News From The Supreme Court And Election Tribunals.

S’Court orders re-trial of Udoedeghe, Ugbah’s petitions

Respite came the way of two governorship candidates of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Akwa Ibom and Benue states, Senator James Akpanudoedeghe and Professor Steven Ugbah, respectively, as the Supreme Court, Monday, voided the dismissal of their petitions by the tribunals.

Consequently, the apex court ordered the respective governorship elections tribunal that handled their cases to go ahead and try them de novo, stressing that the petitions ought to have been decided on merit rather than technicalities.

Whereas Udoedeghe is seeking the nullification of the election that brought Governor Goodswill Akpabio into office, his Benue counterpart on the other hand, went to the tribunal to challenge the election victory of Governor Gabriel Suswam.

However, the duo lost in their bid as the tribunals dismissed their petitions.

Delivering judgment on separate appeals by the two opposition candidates, Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, who headed the five-man panel of Justices, said the days when judges rely on technicalities rather than substantial justice were gone.

In the case of Benue State, the Court of Appeal, sitting in Markudi had dismissed the petition of Prof. Ugbah against Governor Suswam of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on the premise that the petitioner failed to secure leave of the tribunal before filing his motion ex parte for the pre-trial session.

It was PDP that approached the appellate court, challenging what it described as the improper mode of activating pre-trial by ACN, insisting that Professor Ugbah and his party did not seek leave of the tribunal before bringing the motion for pre-trial.
Source Vanguard.

Okorocha,Almakura,and Shettima's elections affirmed.


THREE Governorship Election Tribunals yesterday in different judgments confirmed the elections of three governors. The governors whose victories were affirmed are Kashim Shettima of Borno State, Rochas Okorocha (Imo) and Umaru Tanko Almakura (Nasarawa).

The Borno State election petition tribunal in Abuja yesterday upheld the victory of Shettima of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the April 26 governorship election in the state.

It dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Mohammed Goni.

In a unanimous judgment, the three man panel headed by Justice Sani Adamu said since the petition had been



abandoned by the petitioner the panel lacked the jurisdiction to entertain it.

The judgment which lasted about two hours was delivered under tight security.

Justice Adamu held that the petitioner came by way of motion ex-parte instead of motion on notice and that by the time he asked for an extension of time, he could not be availed owing to the provision of the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended) which stipulates time for the hearing of the petition.

The tribunal held that it had a duty to exercise discretion on matters before it and that such discretion must be founded on the relevant provisions of the statute in question.

The tribunal stated that the application for extension of time within which to apply for issuance of pre-hearing notice and information sheet cannot be granted when it came through a wrong method of application.

The Supreme Court had on October 31 set aside the stay of proceedings granted by the Court of Appeal against the tribunal.

The court ordered parties in the suit to return to the tribunal to resume hearing of the petition.

Justice Walter Onnonghen, who vacated the order of the Court of Appeal halting proceedings at the Tribunal, said an interlocutory appeal in a case could not operate as a stay in an election matter which must be concluded within a period of time.

The Electoral Act 2010 stipulates that election petition must be heard and determined within 180 days.

Justice Onnonghen, who led four other justices of the court in deciding the appeal said that the Court of Appeal had no power to stay the proceedings of the tribunal.

In Imo, the tribunal sitting in Owerri, unanimously threw out the petition submitted by the PDP challenging the election of Okorocha. It stressed that the petition was lacking in merit.

Delivering the judgment which lasted for over three hours, Tribunal Chairman, Justice E.N Kpojime, stated that the petitioner failed to prove his case beyond all reasonable doubt.

Specifically, he said the petitioner could not prove that there was no violence which necessitated the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel election in three local governments of the state.

The tribunal highlighted that even the petitioner’s witnesses supported the respondent’s witnesses that there was widespread violence in the affected local government areas of Oguta, Mbaitoli and Ohaji/Egbema.

The tribunal said, ‘‘The supplementary election held on 6th of May in Imo State was a valid continuation of the first election held on 26th of April 2011 and they cannot be separated from each other, since both elections are constitutional.

“No declaration and no returns were made by the INEC on April 26, 2011 in respect of the three local government areas. As long as no winner was declared, it behoves on INEC to determine the best possible way to resolve and conclude the election hence you cannot disfranchise a whole lot of eligible electorates”, the tribunal stated.

The tribunal further held that the elections that began on April 26, 2011 were concluded on May 7, 2011 by the declaration of a winner.

“We are therefore, stating that the election of May 2011 was the continuation of April 26, 2011. The election of the May 6, 2011 was the conclusion of the election of April 26, 2011.

