September 22, (THEWILL) – The Plateau State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Jos has upheld the election victory of Governor Caleb Mutfwang.
A three-member panel of the tribunal led by Justice Sunday, in a judgment on Friday, dismissed the petition filed by Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the March 18 gubernatorial election in Plateau State.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Caleb Mutfwang the winner of the election after securing 525,299 votes, surpassing his closest rival, Yiltwatda, who garnered 481,370 votes during the March 18 election.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the poll, Yiltwatda approached the Tribunal, challenging the declaration of Mutfwang by INEC as Governor of Plateau State, alleging that as at the time of the election, Mutfwang was not qualified to contest having not been validly nominated and sponsored by his party (PDP) as the party had no structure as at the time of the said election.
Ruling on the petition on Friday, the Tribunal held that the PDP conducted a repeat congress in 2021 and therefore, had a solid structure as a party to nominate candidates for elections.
It also held that the issue of nomination and sponsorship of a candidate is solely a pre-election matter.
The tribunal equally rejected Yiltwatda and his party’s witnesses that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) was not used during the March 18 gubernatorial poll.
Prior to this decision, the tribunal had dismissed a petition filed by Alfred Dabwan, the governorship candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), against Governor Mutfwang.
Dabwan had approached the tribunal, seeking the nullification of the poll on the grounds of the alleged exclusion of his party’s logo from the ballot by INEC.
