The Supreme Court has dismissed the bid by
Governor Amunu Waziri Tambuwal to stop a
court’s action challenging the propriety of his
nomination for the 2015 governorship election by
the All Progressive Congress (APC).
The Supreme Court held that the nomination of
Mr. Tambuwal by his party should be challenged
by another governorship aspirant, Umaru Dahiru,
on the ground that he has sufficient justifiable
cause.

In a unanimous decision of a five-man panel of the
Supreme Court Justices, the Apex Court held that
to agree with Mr. Tambuwal that the primary
election that produced him cannot be challenged
by another governorship aspirant is to allow
democracy to be murdered by the governor.
In the lead judgement by Justice Musa
Mohammed, read by Justice Chima Nweza, the
apex court set aside the decision of the court of
appeal that the court action instituted by Mr.
Dahiru against Mr. Tambuwal had been overtaken
by events on the strength of the election of the
governor.

The Supreme Court said the Appeal Court erred in
law by holding that the event had overtaken the
case simply because the governorship election
had been conducted after the primary election.
The Apex Court therefore ordered that a Federal
High Court in Abuja should retry the case on its
merit and make decision as demanded by law.
Mr. Dahiru had challenged the conduct of the
primary election that produced Mr. Tambuwal as
candidate of APC on the ground that it was fraught
with fraud because the original list of the delegate
for primary election was swap in favour of Mr.
Tambuwal.

By this development, the Federal High Court in
Abuja will now determine the matter on its merit
as ordered by the Supreme Court.