The Supreme Court at the weekend affirmed the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to excise Otukpa Constituency of Benue State in 1996.
INEC had under its statutory power to delineate constituencies, excised and suppressed Otukpa Constituency, which ceased to exist since then.
Justice Suleiman Galadima, who led the seven-man panel, nullified the concurrent decisions of the Court of Appeal and the Federal High Court, which upturned INEC’s decision.
He held that the 14 Otukpa constituents, who initiated the action in October 2011, slept on their right by waiting for 15 years before seeking redress.
He also held that the suit was filed in flagrant breach of Section 2 (a) of the Public Officers Protection Act, which provides that the statutory period for an aggrieved person to seek redress to a wrongdoing is three months.
According to Justice Galadima, the suit is “statute-barred, incompetent and unmeritorious, lacking in locus standi and jurisdiction and is hereby struck out forthwith, without delving into its merits.”
He added: “The respondents’ suit is statute-barred, having been filed outside the three months stipulated by law in Section 2 (a) of the Public Officers Protection Act.
“The essence or effect of the Public Officers Protection Act herein is to extinguish the cause of action if it is commenced after the stipulated period, which is three months.
“In the light of the foregoing, I resolve this issue in favour of the appellant, set aside the findings of the two lower courts and accordingly strike out the suit.
“The appeal is meritorious and, hereby, allowed as all the issues are resolved in favour of the appellant, and the respondents’ suit is set aside.”
Fourteen constituents on October 25, 2011 sued INEC over its decision to excise the constituency.
They argued that without the suppressed constituency, the House of Assembly was not properly constituted as constitutionally-stipulated.
INEC, they contended, acted unfairly in refusing to include Otukpa Constituency among other suppressed constituencies, which the commission forwarded to the National Assembly for approval for restoration.
The commission, in a preliminary objection, filed an objection to the suit on the grounds that it was filed out of the three-month provision of Section 2 (a) of the Public Officers Protection Act.
Delivering ruling on June 26, 2012, the Federal High Court, Makurdi dismissed INEC’s objection.
The commission, unsatisfied, appealed to the Court of Appeal, Makurdi Division, which, on February 13, last year affirmed the trial court’s ruling and dismissed its appeal.
INEC approached the Supreme Court for the final determination of the case.