Caleb Mutfwang, the governor of central Nigeria's Plateau State, has lost his seat after the Court of Appeal in the capital Abuja ruled on Sunday that he must cease to hold office.
Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Mutfwang of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election.
The poll results showed that Mutfwang had secured 525,299 votes against Nentawe Yilwatda's 481,370, a difference of 47,929 votes.
Yilwatda, who ran on the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party ticket, disputed the electoral outcome, and filed a petition at the elections tribunal.
Yilwatda, however, lost the petition, and thereafter moved to the Court of Appeal to challenge the tribunal's verdict.
Petitioner awarded election win
On Sunday, the Court of Appeal unanimously ordered INEC to withdraw Mutfwang's certificate of victory and hand it over to Yilwatda.
The court said it had established that Mutfwang, who was sworn into office on May 29, was not validly nominated and sponsored by PDP to participate in the governorship election.
Mutfwang's election was therefore declared "invalid" as his votes amounted to "wasted votes", the Court of Appeal ruled, adding that the first runner-up, in this case Yilwatda, should be given the winner's certificate.
"The tribunal was in error when it said the appellant lacked the right to contest the conduct of the election. If the appellant finds his neighbour with a goat that doesn't belong to him, there is nothing wrong if he complains or raises the alarm," the Court of Appeal said in its unanimous verdict.
