted that the concurrent judgments of both the tribunal and the Court of Appeal dismissing Ashiru’s appeal could only be set aside if found to be perverse and consistent in error.
But he noted that the appellants (Ashiru and the PDP) “failed to show the perversity in the concurrent judgments.”
“The issue in this appeal having been resolved against the appellant, I find no merit in the appeal and I hereby enter judgment dismissing the appeal,” he ruled.
Upholding the election of the APC’s Abdullahi Sule as the governor of Nasarawa State, Justice Mary Peter-Odili, who read the lead judgment, dismissed the appeal filed by the PDP and its candidate, David Ombugadu.
Justice Peter-Odili noted that the APC won in 13 local government areas, while the PDP won in only one.
She ruled that the appellants failed to prove their alleged case of “non-compliance affected the election.”
“This appeal fails, and it is hereby dismissed,” she added.
Concerning the Lagos State governorship dispute, Justice Paul Galinje delivered the lead judgments in two appeals challenging Sanwo-Olu’s election.
In the two judgments, Justice Galinje held that the appeal by the Labour Party and its candidate, Prof Ifagbemi Awamaridi, and the other by the Alliance for Democracy and its candidate, Chief Owolabi Salis, lacked merit.
He noted that he had no reason to interfere with the concurrent judgments of the tribunal and the Court of Appeal, which had both dismissed the appellants’ cases.
He added that their petitions instituted at the tribunal were not based on the grounds recognised by either the Constitution or the Electoral Act.
Justice Peter-Odili similarly dismissed the appeal by Adekunle Akinlade and his Allied Peoples Movement challenging the victory of Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.
She held that the appellants failed to prove the alleged non-compliance of the conduct of the March 9, 2011 poll in the state.
In respect of the Akwa Ibom State governorship tussle, Justice Dattijo Muhammad, who read the lead judgment, upheld Emmanuel’s election after dismissing the appeal by Nsima Ekere and his party, the APC, for lacking in merit.
Justice Amina Augie, who delivered the lead judgments in respect of the Ebonyi and Katsina governorship tussles, upheld the elections of the governors of the two states.
She dismissed the petition filed by the People’s Democratic Movement and his candidate, Chief Ajah Arua, as he held that they failed to prove that they were validly nominated to participate in the election, not to talk of proving that they were unlawfully excluded from the poll.
Upholding Masari’s election as Katsina State governor, Justice Augie dismissed the petition filed by the PDP and its candidate, Garba Lado.
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Headlines
ADC Presidential Primary: Hayatu-Deen Alleges Rigging, Withdraws from Results Announcement
One of the presidential aspirants of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mohammed Hayatu-Deen, says he will not attend the announcement of the party’s presidential primary election results, citing allegations of widespread vote rigging.
In a statement on his X handle on Tuesday, Hayatu-Deen expressed concern over reports of electoral irregularities from across the country.
The ADC aspirant noted that he witnessed some of the incidents.
“I will not be attending the announcement of the ADC Presidential Election Results today. I am concerned by reports from across the country of widespread vote rigging, some of which I myself observed, and will therefore be taking advice on my next steps,” the statement read.
The development comes amid keen competition for the ADC presidential ticket involving former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, former Minister of Transportation and former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, and Hayatu-Deen.
The ADC presidential primary election collation exercise will take place in Abuja. Results are expected from across the nation.
Ahead of the nationwide presidential primary held on Monday, the ADC had urged aspirants, party leaders, delegates, and members to conduct themselves peacefully and uphold party unity.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, described the exercise as a defining moment for both the ADC and Nigerians seeking a credible political alternative.
According to him, the party remained committed to internal democracy and a transparent leadership selection process.
“The ADC remains proud to stand today as the only truly democratic party in Nigeria because it is the only political party whose choice of presidential candidate is determined through open primaries,” Abdullahi stated.
The party also stressed that the conduct of aspirants and party members during the exercise would reflect the leadership culture the ADC seeks to promote.
Headlines
You’re Not Different from APC, INEC, Amaechi Slams ADC, Rejects Presidential Primary Results
A former Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, has rejected the results of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential primaries, alleging widespread voter disenfranchisement and electoral malpractice.
Amaechi, in a statement posted on his X handle on Tuesday, described the outcome of the exercise as “concocted results.”
He said he had earlier made it clear that he would only accept the outcome of the primaries if the process was free, fair and transparent.
“I will not accept results from a process that does not reflect the values that the ADC had pledged to uphold,” he said.
Amaechi alleged that about 80 percent of party members across the country were prevented from voting during the exercise.
“There’s no way that about eighty percent of members of the party were not allowed to vote, and you expect me to accept such results,” he stated.
The former Governor of Rivers State accused the party of engaging in practices it had previously condemned in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
According to him, the ADC cannot criticize vote buying, rigging and manipulation of election results by others while allegedly engaging in similar acts during its own primary.
Amaechi added that the development was unacceptable and contrary to the ideals upon which the party was founded.
A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit seeking to bar former President Goodluck Jonathan from contesting the 2027 presidential election, effectively clearing the way for him to participate in the polls if he chooses to run.
Justice Peter Lifu, who delivered judgment in the matter, held that the suit instituted by Johnmary Jideobi lacked merit and amounted to an abuse of court process.
The court further ruled that the plaintiff lacked the legal standing to institute the suit, noting that he failed to show how Jonathan’s possible participation in the election directly affected his interest.
Justice Lifu consequently awarded a total cost of N21 million against the plaintiff — N20 million in favour of Jonathan and N1 million in favour of the Attorney General of the Federation.
The judge described the suit as frivolous and a waste of judicial time, particularly after previous courts had already dismissed similar cases on the same subject.
He cited earlier judgments in Andy Solomon v. Jonathan at the Federal High Court and Cyracus Njoku v. Jonathan at the Court of Appeal, aligning with the decisions and stating that he had “nothing else to add.”
Justice Lifu also expressed dismay that the plaintiff and his counsel continued with the suit despite being aware of the earlier judgments.
The suit, filed in October 2025, sought a determination on whether Jonathan remained constitutionally eligible to contest the presidency in 2027.
The plaintiff argued that Jonathan had exhausted the constitutional two-term limit under Sections 1(1), (2), (3) and 137(3) of the 1999 Constitution, having completed the unexpired tenure of late President Umaru Yar’Adua between 2010 and 2011 before serving a full four-year term after winning the 2011 presidential election.
Jideobi had asked the court to restrain Jonathan from presenting himself as a presidential candidate and to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from accepting or publishing his name as a candidate in the 2027 election or any future presidential contest.
The plaintiff also sought an order directing the Attorney General of the Federation to enforce the requested injunctions if granted.
During proceedings, counsel to the plaintiff maintained that Jonathan had served more than twice in office and was therefore constitutionally barred from seeking another term as president.
Jonathan, INEC and the Attorney General of the Federation were listed as defendants in the suit.
