Supreme Court judgment opens up old wounds, as political parties’ dust-up files to return to Court for battle over legislative seats.

 

From Cyril Mbah, Abuja.

It is doubtful whether the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will take up the challenge thrown by the ruling All Progressives Congress and summon courage to apologise to the Judiciary for the alleged spiteful remarks it made against the judiciary for overturning the supposed victory of the party at the 2023 general elections.

Rather,  there are strong indications that the PDP will dust up its files and retrieve the most relevant documents relating to disputed legislative seats especially in Plateau State and lead aggrieved opposition political parties along with their candidates back to the trenches to canvass for the review and re-trial of some legislative assembly cases to enable them regain back the seats allotted to their opponents and to seek reversal of judgments decided against them on the grounds of party membership, the improper nomination of candidates and the validity of congresses following the decisive pronouncement by the Supreme Court on Friday that courts have no right to interfere in internal political party affairs.

The Supreme Court made the pronouncement before it reversed the sack of Caleb Mutfwang, Governor of Plateau State., Abba Yusuf Governor of Kano state, Alex Otti, Governor of Abia state, Francis Ogbonna Erishi Nwifuru, Governor of Ebonyi, Babajide Sanwo-Olu,  Governor of Lagos State and Dauda Lawal, Governor of Zamfara State.

Already, the Plateau chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has forwarded a petition to the National Judicial Council asking for a review of cases involving it’s lawmakers, alleging miscarriage of justice by the Election Appeals Tribunal, as well as the Appeal Court and asking also for sanctions against the judges who handled the cases at the lower courts.

The Supreme Court had upheld the election of Abba Yusuf as Governor of Kano State, reversing the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal and the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, which sacked the governor last year in controversial judgements that drew widespread revulsion, the condemnation and disapproval of the public.

Recall also that on November 19, 2023, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja sacked Governor Caleb Mutfwang as the chief executive of Plateau State. The appellate court held that the PDP violated a court order and ordered that a valid congress be conducted in the 17 local government areas of Plateau State.

The court said the party conducted congress in only five LGAs of the state “which amounted to a nullity.”

But a five-member panel led by Justice Emmanuel Agim reversed the decision of the appellate court for being perverse because the issue of the primary election that produced Mutfwang was outside the jurisdiction of the lower court.

The Supreme Court reversed the sack of Caleb Mutfwang, affirming him as Governor of Plateau State and pointing out that the validity of nomination and sponsorship are not valid grounds to void an election.

The apex court held that the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter. Besides, it said, the issue of sponsorship elapsed long ago, adding that the petitioners not being members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), have no locus to challenge the party’s primary election.

On the issue of whether the order of the Plateau State High Court can affect the National Executive Committee (NEC), the apex court held that the appellate court was wrong in holding that the order affects the NEC of the party.

Justice Agim further stated that the issue of primary election is the internal matter of political parties which both the Tribunal and Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to entertain.

The Supreme Court also pointed out that contrary to the claim of the petitioners and the judgment of the appellate court, the order of the Plateau High Court was not disobeyed by the PDP as evidence showed that a fresh primary was conducted.

The court warned practitioners of the legal profession to wake up or else the judiciary would render itself irrelevant to the society.

The Presiding Justice, John Okoro also lamented that a lot of people have suffered because of the wrong judgments of the appellate court which had sacked several legislators who won elections under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

In her submission, Justice Helen Ogunwumiju also berated the appellate court for going into nomination and sponsorship matters despite several decisions of the apex court to the effect that another political party cannot challenge the validity of the primary elections of other parties.

Governor Mutfwang of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored 525,299 votes to beat the All Progressives Congress candidate, Nentawe Yilwatda, who garnered 481,370 votes during the 18th March 2023 governorship poll in Plateau State.

Although the governor’s election was upheld by the Plateau State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal which sat in Jos, the state capital, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, in its judgement delivered on 19 November 2023, overturned Mutfwang’s victory, prompting him to file an appeal at the Supreme Court to challenge the lower court’s decision.

In the case of Kano, Justice John Okoro, who read the Supreme Court lead judgement on Friday, said the Court of Appeal was wrong in affirming the decision of the tribunal which held that Yusuf did not win the majority of lawful votes cast in the governorship election of March 18, 2023.

In determining the case, the apex court raised two issues touching on whether the lower court was right in deducting 165,616 from the votes the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced for the governor and whether or not the lower court can adjudicate on the issue of party membership.

In it’s judgement, the Supreme Court held that the tribunal was wrong in deducting 165,616 votes from the valid votes cast for Yusuf in the election on the grounds that the ballot papers were not signed and stamped by INEC officials.

According to Justice Okoro, who read the judgement, Section 71 of the Electoral Act relied upon by the tribunal to deduct the disputed votes does not apply in the instant case.

The Supreme Court panel of five justices, subsequently went ahead and restored the deducted 165,616 votes to reinstate the victory of Yusuf in the governorship election.

On the second issue, the Supreme Court again faulted the Court of Appeal for holding that Governor Yusuf was not a member of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) as at the time of contesting the poll, adding that the issue of nomination and sponsorship are pre-election matters and outside the jurisdiction of the court.

Justice Okoro observed that contrary to the appellate court, the tribunal never held that Yusuf was not qualified to contest the poll but that his name was not in the original NNPP membership register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The apex court subsequently set aside the judgment of the two lower courts for being perverse and restored the electoral victory of Alhaji Abba Yusuf.

