- Eno’s, Idris’, Nwifuru’s also confirmed by court
- Appeal Court sacks 11 Plateau lawmakers
It was a harvest of victories for some recently elected governors whose elections were affirmed by the Court of Appeal in different parts of the country yesterday.
No fewer than six governors had their victories at the governorship election petition tribunals upheld by the appellate court sitting in Abuja and Lagos yesterday.
Numbered among them were Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani, Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris, Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, Akwa Ibom State Governor Umo Eno and Governor Ogbonna Nwifuru of Ebonyi State.
In a split decision of two to one, the State and National Assembly Appeal Court sitting in Lagos yesterday affirmed the re-election of Governor Abiodun of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the March 18 governorship election.
The majority judgment delivered by Justice Joseph Shagbaor Ikyegh dismissed the Appeal filed by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2023 gubernatorial election, Ladi Adebutu.
However, the minority judgment delivered by Justice Jane Esienanwan Inyang, allowed the appeal and ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election within 90 days.
INEC had declared Abiodun, the governorship candidate of the APC, the winner of the governorship election in Ogun State.
Declaring Abiodun winner, the Returning Officer for Ogun State governorship poll, Prof. Kayode Oyebode Adebowale, who is Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, said the Governor polled 276,298 to defeat PDP’s Oladipupo Adebutu who scored 262,383 votes.
The Candidate of the ADC, Olubiyi Otegbeye, came a distant third after polling 94,754
Dissatisfied, Adebutu, challenged Abiodun’s re-election on the allegation of corrupt practices and non-compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act.
Adebutu also argued that the governor did not score a majority vote to be announced as the winner by INEC.
However, in its judgment yesterday, the tribunal held that the petitioner failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The tribunal therefore struck out and dismissed Adebutu’s petition.
The court also held that Abiodun was qualified to stand as the candidate of his party and his subsequent announcement by the INEC as the winner of the election.
Not satisfied, Adebutu and his Party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) challenged the judgment and urged the Appellate Court to allow the appeal and set aside the decision of the tribunal.
According to him, the tribunal erred when it failed to consider the case on its merit before proceeding to dismiss the petition before it.
In his majority judgment, Justice, Joseph Shagbaor Ikyegh held that the appeal lacked merit and there was no substance in it, and subsequently dismissed it, thereby affirming the earlier decision of the tribunal.
he court held further that the appellants did not prove the allegation of certificate forgery against Governor Abiodun and noted that the tribunal did not believe the evidence of certain witnesses because of their demeanour.
Maintaining that appellate courts generally do not interfere with such assessments, it held that the assessment of the tribunal was undisturbed.
While upholding the expunging of the evidence of the forensic experts, the court held that there is a huge crater in the petition of the appellants, making same castrated, sterile, and with no legs to stand on.
The court followed the principle that when a decision is ultimately correct, it is immaterial that some reasons may have been applied since the appellate courts concern themselves with the conclusions mainly.
On the issue of disenfranchisement raised by the appellant, the court held that it was the duty of the appellants to prove disenfranchisement by calling voters who could vote but were disenfranchised.
The appellate court noted that in this petition, the appellants did not call any disenfranchised voter but instead, called persons who truly voted.
However, in her dissenting judgment, Justice Jane Esienanwan Inyang, queried the cancellation of results of election in 99 polling units, adding that results of these polling units could have substantially affected the outcome of the election.
Justice Inyang held that INEC having cancelled the election in the 99 polling units, either due to disruption of the electoral process and/or over-voting, failed to appoint another date to conduct a repeat election in those polling units in gross violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
Justice Inyang held that INEC hurriedly proceeded to declare the 2nd respondent as the winner of the election despite the total number of collected Permanent Voters Cards (PVCS) being more than the difference between the scores of the 2nd respondent and the 1st Petitioner.”
The judge held that the votes ascribed to Abiodun by INEC in the final declaration made is 276,298, while the votes purportedly credited to Adebutu is 262,383, resulting in a margin of 13,915 votes.
She noted that the PVC’s collected in the polling units where elections were cancelled across Ogun State in the election was 49,066.
The appellate court justice noted that the figure was over and above the 13,915 margin of lead between the first petitioner and the second respondent.
