THE Supreme Court
yesterday restored the elections of Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State
and his Abia State counterpart, Okezie Ikpeazu, both of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP)
This was after the apex
court held that their appeals against the judgment of the Court of Appeal was
meritorious.
This is even as there
was tension in Taraba State yesterday as Governor Darius Ishaku and his
challenger, Senator Jummai Al-Hassan, now Minister of Women Affairs await their
turns at the apex court.
In the case of Abia
State, the seven-man panel of Justices, led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria
(CJN) Justice Mahmud Mohammed in a unanimous decision set aside the judgments
of the Court of Appeal, Owerri division, Imo State, which nullified Ikpeazu’s
election.
Justice Suleiman
Galadima, who delivered the judgment has however reserved till February 26 to
give reasons for his decision.
In the judgment that
was set aside yesterday, the five-member panel, headed by Justice Oyebisi Omoleye,
annulled the election on the grounds of substantial non-compliance with the
electoral law.
The court said the APGA
candidate, Dr Alex Otti, scored 164, 444 valid votes to defeat Ikpeazu, who
scored 114, 444 votes.
The court declared that
Otti was the winner of the April 11 and 25 supplementary elections.
Omoleye said the
cancellation of the elections held in three LGAs of Obingwa, Osisioma Ngwa and
Isiala Ngwa by the Returning Officers after the results were uploaded to
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was wrong.
“In the Electoral Act,
the Returning Officer has the right to only declare results of elections and
not to cancel elections.
“This panel discovered
that the earlier results uploaded to INEC headquarters corresponded with the
correct valid registered voters in the three LGAs, while that awarded to the
respondent, shows over-voting and therefore, null and void.”
Omoleye had while
reviewing preliminary objections and issues raised by both parties, struck out
the preliminary objections by Ikpeazu’s counsel to the effect that the appeal
lacked merit.
She also turned down
the objection raised by the PDP that the members of the panel were wrongfully
constituted and affirmed the arguments of Otti’s counsel.
The appellate court
maintained that the lower tribunal erred by not handling all the issues raised.
“It was wrong for the
court to insist that because the appellant failed to appear in person, his
matter will not be given due attention.
“For not appearing in
person, the first appellant did not abandon his case,” she said.
After nullifying the
election, the court insisted that there was no need to call for re-run because
the results of the April 11 and 25 polls clearly present Otti as the genuine
winner of the exercise.
The court therefore,
directed INEC to issue Certificate of Return to Otti and swear him in as winner
of the election.
Gov. Ikpeazu and PDP
approached the Supreme Court, asking it to set aside the verdict of the Court
of Appeal.
Dissatisfied with the
judgment, the governor filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against the
decision.
In a notice of appeal
filed at the Supreme Court, Ikpeazu is asking the apex court to set aside the
Appeal Court’s judgment on the ground that neither Otti nor his party called
credible and cogent evidence in support of their petition challenging his victory.
Earlier, lead counsel
to Ikpeazu, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), urged the court to allow the appeal of
his client, on the ground that the judgment of the court of Appeal cannot be
defended and sustained.
He submitted that the
Court of Appeal went out of its way to grant the reliefs that were not sought
by the petitioners.
But responding to the
appeal, the legal team of Dr. Otti urged the court to dismiss the appeal for
want of merit.
Chief Chris Uche (SAN),
in responding to the appeal submitted that the case of the petitioners was not
built on Card Readers but by the whole election process.
He argued that the
decision of the apex court in the case of Zamfara State does not apply in the
instant case because it is not the contention of the petitioners that Card
Readers should take the place of the voter register.
In addition, Uche
submitted that the evidence of PW19 who is an official of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) who tendered the Card Readers report which
was not contradicted by the appellants.
It was also his
submission that none of the appellants cross-examined the INEC official and did
not also call a witness from INEC to contradict her evidence.
He accordingly urged
the court to dismiss the appeal and uphold the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
In the case of Akwa
Ibom, Justice Chima Nweze set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal which
annulled the election of the governor and ordered a re-run.
The apex court equally
set aside the verdict of the Akwa Ibom State Governorship Election Petition
Tribunal which had on October 21, ordered a re-run poll in 18 out of 31 Local
Government Areas.
The Court of Appeal had
in the lead judgment delivered by Justice Adefunke Okojie, held that the
tribunal erred when it voided election results from only 18 Local Government
Areas.
The appellate court
held that the Justice Sadiq Umar-led tribunal failed to properly evaluate both
oral and documentary evidence that were adduced before it by the All
Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Mr. Umana Okon
Umana.
The five-man panel of
Justices of the appellate court, in a unanimous judgment, said there was
sufficient evidence that the election which produced Governor Emmanuel Udom was
not conducted in substantial compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act.
The appellate court
held that the Justice Sadiq Umar-led tribunal failed to properly evaluate both
oral and documentary evidence that were adduced before it by the APC and its
governorship candidate, Mr. Umana.
Recall that the
election petition tribunal had annulled Ishaku’s election, declaring that
Senator Al-Hassan be issued Certificate of Return. The governor’s appeal set
aside the tribunal’s judgment, thereby affirming his election. Not satisfied,
Al-Hassan headed for the Supreme Court.
Reacting, the Deputy
Senate President Ike Ekweremadu has congratulated Governors Ikpeazu and Mr.
Udom on their victories.
In a statement by his
aide, Mr. Uche Anichukwu, Senator Ekweremadu who hailed the rulings as “the
bastion of the nation’s democracy”, said the apex court’s verdicts on the
election petitions “were not only resounding victories for the masses of Abia
and Akwa Ibom states, but also for the democracy in general.
“By these verdicts, the
Supreme Court has, once more, reaffirmed the supremacy of the ballot box over
might and propaganda. I commend the court for upholding the PDP as the
overwhelming choice of the people of Abia and Akwa Ibom states and urge my two
brothers, Okezie Ikpeazu and Emmanuel Udom, to continue with their legacies of
uncommon transformation even as they extend the olive branch to all political
interests in the states,” he said.
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