The Supreme Court also affirmed the election of Dr. Alex Otti as the Governor of Abia State.

Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, who read the lead judgment, held that the appellants failed to convincingly prove substantial non-compliance in their appeal.

On the issue of Otti’s membership, the appellant had contended that Oti was not validly nominated and sponsored by the Labour Party (LP) at the time of the election. However, the apex court held that the issue of membership is an internal affair and as such lacks jurisdiction.

The justices faulted the appellants for bringing the appeal to the court, tagging it as frivolous and vexatious. Alex Otti had scored 175,466 votes to defeat Okey Ahiwe of the PDP, who polled 88,529 votes in the election early last year.

The Supreme Court also affirmed the election of Chief Nwifuru as the duly elected Ebonyi Governor.

The apex court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal, Lagos, dismissing the appeal brought by Chukwuma Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for lacking in merit.

Last November, the Court of Appeal in Lagos affirmed the election of Chief Nwifuru as the duly elected Governor of Ebonyi State in the March 18 governorship election.

The three-member panel presided over by Justice Jummai Sankey, in its unanimous decision, dismissed the appeal filed by Odii and upheld the earlier verdict of the tribunal but the PDP candidate approached the apex court to seek redress.

The panel also resolved all the five issues raised against the appellant and dismissed the appeal for lacking in merit.

Justice Sankey held that the PDP and its candidate lacked the legal right to meddle in the internal affairs of the All Progressives Congress as it relates to the nomination of candidates.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Nwifuru as the winner of the March 18 poll in Ebonyi State.

Nwifuru polled 199,131 to defeat Ifeanyi Odii of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 80,191 and the Ben Odo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) who got 52,189.

On Zamfara State, the Supreme Court also upheld the election of Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the Zamfara Governor.

The apex court set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal Abuja, which had declared the Governorship Election inconclusive and ordered a re-run in three local government areas of the state.

The governor was declared winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election, in a shocking victory that dislodged former-incumbent Governor, Alhaji Bello Matawalle of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The APC candidate, who was however compensated with the position of Minister of State for Defence, had accused INEC of diverting his victory at the poll by failing to include the results of some ward and local government areas.

In a ruling on September 18, the Zamfara Election Petitions Tribunal held that the petition was devoid of merit and while upholding Lawal’s victory, the tribunal awarded the sum of N500,000 as fine against the petitioners.

Dissatisfied by the decision, Matawalle, took the matter to the Court of Appeal in Abuja and challenged the decision of the lower court. The three-member appellate panel led by Justice Oyebisi Folayemi, nullified the victory of Governor Lawal, who rushed the Supreme Court asking that he should be declared as the winner of the governorship poll.

In the same manner, the Supreme Court upheld the election of Bassey Otu as the governor of Cross River State.

The apex court affirmed the judgement of the Court of Appeal which ruled earlier in favour of Otu as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Cross River State.

The appellate court had in November 2023 dismissed the appeal filed by the Governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, Sandy Onor, for lack of merit.

Onor suffered the same fate before the election petition tribunal on September 26, 2023.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Otu winner of the polls, having polled a total of 258,619 votes and winning in 15 of the 18 local governments of the state to defeat his closest rival, Onor who garnered 179,636 votes.

Overall, the Supreme Court acquitted itself well with the balance it struck, according to public opinion, in the judgements and instantly pushed up its low popularity rating in the eyes and minds of members of the public.

The Executive Arm of Government led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu also deserves to be praised for allegedly resisting pressure from APC stakeholders especially the chairman and members of the National Working Committee to influence the Supreme Court judgement particularly as it affects Kano State.

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State has personally expressed gratitude and admiration for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s courage in resisting external pressures to intervene in the Supreme Court judgment on the governorship elections.

The Kano governor thanked Tinubu and his Deputy, Senator Kashim Shattima, for maintaining neutrality despite substantial pressure on them to do otherwise.

Kabir Yusuf ‘s excitement can be understood in the light of the alleged threats and reference to former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje’s alleged efforts to use the Presidency to influence the Supreme Court judgment in favour of APC gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Yusuf Gawuna.

Governor Yusuf emphasized that President Tinubu and Shettima’s consistent refusal to yield to pressure was a sign of mature statesmanship and a testament to Nigeria being genuinely well-governed and on its way to proper democracy.

A statement issued by Yusuf’s media aide said: “The governor noted with pleasure how President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Deputy, Kashim Shettima didn’t interfere in the apex court judgment despite stiff pressure from disgruntled quarters.”

The statement recalled that Dr. Ganduje and the APC had after their victory at the Court of Appeal boasted that they would still defeat Yusuf and his party, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP, at the Supreme Court.

Commenting on the matter, a legal luminary, Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN) in a telephone interview with our correspondent, commended the Supreme Court for summing-up courage and putting the records straight pointing out that the judgement has reassured the citizens that the judiciary still remains the last hope of the people.

Ahamba said that the judgement will go a long way to heal wounds and restore the hope of many who had lost confidence in the conduct of some judges after the 2023 general elections.

“I am happy that the Supreme Court has put the records straight and restored sanity in the system because matters of qualification are pre-election issues that should not be entertained by courts.

“It is wrong for someone in party A to start questioning and picking holes on how another person in party B was nominated as a candidate. These issues are pre-election matters,” Ahamba stated.