Conclusively, Justice Inyang allowed the appeal and held: “the margin of lead between the 1st Appellant and the 2nd Respondent is 13,915 which is far less than total number of PVC collected by the 49,066 registered voters who were ready to vote on the election say and which figure substantially affected the outcome of the election in question.
“All things considered, it is my view that the judgment arrived at by the lower tribunal was against the weight of evidence before it. Issue 7 and 8 are resolved in favour of the Appellants. Accordingly, the judgment of the lower Tribunal is hereby set aside, and the unlawful declaration and return of the 1at Appellant as the governor of Ogun State by the 1st Respondent is hereby nullified.
“The 1st respondent is hereby ordered to conduct return Election in the affected 99 polling units within 90 days. Parties to bear their own costs.”
Appeal Court affirms elections of Sani as Kaduna gov, Idris as Kebbi gov
The Court of Appeal in Abuja yesterday set aside the September 28 judgment of the election petition tribunal which declared the last governorship election in Kaduna State inconclusive.
In a unanimous judgment, a three-member panel of the court held that as against the finding of the tribunal, the election was conclusive and won by the All Progressives Congress (APC) whose candidate was Uba Sani.
The court held that there was no basis for the tribunal to have ordered the conduct of supplementary election in 22 polling units in seven wards in four local government areas in Kaduna State.
Justice Obietonbara Daniel-Kalio, in his lead judgment in the main appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate in the election, Mohammad Isa, resolved the five issues identified for determination against the appellants.
Justice Daniel-Kalio held that the petition filed by the appellants at the trial tribunal was deemed abandoned because their application for the issuance of pre-hearing notice was filed prematurely before the close of pleadings and was therefore considered incompetent and void.
“The consequence of filing premature application for issuance of pre-hearing notice is that the petition is deemed abandoned,” he said.
The judge also held that the tribunal was right in holding that the written statement on oath of subpoenaed witnesses were invalid, having not been filed with the petition as required under Paragraph 4 (5) of the 1st Schedule to the Electoral Act.
He further said that the tribunal was right to have rejected substantial portions of evidence of two witnesses called by the petitioners for being hearsay evidence.
Justice Daniel-Kalio held that as against the contention by the appellants, the tribunal correctly evaluated the evidence adduced by them.
“I cannot see where the tribunal incorrectly evaluated the evidence of the appellants and that the evaluation was perverse,” he said and proceeded to dismiss the appeal for lacking in merit.
Justice Daniel-Kalio, who also read the lead judgments in the cross-appeals by the APC and Sani, allowed both appeals and set aside part of the judgment of the tribunal which declared the election inconclusive and ordered the conduct of fresh election in 22 polling units.
He held that the tribunal was wrong to have ascribed probative value to election results, which it found to have contained discrepancies, in arriving at its conclusion that the election was inconclusive.
In a separate judgment, another panel of the appellate court dismissed the petition by the PDP and its candidate in the last governorship election in Kebbi State.
Justice Uzo Ndukwe-Anyannwu, who read the lead judgment, resolved all the five issues identified for determination against the appellants.
Justice Ndukwe-Anyannwu, who held that the appellants failed to prove their claims of forgery and non-compliance, said the appeal was without merit.
She further held that the allegations of forgery of testimonial made by the appellants against the state’s Deputy Governor of the State, Abubakar Umar, was unproved.
The judge equally held that the tribunal was right to have held that Umar attended the secondary school he claimed to have attended.
She said there was sufficient evidence to show that Umar attended the Sultan Abubakar College, Sokoto.
Justice Ndukwe-Anyannwu proceeded to affirm the earlier judgment of the trial tribunal which dismissed the appellants’ petition and upheld the election of Governor Nasir Idris of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kebbi State.
Reacting to the judgment affirming his election, Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani described it as a “testament to the strength of our legal institutions, a win for democracy and a validation of the people’s will.”
While expressing joy and gratitude at the confirmation of his victory by the Appeal Court, Governor Sani also extended a hand of fellowship to all opposing sides in a bid to move Kaduna State forward in tandem with his #SUSTAINKaduna agenda.
The Governor, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Mohammed Lawal Shehu, said: “Today, I received the news of the Appeal Court verdict. I acknowledge and appreciate the diligence and thoroughness of the Kaduna State Elections Petition Tribunal and the Appeal Court for arriving at this verdict today. I have always remained confident in our judicial process.
