Tag: Tribunal

The election of Hon Nelson Akinsuroju, representing Ileoluji/Okeigbo constituency in the Ondo House of Assembly has been nullified. 

Hon Akinsuroju was elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress(APC). 

He was declared winner after polling 10,207 votes against 9287 votes polled by the PDP candidate. 

His election was nullified after the tribunal declared the March 18th, 2023 election in Ile-Oluji/Okeigbo Constituency was inconclusive. 

The tribunal, in the judgment in the petition filed by candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, Babatunde Fadare, ordered re-run election in six out of 27 polling units. 

Fadare challenged election in 27 polling units out of 191 polling units in the constituency. 

Chairman of the three-man panel Justice Rose Soji, ordered a rerun in six affected polling units.

Read Also: INEC releases timetable for Edo, Ondo governorship polls

Counsel to Akinsuroju, Remi Olatubora, said the judgement was based on morality of the case and not competence of the results. 

He said “the judgment shall be studied and shall be appealed within the stipulated timeframe, as stated in the Electoral Act of 2022.” 

The sacked lawmaker called for calm and assured the people that, their mandate would be protected.

• Nwifuru knows fate today

The governorship election petitions tribunals sitting in Calabar and Gombe town yesterday affirmed the election victories of Governors Bassey Otu (Cross River) and Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe).

On Monday, the tribunal, sitting in Makurdi, the Benue State capital, had affirmed the election of Governor Hyacinth Alia.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the governors winners of the March 18 poll, but their opponents filed petitions against them, citing sundry misdeeds.

In Cross River, the tribunal dismissed the petition filed by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Sandy Onor, against Governor Otu.

In a unanimous decision, which lasted three hours, the three-man panel, headed by Justice Oken Inneh, agreed with the submissions of the governor, his deputy, and their party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), that Otu qualified to participate in the election and was duly elected.

Lead counsel to Onor and the PDP, Jonah Musa (SAN) said though they accepted the judgment, they would sit down and review it to know the next line of action to take.

Lead counsel to Governor Otu and the APC, Prof. Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said the court agreed with all their submissions against the petitions.

Read Also: UPDATED: Tribunal affirms Gov Otu’s election in Cross River, rejects PDP’s petition

He averred that the petition was baseless because the issues the petitioners raised were long determined in five different cases involving the same parties in pre-election matters.

In Gombe, the tribunal threw out the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Jibrin Barde, seeking the disqualification of Governor Yahaya.

Barde also asked the tribunal to declare the election invalid over alleged non-compliance with electoral procedures and corrupt practices.

But in a unanimous decision read by its chairman, Justice S. B. Belgore, the tribunal upheld the victory of Governor Yahaya, who polled 342,841 voted against Barde, who polled 233,131 votes in the election.

The tribunal also dismissed the petition of the African Democratic Party (ADP) seeking the disqualification of Deputy Governor Mannasa Jatau for using different names in the three certificates he presented to INEC.

Reacting to the tribunal verdict, Governor Alia described his triumph as the will of God.

Addressing a crowd at the IBB Square in Makurdi, the governor said the tribunal judgment was a reminder that no one can tamper with the mandate of the majority.

He said God has used him to bring smiles to the faces of Benue residents, promising that his administration would not fail the peole.

Also, the Ebonyi State Election Petitions Tribunal will deliver judgment today in the petition filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, and his All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) counterpart, Bernard Odoh, against Governor Francis Nwifuru. 

The Labour Party (LP) in Lagos State said it was dismayed by Monday’s judgement of the Lagos State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal on the March 18 election.

The State Publicity Secretary of the party, Mrs Olubunmi Odesanya, said this on Tuesday in a statement made available to newsmen.

Odesanya, however, appealed to party loyalists to remain calm as the party continued to pursue justice.

She said: “We listened to the judgement of the Lagos State election tribunal delivered yesterday, Sept. 25, with utmost dismay.

“We urge our teeming supporters to remain calm while we pursue the next line of action.”

She said as law abiding citizens, LP Candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV) and the LP in Lagos State, had instructed the party’s legal team to review the judgement, with the view to appealing same at the appeal court.

Odesanya said the party’s firm belief was that it won the election in spite of the harassment and intimidation meted to it’s supporters.

Read Also: Tribunal win victory for all, Sanwo-Olu tells Lagosians

“This delayed justice will be rightfully regained in the fullness of time.

“Our party will explore all legal means at righting the wrongs done to majority of Lagos residents,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the tribunal on Monday affirmed the election of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his Deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat in the March 18 gubernatorial election.

