President Bola Tinubu’s media aide, Bayo Onanuga, says the court sacked Governors Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau and Abba Yusuf of Kano for violating electoral laws.

Mr Onanuga, in a post on his X account on Monday, said Mr Tinubu and the judiciary should not be blamed for the governors’ sack. He dismissed those criticising the judgments as forgetful people.

“To those crying and complaining about the judgment of the Appeal Court in nullifying the election of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, they seem to have forgotten history so quickly,” said Mr Onanuga.

He said the critics of the appellate court’s verdicts should blame the PDP for their “electoral setbacks” instead of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and APC.

“In 2019, all Zamfara elected officials and members of the APC, from governor to state and National Assembly lawmakers, lost their posts because the APC failed to carry out legally valid primaries,” he said. 

Mr Onanuga added, “The PDP, failing to learn from history, repeated the same illegality, using an illegal caretaker committee to conduct primaries despite a court order.” 

Last Friday, the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal nullified Mr Yusuf’s election. Justice Oluyemi Osadebay-led tribunal, in nullifying Mr Yusuf’s election, declared that 165,663 of his votes were invalid.

Similarly, the Abuja Division of the Appeal Court sacked Mr Mutfwang on Sunday. The court cited section 177 of the constitution and held that the PDP did not validly sponsor the governor during the election.

However, Mr Onanuga, who said the critics of the judgement were “emotional”, asked them to be realistic.

“Non-compliance with the electoral law and the constitution is also at the root of the nullification of the election of Kano governor, Abba Yusuf,” he said. “Those blaming the judiciary and being emotional about the ruling should face reality. Yusuf was sacked based on the law. I believe we all want our country to be guided by the rule of law.”

Messrs Yusuf and Mutfwang have approached the Supreme Court to challenge the Appeal Court decision. The outcome at the Supreme will lay to rest litigation on the election that brought them to office.