How Wike Lost Out At Governorship Tribunal

How Wike Lost Out At Governorship Tribunal
By ANAYO ONUKWUGHA, By Chibuzo Ukaibe,
— Oct 25, 2015 5:45 am | Leave a comment
Finally, the verdict is out. The Saturday, April 11, 2015 governorship poll in which Nyesom Wike of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) emerged governor was fraudulent and therefore null and void, the Rivers State governorship election tribunal sitting in Abuja, ruled yesterday.
Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the polls, Hon. Dakuku Peterside and his party had gone to court seeking the nullification of Wike’s victory.
After a protracted process, the tribunal in a far-reaching judgement which lasted for about three hours also ordered that fresh elections be held in the state within 10 days.
The verdict drew immediate applause from the APC and its supporters but the PDP and some of its leaders have rejected the outcome, insisting that the ruling was biased and skewed in favour of the ruling APC.
Governor Wike through his legal team led by Chief Okey Wali (SAN), former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has indicated interest to appeal the judgement. He has also said he remains the governor of Rivers state.
In his judgement, Justice Suleiman Ambrosa, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election with 90 days.
Peterside and the APC had approached the tribunal‎ challenging the election on grounds of irregularities.
Joined as respondents in the petition were INEC, Wike and PDP.
All the respondents had prayed the tribunal to dismiss the petition.
In its judgement which lasted for about three hours, the tribunal headed by Justice Suleiman Ambursa held ‎ that the said election made a mockery of democracy.
The tribunal further held that thuggery overran the state during the election and that Wike was wrongly declared winner because of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
Wike’s fate was further sealed when the tribunal upheld some of the allegations by the petitioner, including intimidation, harassment, snatching of ballot boxes, ballot papers, lack of result sheets, late arrival of election materials, diversion of election materials, ballot stuffing, allocation of figures, non-collation of result and failure to use card readers, all of which the tribunal ruled were established by the petitioner.
The tribunal also held that the petitioner adduced credible evidence and documents to prove his allegation.
“The witnesses called by the respondent became unreliable during cross examination. They betrayed their character. Even INEC officials who came as witnesses at a point claimed ignorance of their own document.
“The second respondent was not duly elected,” the tribunal said, in its ruling.
How Wike Lost out
About 60 witnesses were called by Dakuku to prove his case before the tribunal.
Most of the witnesses called by the respondents in the case turned down the request by the counsel to the petitioner to read documentary evidence before the tribunal.
At some point while the trial lasted, most of the witnesses claimed that they were not the authors of the evidence before the tribunal and therefore, could not read them.
But one of the witnesses called in the course of the proceedings, from INEC’s monitoring unit, told the tribunal that the election was characterised by violence and irregularities.
During the adoption, INEC however defended the governorship election it conducted, urging the tribunal to uphold Wike’s election.
The commission’s counsel, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition.
He said that the petitioners, the APC and its governorship candidate, Peterside, had failed to discharge the burden of proof placed on them to substantiate their claim that election did not take place in the state on April 11.
According to him, the petitioners failed to prove their allegations polling unit by polling unit.
He argued that the few witnesses called by the petitioners were not participants in the election and that their testimonies counted for nothing as already established by the Supreme Court in a plethora of cases.
Ikpeazu had also said that the soldiers, mobile policemen and operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) invited by the APC gave generic and contradictory evidence which had no relevance in relation to voting at the polling units.
He had therefore on those grounds, urged the tribunal to hold that their testimonies were unreliable.
The INEC counsel declared that on the premise of the Supreme Court judgment in the case between Buhari and Obasanjo, INEC guidelines could not supersede the Electoral Act.
He further argued that the Electoral Act did not limit accreditation to card readers alone and added that the reports tendered by the Rivers State APC were rejected by INEC before Wike was returned as winner of the election. Such reports, according to him, were no longer tenable.
But the petitioners led by their counsel, Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi, SAN, had urged the tribunal to grant the reliefs sought in their petition.
He asked the tribunal to hold that there was no election in Rivers on April 11, 2015.