“It is now time to peacefully move forward and continue to work assiduously for the people of Kaduna without distractions as the task ahead of us is huge. The Deputy Governor Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe and my humble self appreciate the All Progressives Congress family and the good people of Kaduna for their unflinching support during this entire process.
“I urge my brothers in the opposition to accept this verdict in good faith and as the will of the people. It is time to come together as one to move our great state forward.”
Appellate court upholds Oborevwori’s election, dismisses Omo-Agege, Gbagi, Pela appeals
The Court of Appeal, Lagos also yesterday affirmed the election of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the March 18 poll in Delta State.
In a unanimous judgment, the appellate court dismissed the appeal brought before it by the state governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Senator Ovie Omo-Agege.
The court held that the appeal lacked merit.
The Delta State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Asaba had on September 29 upheld Oborevwori as winner of the gubernatorial election. Omo-Agege, however, filed an appeal at the appellate court to challenge the judgment of the election petition tribunal.
Omo-Agege, who is the immediate past Deputy President of the Senate, in his appeal, had prayed to be declared winner of the poll. But Oborevwori urged the court to dismiss the appeal, which he contended lacked merit.
The appellate court also upheld the judgment of the lower tribunal.
The tribunal had in a separate judgment dismissed the appeal by Kenneth Gbaji of Social Democratic Party (SDP) against PDP, APC and Labour Party (LP) and their governorship candidates.
Similarly, the appellate court, in a separate judgment, dismissed the appeal by LP and its governorship candidate, Ken Pela, challenging the lower tribunal judgment, upholding the election of Oborevwori.
Appeal Court sacks 11 Plateau lawmakers
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has lost control of the Plateau State House of Assembly to the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja sacked 11 PDP lawmakers yesterday.
The panel led by Justice Okon Abang, gave the judgement in a unanimous decision. Gov Sule Abdullahi Mandate Source: Facebook The appellate court said the PDP lawmakers scored wasted votes in the March 18 election because their party lacked structure.
Justice Abang explained that the PDP could not sponsor candidates in the last election because the party violated section 177 of the 1999 constitution.
The court then declared all the second runners-up in the March 18 elections as winners. The sacked PDP lawmakers are: Hon Timothy Dantong (Riyom), Hon. Rimyat Nanbol (Langtang North Central), Moses Sule (Mikang), Salome Waklek (Pankshin), Hon. Bala Fwangji (Mangu South), Hon. Maren Ishaku (Bokkos), Hon. Dagogot (Quaanpan North), Hon Nannim Langyi (Langtang North North), Hon Nimchak Rims (Langtang South), Hon. Danjuma Azi (Jos North West), Hon Gwottson Fom (Jos South), Hon. Abubakar Sani idris (Mangu North).
Omo-Agege heads to Supreme Court, says judgment is redemption deferred
Former Deputy Senate President and governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, described the judgment of the Appeal Court upholding Oborevwori’s election as a redemption deferred for Deltans, saying that he would be proceeding to the Supreme Court.
Expressing deep respect for their justices, Senator Omo-Agege said he was convinced that the learned justices clearly misapprehended the reformed electoral jurisprudence that now prevails to deepen democracy in the country.
In a statement issued after the decision and signed by his Media Adviser, Mr. Sunny Areh, Obarisi Omo-Agege said he firmly believed that justice was yet to be given to the people of Delta State who voted for him and the APC.
“We will proceed to the Supreme Court. The issues at stake touch on the future and wellbeing of the people who voted for a New Delta. We have a duty to respect them by defending their faith in us with every sense of diligence and responsibility. We don’t waver on what is right.
“I am confident that the revered Justices of the Supreme Court will examine the areas overlooked at the Appeal Court and give justice to our people,” he said.
He appealed to his supporters to remain calm and law-abiding, assuring that the judiciary which “I have absolute confidence in will, at the final hurdle, serve justice and redemption now deferred.”
Appellate court upholds Governor Eno’s election Akwa Ibom
The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos yesterday upheld the March 18 election of Umo Eno of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) as Governor of Akwa Ibom State.
The Upper Court in its judgment dismissed three separate appeals filed against the governor.
The appellate court affirmed the September 28 judgments of the election petition tribunal.
The three member panel of the Appeal Court Justices, headed by Festus Obande, dismissed the appeal brought by the governorship candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), Bassey Albert Akpan, and his party against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Governor Eno and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The appellate court declared in the unanimous judgments that all three appeals were lacking in merit.
