Following the recent judgment of the Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal on National Assembly poll, Yekini Jimoh reports on the ripple effects of the verdicts that depicted a win-some and lose-others scenario for the main political parties in the state.
THE fresh battle for the soul of Kogi State is fast taking shape with about 59 days to the governorship election. The first phase of the contest for supremacy was the last general election that produced the president and members of the National assembly from the state. Reports from the election petition tribunal show that the November 11 governorship poll could be a watershed in the history of the state. The election tribunal sitting in the state capital, Lokoja has delivered judgment on the Kogi Central senatorial district. It declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the election, Mrs Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as the winner of the election. The chairman, Justice K. A. Orjiako, who read the judgment of the three-man panel, said scores of Abubakar Ohere, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were inflated in nine polling units of Ajaokuta Local Government Area while that of Natasha was intentional reduced in the same number of polling units by the Ward Collation officers of the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC). He also stated that three other polling units results were deliberately not entered for Natasha in the same LGA. The court said Natasha’s votes in the nine polling units of Ajaokuta LGA was 1,073 against the 77 that was recorded by the Ward Collation officers while that of Ohere was inflated to 1,553 against the actual figure of 1031. “The Tribunal is also convinced that the petitioners 996 votes in polling units 009, 046 and O49 polling units of Ganaja village of Ajaokuta LGA were deliberately not recorded at the Ward Collation centre,” the tribunal stated.
Similarly, the tribunal sacked APC’s Senator Jibrin Isah, who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Customs Excise and Tarriffs, on the ground that elections were cancelled in some 94 polling units. The tribunal chairman, who delivered the judgment on the petition brought before it by Dr Victor Adoji, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), agreed with the prayers of Adoji. Justice Orjiako ordered for the withdrawal of the Certificate of Return issued by iNEC to the APC candidate.
“Since the PVCs collected in the 94 polling units is 59,730, while the margin of win is 26,922 votes, the Returning Officer ought to have declared the election inconclusive without making a return. “Consequently, this honourable Tribunal hereby granted the reliefs sought by the Petitioners. We also set aside the Certificate of Return issued to Jibrin Isah.
“The tribunal hereby also order INEC to conduct a supplementary election in the affected polling units where election did not hold or cancelled in order to determine the winner, ” justice Orjiako declared. The tribunal ordered INEC to conduct a supplement election in the affected 94 polling units.
Meanwhile, the judgments of the tribunal generated ripples in the state. Various individuals and groups have expressed mixed reactions, including the politicians involved in the election petition matters. Senator Ohere says he received the judgment nullifying his election with a great chock. Most worrisome to him is the aspect bordering on the tribunal’s decision that as respondent, he ought to have filed a cross-petition to be able to challenge votes in an election petition. The senator said he felt strongly that the decision is contrary to paragraph 15 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act 2022. He expressed confidence that the judgment would be upturned at the Appeal Court. He stated: “As a matter of fact, I presented before the Tribunal through my team of lawyers, a decision of the Appellate Court which held that a respondent does not need to file a cross-petition to challenge votes in an election petition, if the ground for challenging the election is ‘majority of lawful votes.’
“While I am waiting for my team of lawyers to give me full details on the judgment, I urge all my supporters to be calm and peaceful as their mandate is not lost. I verily know that I have option of appealing to the Court of Appeal which I shall exercise after due consultation with my lawyers. I am confident that we shall triumph at the next floor of justice by pointing to areas where we strongly disagree with the ruling. Your mandate shall be protected. I urge my supporters not to be disturbed but to believe that we will get it right,” the statement reads.
Also, Jibrin Isah-Echocho, the senator representing Kogi East said the battle is not yet over. He has indicated his plan to seek redress in the appellate court. Implicitly, he promised to challenge the decision of the tribunal which nullified his victory and ordered for rerun in 94 polling units. He faulted the tribunal’s decision on another ground that an earlier judgment that forbids additional inclusion of polling units to the legally approved ones. “The interpretation of the tribunal raises serious questions, which has prompted the seeking of the right interpretation through the appellate court. Echocho, who is the chairman, Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff said he is determined to defend his victory and uphold the integrity of the electoral process. The senator also appealed to his supporters to remain calm, promising to exhaust every constitutional privilege available to protect the integrity of the process.
The judgment of the tribunal equally elicited serious concern among the top echelon of the APC in the state. Specifically, the chairman of the APC in the state, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello is totally dissatisfied with the decision of the tribunal. He asked members of his party to remain calm, assuring that the mandate given to APC at the National Assembly election would be reclaimed at the Appeal Court. Bello urged Ohere and Jibrin Isah, senators representing Kogi Central and East respectively to remain steadfast along with other members of the APC. He said the party was working towards claiming its mandate. He claimed that the facts of the matter pleaded at the tribunal were not in agreement with the judgment, insisting that the APC convincingly won the February 25 National Assembly election. He described the judgment as a miscarriage of justice, maintaining that the facts presented to the tribunal were not followed. He said APC would challenge the judgment of the tribunal and urged supporters of the party remain calm and focused. He was confident that the matter would be dealt with dispassionately at the Appeal Court to prove that the APC overwhelmingly won at the election.
The state governor, Yahaya Bello is also optimistic that APC will retain all three senatorial seats. Bello said: “I want to assure you that even judging from the pronouncement at the appeal court, we’re going to have our three-over-three Senate in Kogi State, I can assure you.”
Meanwhile, the judgments of the tribunal have sparked another round of public discourse on the politics of Kogi state in the new political dispensation. The verdicts have led to posers on the immediate and long term implications for PDP, APC and SDP; the November 11 governorship election and mutual suspicion among some party leaders across board.
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