On Friday, the Supreme Court issued judgments regarding appeals challenging the results of governorship elections in several states, including Gombe, Kebbi, Ogun, Kaduna, Nasarawa, and Delta.

Last week, the highest court had already made decisions regarding 10 state governors, including those of Benue, Abia, Zamfara, Lagos, Bauchi, Cross River, Ebonyi, Kano, Akwa Ibom, and Plateau. None of these governors were removed from office.

In the case of Ogun State, the Supreme Court upheld the election of Governor Dapo Abiodun. The appellants, Ladi Adebutu and the Peoples Democratic Party, had requested the court to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct fresh elections in 99 polling units where the elections were allegedly cancelled. The Court of Appeal in Lagos had previously affirmed Abiodun’s reelection in a split decision on November 24, 2023. Justice Joseph Ikyegh delivered the majority judgment dismissing the appeal filed by the PDP and its governorship candidate. On Friday, Justice Tijani Abubakar read the lead judgment dismissing the appeal.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court confirmed the election of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori in Delta State. The court dismissed appeals made by the All Progressives Congress and its candidate, Ovie Omo-Agege, as well as the Labour Party and its candidate, Ken Pella. In the case of Omo-Agege’s appeal, the five-member panel led by Justice John Okoro declared that the appeal lacked merit and the appellant failed to meet the burden of proof. 

Pella’s appeal was also dismissed due to its lack of merit.

The Court of Appeal in Lagos had confirmed Oborevwori’s election as the governor of Delta State, rejecting the appeals made by the governorship candidates and their respective parties.

Oborevwori secured 360,234 votes, defeating his closest rival, Omo-Agege of the APC, who received 240,229 votes.

Pella of the LP came in third with 48,027 votes, while Great Ogboru of the All Progressives Grand Alliance obtained 11,021 votes, placing fourth.

Furthermore, the Supreme Court upheld the election of Abdullahi Sule as the Governor of Nasarawa State.

The tribunal had initially nullified Sule’s victory and declared David Ombugadu, the PDP candidate, as the winner of the March 18, 2023 election. However, the Court of Appeal reinstated Sule, stating that the tribunal had wrongly relied on the statements of eight PDP witnesses, which were not included with the petition.

Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, delivering the lead judgment, determined that the appeal lacked merit.

Regarding the Gombe election, the Supreme Court upheld the judgments of the lower courts, confirming the election of Governor Inuwa Yahaya.

Jibrin Barde of the PDP had contested the outcome of the election.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja had previously affirmed Yahaya’s election as the governor of Gombe in November 2023. The appellate court ruled that the petitioner failed to substantiate allegations of non-qualification, perjury, and certificate forgery presented in the petition.

Justice Kekere-Ekun, leading the five-member panel, affirmed the concurrent judgments of the lower courts and found no reason for the apex court to intervene.

Additionally, the Supreme Court affirmed the election of Nasir Idris as the governor of Kebbi State.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the state election inconclusive due to cancellations and overvoting in certain Local Government Areas.

On April 15, a supplementary election was conducted, and Idris, the APC candidate, secured 409,225 votes, defeating Aminu Bande of the PDP, who received 360,940 votes.

Unsatisfied with the election outcome, Bande approached the tribunal, alleging overvoting in some polling units and asserting that Idris was not eligible to run for the election.

The tribunal deducted 1,735 votes from the APC and over 900 votes from the PDP, but these deductions did not impact Idris’ election.

Bande then appealed to the Court of Appeal, which upheld the governor’s election. Bande subsequently took the appeal to the Supreme Court, but the court ruled that the appeal lacked merit and dismissed it along with other related appeals.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also confirmed Uba Sani’s election as the governor of Kaduna State.

The court dismissed the appeal made by the PDP and its governorship candidate, Mohammed Ashiru Isa.

On November 24, 2023, the Court of Appeal in Abuja unanimously affirmed Uba Sani’s election as the governor of Kaduna State.

The PDP and Ashiru contested the outcome of the governorship election held on March 18, alleging that Uba was not legitimately elected with a majority of valid votes and claiming that the election was invalid due to corrupt practices and non-compliance with the Electoral Act of 2022.

Justice Tijani Abubakar, reading the lead judgment, concluded that the appellant had no valid arguments to present to the court. The appeal was deemed vexatious, frivolous, and lacking in merit. The judgment of the lower courts affirming the governor’s election was upheld.