Written by Tunde Oyesina and Biola AzeezFriday, 11 November 2011
THERE was palpable suspense, on Thursday, as the acting president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Dalhatu Adamu, dissolved the Borno State governorship election petitions tribunal a few minutes before the panel would deliver judgment in the petition brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its standard-bearer, Mohammed Goni, challenging the victory of Governor Kashim Shettima of the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) in the April 26 governorship election.
The panel was billed to deliver judgment in the petition on Thursday, as its duration expires on Sunday, going by the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended).
The Zone Two Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, venue of the tribunal was filled to capacity with supporters and party faithful who had arrived as early as 7.00 a.m. waiting to know who would carry the day.
All counsel in the matter, as well as journalists, were already seated, awaiting the arrival of members of the panel, when the secretary of the panel came in to announce the dissolution.
According to him,” I have been directed by the registrar of the Court of Appeal to inform you that this tribunal has been dissolved and so will not be sitting today. We shall all wait for further directives.”
All efforts to get the acting president of the Court of Appeal for more information on why the tribunal was dissolved were unsuccessful, as he was said to be too busy to attend to anybody when Nigerian Tribune visited his office.
The Supreme Court had, last Monday, vacated an interim order made by the Court of Appeal sitting in Jos, restraining the tribunal from delivering judgment in the petition filed by the PDP and Goni.
The Court of Appeal made the order as requested by the petitioners, who were denied same by the tribunal.
The petitioners had requested that the tribunal should go back to the pre-hearing stage of the proceedings, after it had concluded hearing and fixed judgment date.
The governor subsequently headed for the apex court, asking that the order of the Court of Appeal should be set aside and the tribunal be allowed to deliver its judgment.
Agreeing with the governor, the apex court held that no lower or higer court had the power to interrupt the proceedings of an election petition tribunal in the face of the 180 days specified by the Electoral Act for the conclusion of any election petition.
Consequently, the five-man panel headed by Justice Walter Onnoghen ordered all the parties in the petition to return and continue with the proceeding of the tribunal from where they stopped.
Governor Shetima had, in his appeal SC/332/2011, asked the apex court to set aside “an interim order stopping the trial tribunal from proceeding to deliver its ruling earlier slated for September 20, 2011.”
Shettima, through his lead counsel, Yusuf Ali, prayed the court to hold that the stay of proceedings granted by the Court of Appeal, Jos, was illegal.
Meanwhile, Governor Shettima has faulted the decision of the Justice Adamu to dissolve the state election petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, a few minutes before it was billed to deliver its verdict.
Shettima said the dissolution of the panel by Justice Adamu amounted to a flagrant breach of the order of the Supreme Court contained in its decision on Goni’s interlocutory appeal delivered on October 31.
In another development, apprehension and anxiety have enveloped Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, as the governorship election petitions tribunal sitting in Ilorin delivers judgment in the case between Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Dele Belgore today.
Armoured vehicles have started patrolling major roads and streets since the beginning of the week, to ensure security, while plain-clothes security men had been drafted to provide information on security.
It was also gathered that schools located around the venue of the tribunal sitting had been directed to go on forced holiday today, as part of measures to ensure adequate security.
Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune ahead of the judgment, the spokesperson for the state PDP, Alhaji Masu’d Adebimpe, said the party was expecting nothing less than victory.
Also speaking, the media aide to the ACN governorship candidate, Rafiu Ajakaiye, said the expectation from the tribunal was to nullify election in the five local councils and 28 wards the party was challenging.
SOURCE: Nigerian Tribune Newspaper, 11 November 2011. http://www.tribune.com.ng
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