Mutfwang Manasseh, the governor of Plateau State and a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was fired by the Court of Appeal’s Abuja division on Sunday.
It commanded that Nentawe Goshwe of the All Progressives Congress, or APC, be acknowledged by the Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC, as the duly elected governor in the March 18 governorship race.
In her lead opinion, Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu, who presided over a three-person panel, referred to section 177 of the Constitution and stated that Manasseh was not legitimately supported by the PDP in the election.
The panel decided that because the party only hosted the Congress in five of the state’s seventeen local government areas, it was a nullity and in violation of the court order requiring that a legal Congress be held in all seventeen local government areas.
In contrast to the tribunal’s ruling that the appellant lacked the jurisdiction to challenge the legitimacy of the respondent’s nomination, the court dismissed the Plateau State tribunal’s decision and concluded that the qualification question is both a pre- and post-election concern.
The court further pointed out that, in accordance with section 134 of the Electoral Act, a political party retains the exclusive right to support a candidate who satisfies the qualifications.
The court directed the INEC to obtain the certificate of return given to Governor Manasseh and provide a new certificate of return to Goshwe, invoking section 136 of the Electoral Act in the process.
