Mohammed Shosanya
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja,on Sunday, removed Governor Mutfwang Manasseh of the Peoples Democratic Party as the Governor of Plateau state.
The three-man panel of the appellate court has declared Nentawe Goshwe of the All Progressives Congress as the validly elected governor of Plateau state.
Besides,the court has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to recognise Nentawe Goshwe as the authentic governor of Plateau state, having won the March 18, governorship election in the State.
Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu, leading the panel, held that in accordance with section 177 of the 1999 Constitution as amended, Manasseh was not a validly sponsored candidate of the PDP during the election.
The panel held that the PDP breached the court’s order that a valid Congress be conducted in the 17 Local Government Areas of the State, by conducting Congress only in 5 LGAs of the State, and as such is a nullity.
The court,while dismissing the decision of Plateau State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal held that the issue of qualification is both a pre-election and a post-election matter contrary to the findings of tribunal which held that the appellant lacked the locus to contest the validity of the respondent.
The court also noted that under section 134 of the Electoral Act, “it is the sole right of a political party to sponsor its candidate having met the necessary requirements to do so.
Evoking section 136 of the Electoral Act, the appellate court ordered INEC to retrieve the Certificate of Return issued to Governor Manasseh and issue a fresh Certificate of Return to Goshwe.