He said the petitioners had discharged the burden of proof placed on them and that the onus had since shifted to the respondents.
Olujinmi further pointed out that though the card readers did not replace the voters register, they were vital to credible accreditation.
However, the PDP had urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition for lacking in merit and substance.
In his submission, another counsel to the PDP, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, had noted that the petition was incompetent and pointed out that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to amend the petition of the APC, especially the reliefs already abandoned by the party.
He asserted that whilst the petitioner alleged several cases of violence and abduction of voters, the petitioners failed to lead any evidence in that direction or call any witness to prove their claim.
Similarly, Wike called on the tribunal to dismiss the petition on the grounds that the petitioners failed to prove the several allegations against his election on April 11, 2015.
His counsel, Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, declared that the Rivers state APC governorship candidate, Peterside, was not qualified to contest the April 11 election because his nomination contravened Section 85 (1) of the Electoral Act.
He cited the case of Wike V Labour Party wherein the Appeal Court held that Section 85 (1) of the Electoral Act is critical to the nomination of a candidate.
He said the petition was not properly before the tribunal because the Rivers state APC gubernatorial candidate was not duly nominated.
Ukala said that the failure of the petitioner to call witnesses who conducted the election was fatal to his case.
He said that out of the 5,792 forms available for the conduct of the governorship election, the Rivers state APC only tendered about 3,000, contrary to the law which states that all the forms be tendered.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the PDP, Chris Uche, SAN, said that the party will test the popularity of the judgment in the Court of Appeal and possibly, the Supreme Court.
“It was wrong of the tribunal to lay heavy weather on the use of card reader when INEC itself admitted that both card reader and manual can be used where there are challenges,” he stated.
Uche further faulted the judgment on the ground that the parties adopted their briefs in less than 48 hours, following which judgment was delivered.
In his reaction, Peterside said the people of Rivers were happy with the judgment and that it had given them an opportunity to vote for who they wanted.
Tribunal ruling, deadly blow to impunity – APC
Reacting to the ruling yesterday, the APC, described it as a deadly body blow to impunity and hooliganism.
In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the judgement was a clear indication that the era of impunity and hooliganism was over and that the only way for elections to have legitimacy was for them to be free, fair and credible.
‘’What has come across from this judgement is that there is no
shortcut to free, fair and credible elections. This is part of the wind of change that is blowing across the land and touching all arms of government under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
‘’Elections are about the expression of the will of the people, and they must always be free to express themselves, irrespective of what some desperate politicians may feel,’’ the statement read.
The APC further said that politicians, especially those seeking or occupying elective
office, must realise that they can only derive their legitimacy from the people and that unless they respect the wishes of the people, they will not go far.
The party hailed its governorship candidate in the election, Peterside, for his doggedness and strong conviction in the pursuit of his petition against the election of Wike that was not only marred by widespread violence and electoral malfeasance, but also acknowledged to be so by local and international observers – and now by the judiciary.
It urged all APC members and supporters in the state to remain peaceful, even in the face of provocation by those who are now realising to their chagrin that there is always a limit to everything, including impunity and hooliganism.
Also reacting to the verdict, former Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Senator Magnus Abe, commended the judiciary for the painstaking and thorough decision, saying it was a vindication of the Nigerian judiciary prodigy.
Abe noted that the judgment was a lesson to all Nigerians to be careful in their conduct here on earth and to always know that there is God.
He said those who hijacked power by the barrel of the gun in the last elections were today losing their victories by the stroke of the pen and the law.
The former senator consequently enjoined members of the APC in the Rivers State to remain calm as the hour would come when votes and not bullets would decide the future of the state.
Security beefed up in Port Harcourt
There was heavy presence of security in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, ahead of and after the judgement of the governorship election tribunal sitting in Abuja, yesterday.
LEADERSHIP Sunday observed the deployment of armoured tankers and soldiers from the Nigerian Army, Bori Camp, Port Harcourt as well as other security operatives to strategic locations in the state capital, especially around Old GRA and Port Harcourt metropolis early Friday afternoon, in preparation for yesterday’s judgement.
