The Court of Appeal in Abuja has ruled to remove Gabriel Suswam, the former governor of Benue state, from his position as the Senator representing the Benue North East Senatorial District.
A unanimous decision on Wednesday, November 1, by a three-member panel determined that Suswam was not the rightful winner of the senatorial election on February 25, 2023.
The Court of Appeal found fault with the prior judgment of the National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal, which had previously upheld Suswam of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the election and overturned the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of Emmanuel Udende of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the victor. As a result, the Court of Appeal invalidated Suswam’s certificate of return and instructed INEC to issue a new certificate of return to Udende.
The court concluded that the tribunal had not adequately assessed the evidence presented by the parties during Suswam’s petition and had reached an incorrect conclusion in favour of Suswam, who had challenged Udende’s election victory. Consequently, the court allowed Udende’s appeal and annulled the tribunal’s decision.
The ruling by Justice Abimbola Obaseki-Adejumo, said: “The judgement of the tribunal delivered on September 8 is hereby set aside. “The return of the appellant as the winner of the Benue North East senatorial election that was held on February 25 is hereby affirmed.”
