Yesterday, the political dynamics and permutations in the Northeastern State of Taraba, were altered as the State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, while sacking Governor Darius Ishaku from office, declared Sen. Aisha Jumai Alhassan of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the April 11, 2015 governorship election.
The tribunal chairman, Justice Musa Danladi Abubakar while delivering judgment in the petition filed by the APC candidate, held that there was no valid candidate from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that contested the election. The PDP did not hold a valid primary election, the tribunal ruled.
It, therefore, ordered the immediate swearing-in of Sen. Alhassan, who is currently a minister-designate.
But opinions remain divided over what will happen next. While many Nigerians are of the opinion that given the express nature of the Tribunal’s declaration, Alhassan should immediately be sworn in as Governor, some others are sure the judgment is without prejudice to Darius’ right to appeal.
Consequently, both Alhassan, who will be Nigeria’s first female governor if Ishaku fails to challenge the tribunal’s verdict, or loses the appeal, and the sacked Governor, who is most likely to take advantage of the appeal processes to the very end, are left to await their diverse date with destiny as the scenarios continue to unfold.
Legal tango
Expectedly, Governor Ishaku has expressed disappointment over the ruling of the Election Petition Tribunal that removed him from office. The embattled politician also said he has no plan of vacating the Government House immediately in spite of the express order by the Tribunal Judges to that effect.
“I am very disappointed that the judge left the main issue and dealt with a matter that is completely beyond the issue; the issue of primaries as held by the party (PDP)”, he said while reacting to the judgment in Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.
The Governor further noted that he will “appeal” as “a law abiding citizen”, insisting that “it is the mandate that you have given me freely that I am executing and I will appeal the Tribunal judgment because I know that this judgment will be reversed.” He also urged the people of the state “to remain calm and wait for the response of the appeal” adding that the ruling “is completely unacceptable”.
However, Dr Sonny Ajala, a legal practitioner in Abuja, told The Nation yesterday that though the Election Petition Tribunal has declared her duly elected, it would be improper for the tribunal to order immediate swearing in of Alhassan as governor since the incumbent governor, who lost at the tribunal, still has right to appeal the matter. Until the appeal is exhausted at the Supreme Court, he remains the governor. Going by the provisions of the law, the swearing in would be done in the event that the governor loses at the last point of appeal and not before, he said.
Alhassan’s win-win situation
Alhassan, a former Senator who emerged the governorship candidate of the APC in the 2015 elections in Taraba State, appears to be in a situation where she has nothing to lose but so much to gain whichever way the pendulum swings at the end of the day. For her, it is either she ends up as a Minister of the Federal Republic or she returns home to Jalingo to be sworn in as the first elected female Governor in Nigeria.
The astute female politician was recently nominated as a minister by President Muhammadu Buhari and screened by the Senate alongside other nominees. Last week, she was confirmed by the Dr. Bukola Saraki-led Senate as a Minister-designate. She participating in the retreat organized for Ministers-designate by the presidency.
A Fulani by birth and a lawyer by training, Aisha Jummai became the first female to be appointed Taraba State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice. She was also the first woman to be appointed as Secretary FCT judicial council and later the Chief Registrar of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja on 17 December 2003.
After she retired from service she went into business. She later became the Senator representing Taraba North constituency of Taraba State, which she won on the platform of the PDP.
Senator Alhassan enjoys something close to a cult followership amongst the masses across the length and breadth of the state. Formerly a chieftain of the PDP, she joined other progressives to midwife the APC in the state in the run up to the last general election.
Given her widespread acceptance, many had hoped she would emerge victorious in the governorship contest but she was announced defeated by the candidate of the PDP, Darius Ishaku. Even when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), ordered rerun election in some voting units in the state, the PDP candidate was announced victorious.
But all that may become history should the Appellate Courts uphold the verdict of the Tribunal within the next 90 days as stipulated by law. But should that fail to happen, Alhassan, who is expected to be sworn in as a Minister of the Federal Republic by President Buhari anytime form now, will remain within the corridors of power as the Minister representing her state in the Federal Executive Council.