The tribunal, however, denied the petitioner the votes of the May 6, 2011, based on the fact that the petitioner denied participation in the May 6, 2011 exercise.

It stated that since it was not party to that election, it cannot benefit from it.

Counsel to the first and second respondents, Niyi Akintola (SAN) commended the tribunal for discharging its work creditably.

While the counsel to petitioner Chief Awa Kalu (SAN) said that “it is not over, until it is over,” stating that he will liaise with petitioner for further instructions.

In Lafia, Nasarawa State the tribunal upheld the election of Al-Makura of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

The Chairman of the Tribunal, Frederick Chukuemeka Obieze held that the election was conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act 2011 and declared Al-Makura validly elected governor of the state in a judgment that lasted about 4 hours.

Former Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Akwe Doma of the PDP had dragged the incumbent to the tribunal alleging that the April polls were characterized with irregularities and violence praying the tribunal to declare him the lawful winner as he got more votes than what was allocated him during the election.

Justice Obieze, however, said that counsel to the petitioner, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) failed to prove his client’s claim that the governorship poll was marred with massive rigging and sundry election malpractices.

He further explained that only the result relied upon by INEC in the election can be said to be valid, saying that the returning officer who cancelled the nine polling units results from Laminga ward was not under obligation to enter result in form EC8 from sheet of paper, thus there is no result from the affected units in the ward.

Overruling the cancellation of result in Oshogu polling unit in Nasarawa local government and Ana town polling unit in Doma, the Chairman explained that the addition of results from the two polling units does not alter the overall result of the election as the final result according him stood at 324,913 for the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) polled 322,594.

It was, however, not all in favour of Al-Makura as one of the panel of Judges, Justice Akin Oladimeji declared that Fagbemi had sufficiently led compelling and persuasive evidence to prove that the conduct of the election was tainted with irregularities which marred the outcome.

He further held that the petitioner has justified why the reliefs he seeks should be granted him accordingly.

Whether or not the Petitioner will appeal the Judgment, his counsel, Fagbemi told newsmen shortly after the judgment that he will need to consult with his client first to know if they were going to appeal.

Meanwhile, the State and National Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Makurdi yesterday upheld the election of the Senate minority Leader, Chief George Akume,(ACN ) ,representing Benue -North -West.

The tribunal dismissed as lacking in merit the petition filed by the former speaker pro-tempore ,Mr. Terngu Tsegba of the PDP.

The chairman of the Tribunal, Justice M.Abimbola in the three hour judgement said the petitioner failed to prove his allegation that Senator Akume was not qualified to contest the election.

According to the tribunal the issue of non qualification based on the time and period the first defendant (Akume) joined the ACN was entirely an internal affair of the party and none of the business of the petitioner.

It said the tendering of ACN membership card,and constitution as amended and letter of waiver from ACN was enough evidence that Senator Akume was validly sponsored by his party.

It also rejected allegations that Akume was not elected by majority votes cast during the election or that the election was marred by illegalities as the petitioner did not tender evidence of massive thump printing as he alleged in his petition.

Justice Abimbola said the election could not be declared invalid after Akume had tendered before the tribunal the result sheets as declared by INEC and duly signed by PDP and ACN agents.

He berated the petitioner for relying on the internal affairs of the ACN to prosecute his case which he said lacked merit and therefore dismissed the petition without cost.

Counsel to Senator Akume, Mr. J. S. Orkuma described the judgment as sound.
Source The Nation.

Tribunal upheld elections of Enugu,Ebonyi Delta and Kwara Governors
Governor The governorship election petition tribunals in Enugu, Ebonyi, Delta and Kwara states have upheld the elections of the incumbent governors of the respective states.

Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State yesterday described his victory at the elections petition tribunal as the triumph of democracy after the tribunal which sat in Enugu, dismissed for want of merit, the petition filed against him by the governorship candidate of the Labour Party in last April’s elections, Mr Okey Ezea.

While thanking God and the people of the state for their support while the case lasted, the governor, in a release signed by the Commissioner for Information in the state, Mr Chuks Ugwuoke, also extended his hands of fellowship to the petitioners and all those who lost to him at the April gubernatorial polls.

He said, “We give God glory for guiding us and for being with us through the process. We also thank our people immensely for their solidarity right from the elections when they gave us their mandate. This verdict has further reaffirmed my faith in the ability of the Nigerian judiciary to dispense justice without fear or favour.’’

The governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Abakaliki also yesterday upheld the election of the Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the April 26 governorship elections, Chief Martin Elechi as the governor of Ebonyi State.

