The Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja has sacked the Governor of Nasarawa State, Abdullahi Sule, of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In its judgment on Monday, the tribunal annulled the election of Sule and declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), David Ombugadu, as the duly elected governor.

The lead Counsel to the PDP candidate, Chris Uche (SAN), argued that Sule's election was invalid due to the non-qualification of his deputy, Emmanuel Akabe, and the non-compliance with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) guidelines by the governor.

In her judgment, the Tribunal Chairman, Justice Musa Danladi Abubakar, agreed with the petitioners that Ombugadu was the validly elected candidate based on the evidence before the tribunal.

The Tribunal held that there was no evidence before it that the running mate of the APC governor, Mr. Akabe, possessed the West African School Certificate (WASC), as required by Section 177(d) of the 1999 Constitution.

The Tribunal ruled that the non-qualification of the deputy governor nullified the candidacy of Governor Sule for the 2023 governorship election.

Justice Abubakar therefore declared Ombugadu as the validly elected candidate for the 2023 governorship election in Nasarawa State.