Also, it was observed that immediately news of the ruling filtered into Port Harcourt, supporters Peterside went into the streets celebrating his victory.
When LEADERSHIP Sunday visited the state secretariat of the APC, located along Forces Avenue, Old GRA, in the state capital, hundreds of party loyalists and supporters of Peterside were seen there in joyful mood.
Reacting to the ruling, executive director of the Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Laws (IHRHL), Anyakwe Nsirimovu, said the nullification of the governorship election had vindicated the findings of election observers who were deployed to monitor the election in the state.
The state chapter of the APC in a statement by its chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, said, the ruling had vindicated the party’s persistent claim that the election in Rivers state was a sham and that INEC erred in declaring Wike governor.
wike_-_copy_3I remain governor – Wike
Embattled Rivers state governor, Wike, has declared that he remains the governor of the state, despite the ruling of the state governorship election petitions tribunal, which annulled his election and ordered a rerun within 90 days.
Wike who made the declaration yesterday evening at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, while addressing his supporters and members of the PDP shortly after his arrival from Abuja, vowed to pursue the governorship tussle up to the Supreme Court.
“By my training, I am not supposed to criticise any judge for whatever opinion the judge has. So, what I can say is that the tribunal has given its own verdict but we know that by the special grace of God that is not the verdict of God. Nobody can take your mandate.
“All the gang up in Abuja is against Rivers state but we must protect the interest of this state. If they like, let them use all the powers they have, but their power cannot be superior to God’s power.
“So, I want to urge you to be calm and be peaceful; I am still the governor of Rivers state. Our lawyers are going on appeal; we are all going on appeal. There is also the Supreme Court. We believe that we have a good case. I have never seen where a lower court will overrule a superior court like the Court of Appeal. In Lagos State, PDP went to court with our governorship candidate and one of the grounds they went to court over was the issue of card reader,” he said.
Okowa knows fate tomorrow
The Delta state governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Asaba, has given notice to deliver its ruling on Monday October 26, 2015.
The tribunal had earlier on October 13, 2015, reserved judgment in the petitions challenging the declaration of Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa of the PDP as winner of the April 11, 2015 election by INEC.
Chairman of the three-man tribunal, Justice Nasir Gumi, who reserved judgement following the adoption of written addresses by counsels to the respective parties in the disputed election, had stated that the date of the judgement which must be before October 28, will be communicated to the parties by the secretary of the tribunal.
In petitions number EPT/DT/GOV/32/2015 and EPT/DT/GOV/23/2015 filed by Olorogun O’tega Emerhor and the APC, the parties had approached the tribunal to nullify the election on the grounds of non-compliance with relevant sections of the Electoral Act.
Counsels to the first respondent (Okowa), Alex Iziyon, SAN, second respondent (PDP), Timothy Kehinde, SAN, and third respondent (INEC), Damian Dodo, SAN, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petitions with substantial cost against the petitioners, citing relevant sections of the law and previously decided cases to back their position.
The respondents’ counsel also adopted and relied on their written addresses, replies on the point of law as well as different sets of motions on notice bothering on preliminary objections in urging the tribunal to strike out the petitions which they insisted lacked merit and locus standi and were incompetent.
However, the petitioners who anchored their respective cases on the compulsory use of card readers for accreditation argued that they had been able to prove the cases of over voting and electoral irregularities during the election and therefore, urged the tribunal to nullify the election and order for a re-run. Counsel to Emerhor and the APC, Chief Thompson Okpoko, SAN, while adopting and relying on his written addresses, contended that Section 153 of the Electoral Act confers on INEC the power to make regulations for the conduct of elections.
“In exercise of this power, INEC issued guidelines and issued press release informing Nigerians that card reader will be used. And Section 155 of the same Act states that any rule or guideline made by INEC remains valid if a court of competent jurisdiction did not set it aside. The card reader has a place in law and I urge the tribunal to uphold the petition,” Okpoko argued.