Justice Obande also granted judgments in favour of the governor against the appeals of the governorship candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NPP), John Udoedehe, and Akanimo Udofia of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
INEC had declared Umo Emo winner of the March 18 election, having polled 356,348 votes to defeat his closest rival, Bassey Albert of the YPP, who polled 136,262 votes.
The appellants had centred their cases around the alleged lack of qualification by the governor to contest the election on the grounds that he forged his 1981 WAEC and 1983 GCE certificates presented to INEC.
The appellate court held that the lower court was right to have ruled that the issue had already been settled by the Supreme Court.
In the YPP appeal, the appellate court also held that the appellant failed to discharge the burden of proving the allegation of falsified information.
“On the issue of the academic certificates of the second respondent, no cause of action has arisen or will ever arise regarding his credentials.
“There was no forged certificate presented to INEC. It has already been held to be genuine by the Supreme Court, so the issue is resolved against the appellant,” the court held.
The appellate court also held that the appellant’s averments and evidence were found to be inconsistent and incapable of proving their case.
“In pleading a petition, you can’t compel a party to call a witness of your choice. The appellant could if they so wish call any witness. The petitioner must also tender all documents, electoral forms and witnesses who saw it all to prove the alleged illegalities and give life to the documents tendered.
“The appellant relied heavily on forms tendered form the bar, there was no polling agent from his party or one who witnessed the counting.
“The testimony was adjudged hearsay evidence by the tribunal and rightly so”, the appellate court held.
The court awarded costs of N500,000 in favour of Gov. Eno and his party, against the YPP’s candidate.
Recall that the Akwa Ibom electoral petition tribunal had earlier affirmed the election of Umo Eno as the governor of the state.
In the said judgment, the tribunal dismissed the petition marked EPT/AKW/GOV/01/2023 instituted by Albert Bassey and his party, the Young Progressives Party (YPP), which challenged the election of the Akwa Ibom State governor.
The unanimous judgment read by Adekunle Adeleye, who led the panel, held that the issue of Eno’s qualification had already been settled by the Supreme Court.
The tribunal held that the WAEC official summoned via a subpoena as PW10 authenticated the certificates, insisting that “WAEC did not disclaim the 1981 and 1983 WAEC certificates.
“Without a disclaimer by the issuing authority, the certificates remain valid,” the court held.
The court also held that “there is no legislation in Nigeria that a person’s name should be arranged on a particular order on a document.
“In the absence of any other person holding claims to the said 1981 and 1983 WAEC certificates, I hold that the certificates belong to the 2nd respondent.
“Even the 1st petitioner himself told the court he was a victim of the same issue as three documents bearing his name tendered as exhibits before the tribunal carried different arrangements of his name, Albert Bassey, Akpan Bassey Albert and Bassey Albert Akpan. This is a case of a pot calling the kettle black.”
Summarily, the tribunal dismissed Bassey’s petition, describing it as frivolous and baseless.
The tribunal had also dismissed the petition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Akanimo Udofia.
Udofia sought the nullification of Eno’s election on the grounds that he presented forged documents to INEC, and also did not score the highest number of valid votes in the March 18, governorship poll.
Udofia also accused the 2nd respondent of being convicted by an Abuja magistrate court, hence not qualified to be fielded for elections.
However, the tribunal ruled that the allegations of substantial non-compliance with the electoral law in the conduct of the elections were not sufficiently proven by the petitioners in their case.
The panel ruled that the magistrate court, in its judgment, nullified its earlier conviction of Eno and that once a judgment is nullified, it ceases to exist.
No point going to Supreme Court, ex-governor Tapgun counsels Mutfwang
The 2nd civilian governor of Plateau State, ex-governor Fidelis Tapgun, has urged the embattled Plateau State Governor Caleb Mutfwang to shelve the idea of proceeding to the Supreme Court over the governorship election.
Tapgun, who is a member of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said it is needless dragging the case any further because it is a glaring case of lack of adherence to court order by PDP.
The Nation had reported that a three-man panel of the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja sacked Mutfwang and declared Nentawe Yilwatda as the winner of the 2023 governorship election on the fact that he (Mutfwang) was not validly nominated as the candidate of the party for the election in the state.
Not satisfied, Yilwatda had proceeded to the appellate court after the Governorship and State Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Jos had upheld Mutfwang’s election.
