• Declares APC’s Alhassan winner
The Taraba State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal yesterday voided the declaration of Mr. Darius Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the poll, on the ground that he was not validly nominated and sponsored by his party.
Consequently, the tribunal headed by Justice Musa Danladi Abubakar proclaimed the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Hajia Aisha Alhassan, who scored the second highest votes, as the rightful winner of the election.
It held that by overwhelming evidence led by the petitioners (APC and Alhassan), through his counsel Mahmud Magaji (SAN), it was clear that the PDP did not hold a valid primary as required by the Electoral Act.
The tribunal upheld the petitioners’ argument that Ishaku was not qualified to contest the April 11, 2015 governorship election because the primary held by his party fell short of the conditions stipulated by Sections 85 and 87 of the Electoral Act (2A) 2010.
Besides, the tribunal noted that by evidence led by the petitioners, the PDP did not provide the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the mandatory 21 days notice before its primary (as required under Section 85(1) of the EA, a development which prevented INEC from witnessing the primary (as required under Section 85(2) of the EA.
It held that although the PDP and Ishaku claimed that they held the party’s governorship primary in Abuja, the decision of the PDP to conduct the Taraba State governorship primary outside the state capital, without any evidence that Jalingo was not suitable for the primary, was a violation of the provision of Section 87(4)(b)(i) of the EA.
Section 87(4)(b) provides that: “In the case of nomination to the position of governorship candidates, a political party shall, where it intends to sponsor candidates; (i) hold a special congress in the state capital with delegates voting for each of the aspirants at the congress to be held on a specified date appointed by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.”
The tribunal held that not only did evidence revealed that the PDP failed to accord INEC the mandatory pre-congress 21-day notice, its officials that went to Jalingo to monitor the primary said it did not hold.
It also found that when the party decided to move the venue of its primary to the National Secretariat in Abuja, it failed to provide reasons for its decision, and also failed to provide security report to show that Jalingo was not conducive for conducting the primary.
The tribunal noted that if the failure of a party to comply with the mandatory provision of 21-day pre-congress/primary notice to INEC was bad, its failure to conduct primary, as required under Section 87(1) of the EA was worse.
It further held that the PDP’s non-compliance with the provisions of Sections 85 and 87 of the EA in the nomination and sponsorship of Ishaku rendered him unqualified, within the provisions of Section 177 of the Constitution and Section 138 of the EA, to contest the election.
The tribunal agreed with the petitioners that where a political party fails to meet the requirements, under the Electoral Act, for the nomination/sponsorship of a candidate for election, “it radically affects the qualification or legal capacity of the candidate to stand for election.”
It added that where a candidate’s qualification was not questioned before the election, it could still be validly contested after he had participated in the election.
“We found that the 1st respondent was not duly sponsored by the political party (2nd respondent),” the tribunal Chairman said.
He added that although the Electoral Act allows election tribunals to order a rerun where election is annulled on ground of irregularities and substantial non-compliance, election tribunal can declare a new winner where it is proved that the earlier winner of an election was not qualified to have contested the election.
The tribunal consequently voided the election of Ishaku on the ground of his non-qualification to contest the election, and ordered that the SPC candidate, Hajia Alhassan, who incidentally is a minister designate, be declared winner of the election.
It rejected the ground of over voting canvassed by the petitioners. The tribunal held that the APC and Alhassan were unable to prove their allegation of over voting.
The tribunal held that their sole reliance on the report of Card Reader to prove the allegation of over voting was insufficient.
Earlier, the tribunal dismissed the four notices of preliminary objections filed by the respondents, in which they challenged, among others, the petitioners’ locus standi and the tribunal’s jurisdiction.
While the judgment lasted, supporters of The APC supports, who accompanied Hajia Alhassan to court, and the PDP supporters, who were in court with the party’s leaders in the state, sat quietly as everyone listened with rapt attention.
When the tribunal ended its judgment, the APC supporters became uncontrollable as they celebrated and hugged each other. Hajia Alhassan, who had sat quietly on the right side of the courtroom, sprang up from her seat, immediately the court rose, and danced jubilantly to where her team of lawyers were seated. She shook hands with two senior members of the team – Magaji and Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN) – for their brilliant outing, as she acknowledged cheers from her supporters, who led her out of the court, into her waiting car, stationed close to the court’s main entrance.
Despite the judgment, Ishaku will remain the state governor until he exhausts his right of appeal to the Supreme Court. On the other hand, he is deemed to have accepted the judgment if he fails to appeal within the next 21 days.
