There have been reports of heavy security presence around the premises of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, as the Court is set to deliver a judgment in the Nasarawa State Governorship election legal battle.
Reports revealed that the security measures were put in place by the management of the court to guard against possible breakdown of law and order, after the judgment on the Appeal submitted by Governor Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress, against David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party.
All roads leading to the Court have been cordoned off by heavily armed security personnel from the Nigeria Police, Department of State Services, and the Civil Defense Corps.
The roads leading to the Federal Secretariat have been blocked, and vehicles plying the routes to various destinations have been diverted to other routes with officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps on the ground, to control the heavy traffic occasioned by the road blockade.
However, both staff of the court, lawyers, litigants and newsmen are being thoroughly searched at the main gate before being allowed into the court premises.
Although several journalists were accredited for coverage of the judgment,
Meanwhile, only five of the several journalists accredited to cover the court proceedings were being allowed into the courtroom, due to what an official of the court blamed on lack of enough seats and crowd control.
Similarly, only a few accredited political party officials and their supporters who arrived at the court as early as 8 am were permitted into the court premises, while several others were restricted to far distance by armed mobile policemen.
Premium Politics reported that the Nasarawa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in a majority decision of two to one, annulled the election of Governor Sule on account of not scoring the majority of lawful votes cast during the March 18 governorship election in the state.
The Tribunal however declared Ombugadu of the PDP, as the lawful winner of the election in the state.
Dissatisfied with the decision of the tribunal, Sule approached the appeal court, seeking the court order to set aside the judgement of the tribunal, which sacked him.