The three-man panel led by Justice Arum Ashom, in its unanimous decision, dismissed the two petitions filed by the PDP and its candidate, Abdul-Azeez Adediran, and Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of LP. (NAN) 

The Ebonyi state Election Petitions Tribunal is set to deliver its judgement on Wednesday.

Tribunal Secretary, Henry Nwior confirmed this to The Nation on Tuesday.

He said the Tribunal will begin sitting at 9am.

The Tribunal is expected to rule on two petitions against the election of Governor Francis Nwifuru. 

The Independent National Election Commission(INEC) declared Gov Nwifuru as the winner of the election which jeld on Marc 18.

Nwifuru polled a total of 199,131 votes across the 13 local councils in the state to beat his closest rival, Ifeanyi of the PDP, who scored 80,191 votes.

The electoral umpire also went ahead to issue Nwifuru a Certificate of Return as Governor-elect. He was sworn is as Governor on May 29.

But Odii and his party PDP and the second runners-up, Bernard Odoh, and his party, All Progressive Grand Alliance(APGA) rejected the result and challenged it at the tribunal.

Read Also: Ohanaeze decries negative profiling of Ebonyi indigenes

Odoh in his petition is seeking Nwifuru’s disqualification on the grounds of certificate forgery and ineligibility to stand for the election.

He urged the tribunal to disqualify Mr Nwifuru who was declared winner of the said election and also to nullify the said Certificate of return issued to him.

Odoh, a geophysics professor, is of the opinion that Nwifuru, at the time of the election was still a member of the PDP and as such was not eligible to be sponsored for the election by the APC.

He averred that Nwifuru therefore was not qualified to contest the election to the office of the Governor of Ebony State as he belonged to two political parties, which he argued is unconstitutional.

He further alleged that Nwifuru was not qualified to stand for the election as he allegedly submitted fake certificate to INEC.

Mr Odoh therefore prayed the Tribunal to nullify the said election to the office of the Governor of Ebony State held on March 18, 2023.

He also urged the Tribunal to order for a second election pursuant to section 179(3) and (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended into the office of the Governor of Ebonyi State.

Mr Odoh further urged the Tribunal to declare that the said fresh election should be held between the two candidates who scored the highest number of votes at the election held on the 18th of March 2023.

The APGA candidate also prayed the court for an Order nullifying and/or setting aside the Certificate of Return issued by the INEC to Mr Nwifuru.

In the other petition, the PDP and its candidate, Mr Odii, asked the Tribunal  to mandate the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the certificate of return issued to the Governor

They also asked the Tribunal to declare Dr Ifeanyi Chukwuma Odii, the winner of the election and return him as the elected Governor of Ebonyi State in the March 18, governorship election.

The Petitioners argued that Mr Nwifuru, was not qualified to contest the election on the platform of the APC as he was still a bonafide member of the People’s Democratic Party and had not officially defected to any other political party including the APC.

They further averred that Mr Nwifuru, being a serving lawmaker elected on the platform of the PDP to the State House of Assembly, and who had not defected officially at the floor of the House as the law requires, couldn’t have contested election in another party outside the PDP.

The PDP asked the Tribunal to declare that Mr Nwifuru was not qualified to stand for the 2023 governorship election on the platform of the APC as he remained a member of the party and the party never sponsored him for any election in the just concluded 2023 general elections.

The Petitioners also cited a subsisting judgment by Justice Henry Njoku of the Ebonyi State High Court, which ruled that Mr Nwifuru and other lawmakers of Ebonyi State House of Assembly who purportedly defected to the APC are still members of the PDP.

The petitioners also alleged non compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022, by the Independent National Electoral Commission as well as electoral malpractices, among other infractions. 

But Nwifuru prayed the court to dismiss the suits for being unmeritorious.

The Governor governor argued that Nwifuru while serving as Speaker resigned his membership of the PDP and joined the APC before vying for the governorship primary election of the latter.

Nwifuru also presented APC’s membership register containing his details for Enwanweigwe Ward, the Governor’s country home. 

The Tribunal which began sitting in Abakaliki capital of the state was later moved to Federal Capital Territory, Abuja following security concerns by the opposition parties.

Security has been been beefed up at the Roseline Omotosho Courthouse, Ikeja, as  the Lagos State Election Petition Tribunal is set to deliver judgment in petitions challenging election of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The Peoples Democratic Party Governorship Candidate for Lagos State in the March 18 poll,  Dr Abdulazeez Adediran and his Labour Party counterpart, Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour filed the petitions.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports security operatives took over the main entrance of the courthouse, screening journalists,  lawyers and others before they could gain entrance.

Securing operatives prevented a number of peope from entering the premises.