While expressing his understanding of the judgment of the Court of Appeal to newsmen in his Jos residence, the PDP chieftain said: “As a politician, I completely aligned myself with the ruling of the appellate court, that as at the time Mutfwang was nominated as the candidate of the party, PDP had no structure as a result of internal wrangling that rocked the party and its inability to obey the judgment of Justice SP Gang of the Jos High Court, which asked the party to go and conduct a congress to elect a proper state executive council.
“And I feel it would amount to a waste of time and resources for anyone to drag this case any further, because the case has been won and lost.”
Tapgun described the fate that had befallen PDP in Plateau State as self-inflicted, saying “I personally warned the party long ago that it would have a Zamfara scenario in it hands.
“And so the best option at this moment is for Governor Mutfwang to look at the new era coming and congratulate Nentawe for going through the process. It’s a difficult decision, but we can’t do anything because we inflicted the wound on ourselves.”
Tapgun traced the genesis of the party’s problem to 2015 when the party negated the zoning policy of the party and chose a candidate from the northern zone where the then incumbent governor came from.
He said: “Really think this thing that has happened to us is self-inflicted. Self-inflicted because we caused everything that has happened. And when I say we, I am not saying everybody. There is one person that I want to single out in this state. And that is (name withheld). He has been the fulcrum of all these problems we have been facing.
“You know I thought he should have learnt a lesson in 2015 with the mistake he made in imposing a candidate from the northern zone against the zoning principles of zoning in the state. People voted against it and that’s why APC came into the political scene in the state.
“I thought that he should have learnt a lesson from it and rectified it. At that time, we lost only one position, and that’s the governorship. Now we are losing all.”
Appeal Court affirms Nwifuru’s election as Ebonyi governor
The State and National Assembly Appeal Court sitting in Lagos has affirmed the election of Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru of the All Progressive Congress (APC) as the duly elected governor of Ebonyi State in the March 18 governorship election.
The three-member appeal panel presided over by Justice Jummai Hannatu Sankey, in a unanimous decision, dismissed two separate appeals filed by Chukwuma Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and that of Bernard Odoh of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) respectively.
Other members of the panel are Justice Biobele Abraham Georgewill and Justice Ali Ibrahim Andeyangtso.
The panel resolved all the issues raised against the appellants and dismissed the two appeals for lacking in merit.
Justice Sankey who read the lead judgment held that the PDP and its candidate lacked the legal right to meddle in the internal affairs of the APC as it relates to nomination of candidates.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Nwifuru of the APC as the winner of the state’s governorship poll.
Nwifuru scored a total of 199,131 votes cast in 13 local governments in the state to defeat his closest challenger, Ifeanyi Odii, who got a total of 80,191 votes to come second while Bernard Odoh of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) came a distant third with 52,189 votes.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the election, the appellants in their separate appeals contended that Nwifuru was illegally nominated by the APC because he was still a member of the (PDP) as the speaker of the Ebonyi State House of assembly at the time of his nomination as his party’s flag-bearer.
However, the Ebonyi State Election Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja affirmed the election of Francis Nwifuru of the APC as the governor of the state.
The tribunal also dismissed the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its governorship candidate, Ifeanyi Odii and that of Bernard Odoh, the candidate of APGA.
Dissatisfied, the appellants challenged the judgement of the tribunal and urged the appellate court to set it aside.
In her lead judgment, Justice Sankey held that the issues of qualification/disqualification of the 2nd respondent, Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, was an internal affair of the APC, which the PDP and its candidate lacked the legal right to meddle in.
Justice Sankey held that the issue of qualification was a pre-election matter which the lower tribunal does not have the jurisdiction to entertain.
“The membership of a political party is a domestic affair, and it is within the exclusive confine of a political party to determine its membership. I am in complete agreement with the lower tribunal that the issue of membership of the 2nd Respondent is not justiceable. The court should not drag itself into unnecessary political issues.”
Delivering Judgement in a sister Appeal, Justice Biobele Abraham Georgewill also dismissed the petition filed by Odoh and APGA on the grounds that they lacked locus standi to challenge Nwifuru’s electoral victory.
The court also held that APGA failed to appeal a federal high court judgment which confirmed Nwifuru’s defection from PDP to APC.
The court held that the appeal lacked merit, and dismissed it accordingly.