The candidate of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP), Senator Julius Ucha, had approached the election tribunal, seeking the nullification of the declaration of Elechi as the winner of the election.

Senator Ucha averred that the candidate of the PDP did not score the higest number of votes during the election and should not have been declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a more than three-hour unanimous judgment delivered by the Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Nuhu Galandanchi, the tribunal dismissed the petition of Sen.Julius Ucha for lacking in merit.

Justice Galadanchi said the petitioners failed to discharge the burden of proof placed on them by law, adding that the petitioners further failed to establish that the elections in the 13 local government areas were invalid or void by reason of corrupt practices.

In a swift reaction to the judgment, counsel to the petitioner, Mr Emmanuel Egbunonu said the judgment did not reflect the evidence presented to the tribunal, adding that they would appeal against the judgment at the Appeal Court sitting in Enugu.

Also reacting, the Ebonyi State Governor, Chief Martin Elechi, thanked God for the victory, adding that the victory confirmed that INEC conducted the election transparently and honestly in Ebonyi State.

In Delta State, the Election Petition Tribunal yesterday upheld the victory of Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan in the April 26 governorship election.
The Justice Joy Unwana-led panel nullified the results of the entire Bomadi and Burutu Local Government Areas because “there was absence of the constituent elements of an electoral process’’
Also the tribunal nullified the results of the election in parts of Warri North, Warri South, Warri South-West, Ethiope West and Burutu local government areas.
According to Justice Unwana “since it is part of the tribunal’s adjudicatory function to cancel unlawful votes, it follows that upon such cancellation, the remaining votes must be computed and the candidate who scored the highest number of lawful votes ….. be determined”
Following the cancellation, the PDP candidate scored 422,509 of the valid votes cast while the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) candidate scored 410,556 votes.

Jusitce Unwana affirmed that the burden of proof was essentially on the petitioner, which it failed to discharge
Unwana said that despite the nullification of the votes in Bomadi and Burutu Local government areas, the nullified results did not affect the outcome of the election and therefore affirmed Uduaghan as the duly elected governor.

On his part, the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed described the judgment of the state's Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which declares him as the duly elected governor of the state, as sweet and sound.

"It's an affirmation and confirmation of the wish of the good people of the state who voted for us. We are indeed grateful to Allah who made today another happy day for us," the governor said in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba.
Alhaji Ahmed said his electoral victory at the tribunal was dedicated to God who saw him through and the good people of the state for entrusting him with their mandate.
Governor Ahmed, who described his triumph as a victory for democracy and the rule of law, appealed to Kwarans to join hands with his administration in the task of building a new Kwara.

"I wish to assure members of the opposition that the PDP is large enough to accommodate everybody without any bias. I therefore urge you to shelve political bitterness and be part of the movement for a better Kwara", he said.

Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, however, described the Kwara State verdidct as a temporary set back, urging all ACN supporters to remain steadfast.
"The dismissal of the case of the Kwara ACN's governorship candidate, Dele Belgore, is a temporary setback. Justice will come at the end of the day," he said.
Governor Aregbesola stated this before ACN loyalists who gathered at the residence of former chairman of GTBank, Prof Jamiu Oyawoye in Offa, Kwara State on Friday evening.

He encouraged the party members not to relent, saying his petition at the tribunal suffered similar fate before the Court of Appeal finally ruled in his favour.

Kebbi state Governor's Election Annulled
Kebbi State Election Petition Tribunal has annulled the election of PDP Governor Saidu Dakingari and has ordered fresh elections to be conducted within 90 days.

Governor Dakingari's election was annulled after the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) Kebbi State office failed to tender two forms before the State's governorship election petition tribunal on the distribution of ballot boxes and ballot papers.

Delivering her ruling in Birnin Kebbi, Chairman of the tribunal, Justice Mairo Laraba Yusuf said the election was initiated with non-compliance to the provisions of 2010 electoral acts, which affected the elections.

"The worst is that INEC cannot produce witnesses about the number of ballot papers and boxes allocated to all presiding officers in the state," Justice Mero Laraba Yusuf Mohammed, Chairman of the Tribunal, said as she delivered her ruling in Birning Kebbi.

"We hereby make the election null and void in accordance to the prayers of the petitioners," she said.

Justice Muhammed directed INEC to conduct another election to the office governor of Kebbi State within 90 days in accordance with laid-down procedure and 2010 Electoral Act.

The judgment, which puts the governor out of the seat of power, is seen as a major blow to the PDP's struggle to hold on to power in the face of the rise of CPC in Kebbi State.

Recent rulings in the courts have also unseated four members of the Kebbi State House of Assembly.