Read Also: BREAKING: Lagos Deputy Gov arrives tribunal

The Justice Arum Ashom-led,  tribunal communicated the judgment date to parties in the petition on Saturday.

Counsel to the parties had, on  Aug. 12, adopted their final written addresses.

Adediran, in his petition, alleged that the governor presented a forged West African School Certificate to   the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Adediran also accused Hazmat of not including oath declaration in the INEC Nomination Form EC9.

He added that APC did not comply with the Electoral Act when nominating Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat.

Rhodes-Vivour, in his petition, also challenged the eligibility of Hazmat to contest on the grounds that he allegedly renounced his Nigerian citizenship and swore allegiance to the U.S. 

(NAN)

Member representing Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency in House of Representatives, Yusuf Gagdi, has called for calm following  judgment of the governorship election petition tribunal in Plateau State.

The tribunal sitting in Jos upheld election of Governor Caleb Mutfwang. Mutfwang, who contested on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared winner by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

But Nentawe Yilwatda, candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) headed for the court to challenge the victory.

Reacting to the judgment, Gagdi, a member of APC, said it was a minor setback in the broader political landscape.

Read Also: Bauchi: Accept tribunal verdict, group tells APC, Abubakar

In a statement, in Abuja, Gagdi said the judgment did not shake his faith in the justice system.

Gagdi, who chairs the House Committee on Navy, stressed the outcome was just one phase in the process, and that “the journey for justice is far from over.”

He called on supporters to show decorum, emphasising they should have faith in the judiciary.

“The judgment was a continuation of the electoral process which shall climax at Supreme Court. We believe in the judiciary to right wrong we are convinced were perpetrated in the election, he said.

“The verdict is one of the three stages available to seek redress. It was a minor setback that neither dwindled nor extinguished my trust in the judiciary. 

“While we await the position of party leaders and our principal, I appeal to our supporters not to despair, but remain committed to the ideals of the Generation Next mantra and show decorum’’.

The Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Makurdi on Saturday upheld the victory of Gov. Hyacinth Alia of the APC in the March 18 Governorship Election.

Delivering the judgment, the Chairman of the panel, Justice Ibrahim Karaye, held that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain pre election issues raised by the petitioners, Titus Uba and PDP.

Karaye, who read the unanimous judgment, stated that only the Federal High Court had the exclusive jurisdiction to entertain issues bordering on pre-election matters.

He further said the petitioners’ case was also an abuse of court processes because the same case was filed by the petitioners before the Federal High Court Abuja Division and its judgment was not challenged by the petitioners.

He said the petitioners lacked locus standi to challenge the nomination of the 2nd and 3rd respondents by the 4th respondent since they were not members of the 4th respondent.

Justice Karaye further said that the petitioners failed to prove their allegations of forgery against the 3rd respondent before the tribunal.

He said the 2nd and 3rd respondents were qualified to contest the March 18 Governorship Election and therefore, dismissed the case.

The petitioners, Titus Uba and the PDP, had dragged the respondents, INEC, Hyacinth Alia, Dr Sam Ode, and the APC before the tribunal, challenging their declaration by the INEC.

The petitioners argued that the 2nd and 3rd respondents, Gov Alia and Dr Ode, were at the time of contesting the election, not qualified to contest the March 18 Governorship Election.

They averred that the 4th respondent – the APC – did not follow the provisions of the law in the nomination of the governorship and deputy governorship candidates.

They also alleged that the 3rd respondent had presented a forged certificate to the 1st respondent, INEC, therefore, should be disqualified.

They, therefore, prayed among other things, for the nullification of their election and declare the petitioners as winners of the election, having scored second highest lawful votes.

The also contended that having not qualified to contest the election, their votes should be declared invalid and certificates earlier issued to them by INEC be withdrawn.

NAN reports that the petitioners in the suit did not challenge the result of the March 18 Benue Governorship Election but qualifications of the candidates.

However, the respondents in their counter arguments, urged the tribunal to dismiss the suit in its entirety as it was an abuse of court processes.

Read Also: I’m committed to peace, protection human rights, says Alia

The respondents stated that the Federal High Court Abuja Division, had before the election, delivered judgment on the same matter which was filed by the petitioners but they did not appeal the judgment till date.

They also said that the issues raised were all pre election matter and only the Federal High Court had the exclusive jurisdiction to entertain same.

The 2nd and 3rd respondents clearly stated that since the prayers sought by the petitioners were all pre-election matters, the petitioners case was status bar and should be struck out.

They said the petitioners lacked locus standi to challenge the nomination of candidates of other political parties as they were mere meddlesome interlopers.

(NAN)