The Supreme Court docket on Thursday reserved judgment in an enchantment introduced earlier than it by Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State, difficult the choice of the Court docket of Attraction, Abuja, which sacked him from workplace.
After listening to the submissions of counsel within the matter and the processes filed having been adopted, the five-member panel of the apex court docket led by Justice Inyang John Okoro reserved judgement for a date that will be communicated to events within the enchantment.
The Court docket of Attraction had, on November 17, in a unanimous judgement of a three-member panel, upheld the choice of the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which sacked Governor Yusuf of the New Nigeria Peoples Occasion (NNPP) and declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Nasiru Gawuna, winner of the March 18 ballot.
The appellate court docket dismissed the enchantment filed by Governor Yusuf primarily based on his membership standing within the NNPP.
Nonetheless, the judgement elicited confusion when, on Tuesday, November 21, the Licensed True Copy (CTC) of the court docket judgement surfaced with contradictions because the CTC confirmed that every one the problems had been resolved in favour of Governor Yusuf.
The Court docket of Attraction acknowledged a clerical error within the CTC of its judgement and promised correction.
On the proceedings on Thursday, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), representing the governor within the matter, urged the Supreme Court docket to put aside the choice of the Attraction Court docket and that of the Tribunal.
Olanipekun urged the apex court docket to find out whether or not or not the rules of the Impartial Nationwide Electoral Fee (INEC) might be a foundation for nullifying the election victory of his candidate, who gained the election by a margin of over 100,000.
He argued that that is the primary time within the annals of electoral jurisprudence the place an election was nullified on the grounds that poll papers weren’t signed or stamped on the again, including that INEC pointers don’t envisage that the courts would nullify an election on the idea of INEC purportedly failing to stamp poll papers on the again.
The governor’s authorized crew maintained that its consumer’s membership of the NNPP is a pre-election matter and the appellate court docket lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter
“The judgement of the decrease courts could be very unfair to the appellant, and we urge your lordships to upturn it,” Olanipekun submitted.
In his submissions, counsel to the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), maintained that the Electoral Act mandates INEC’s presiding officers to signal the again of poll papers after the conclusion of the election.
The apex court docket then requested Olujimi what the findings of the tribunal on the ballots had been.
Olujimi mentioned the findings of the tribunal had been merely that the poll papers weren’t signed on the again and weren’t dated, and that electoral irregularities had been manifest on the disputed poll papers.
On the problem of get together membership, he argued that the NNPP membership register didn’t present the title of Abba Yusuf on it.
Counsel for INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), supported the arguments of Olanipekun and additional submitted that the choices of the decrease courts had been flawed.
Mahmoud mentioned the testimony of a subpoenaed witness (PW32), which the tribunal relied on to sack Abba Yusuf, was not front-loaded together with the petition on the tribunal, opposite to the Electoral Act.
He admitted that the poll papers had been issued by INEC and advised the court docket that it was not the responsibility of a voter to verify if poll papers had been signed or not, however that of the get together brokers.
He mentioned INEC’s competition is that the tribunal went far past its powers in vetting every of the poll papers of their chambers and never in open court docket.
Mahmoud contended that membership is clearly an inner affair of a political get together, and Abba Yusuf’s title was forwarded to INEC previous to the election whereas his get together membership card was tendered as proof on the tribunal.
Counsel for the NNPP, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), mentioned poll papers had been really forged on the polling items, however the APC authorized crew didn’t specify the polling items affected on the tribunal consistent with the foundations of the court docket.
Justice Okoro requested him what the impact can be going ahead when poll papers which might be issued by INEC aren’t stamped by its officers.
“Who ought to undergo? Is it the man who voted, INEC, or the one who voted for?” Okoro requested.
Awomolo mentioned poll papers not signed ought to not have an effect on the validity of an election and submitted that “election is the choice of the individuals,” insisting that the Tribunal was mistaken to recount the ballots in its chambers.
The NNPP counsel added that not a single witness advised the Tribunal that poll papers weren’t stamped and urged the apex court docket to revive the 165,165 cancelled votes of Abba Yusuf and affirm his election.
After listening to the events, the apex court docket reserved its judgement on the governor’s enchantment for a date that will be communicated to the events.
In the identical vein, the Supreme Court docket additionally reserved judgement within the enchantment filed by the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sadique Abubakar, towards the judgement of the Bauchi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which upheld Bala Mohammed’s election.
The Attraction Court docket sitting in Abuja on November 17 dismissed the case, which discovered that Governor Bala Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Occasion (PDP) gained the governorship election in Bauchi State.
The authorized crew of the APC candidate had urged the appeals court docket to declare Mohammed’s election null and void as a result of a number of electoral paperwork used in the course of the ballot weren’t correctly crammed.
However Mohammed’s attorneys maintained that the assertions had been unfaithful given the findings of the Tribunal.
The appeals court docket went on to carry that the APC candidate failed to offer credible proof and testimony to buttress his allegations concerning electoral malpractice and non-compliance with related legal guidelines and consequently dismissed the enchantment.
On Thursday, the APC candidate’s lawyer, Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN), advised the apex court docket to put aside judgement, arguing that the tribunal didn’t make a pronouncement on the invalid electoral paperwork tendered as proof earlier than it.
INEC’s counsel, Mohammed N., advised the apex court docket that the tribunal solely discovered clean areas in a few of the electoral kinds and never on all of the kinds.
The lawyer mentioned there was no proof of kinds that had been improperly crammed out on the tribunal.
Counsel for the governor, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), requested the five-man panel of the apex court docket chaired by Justice Inyang Okoro to dismiss the “unnecessary enchantment.”.
Uche mentioned the appellants by no means introduced any witnesses to talk to the electoral paperwork tendered on the tribunal.
“They didn’t have supplies to help their case,” Uche argued, and he requested the court docket to dismiss the enchantment.
After listening to the events, the Supreme Court docket reserved judgement.
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