The Abuja Division of the Appeal Court has sacked the Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

On Sunday, the panel of justices led by Elfreda Williams-Dawodu dismissed the judgment of the governorship tribunal that affirmed Mr Mutfwang’s victory, describing the lower court ruling as highly incompetent.

The lead justice, therefore, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to retrieve the certificate of return issued to Mr Mutfwang and issue a fresh certificate of return to Nentawe Goshwe of the All Progressive Congress.

The appellate court held that the decision of the tribunal to dismiss the petition filed by the APC and its candidate on the ground that the duo had no business meddling in the affairs of the PDP on which platform Mutfwang breached section 177 of the 1999 Constitution as amended and section 134 (C) of the Electoral Act.

The court also disagreed with the tribunal’s decision that the issues in the petition filed by the appellants were pre-election matters, as it held it was both pre-election and post-election matters and could not have been deemed status barred.

The court cited section 177 of the constitution and held that the PDP did not validly sponsor the governor during the election.

According to the court, the PDP violated the court order that a valid congress be conducted in that state’s 17 local government areas, insisting that holding congress in just five LGAs of the state was a nullity.