The Supreme Court, Tuesday, adjourned indefinitely appeals involving Bauchi, Benue and Plateau States governorship elections, after postponing Kano’s to Jan 20, 2020. The apex court is also set to give its verdict on the election appeal from Imo State.
Former governor of Bauchi State, Mohammed Abukakar is challenging the election of Bala Mohammed, while Emmanuel Jime, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is challenging the election of Samuel Ortom of the People’s Democratic Party (PDD) as Benue State governor.
Jeremiah Useni of PDP approached the Supreme Court after he failed at both the tribunal and Appeal Court to upturn the election of Simon Lalong of Plateau State.
All the challengers had lost at the election petition tribunal and Appeal Court.
In adjourning the matters, the seven-man panel of Justices of Supreme Court said the adjournment would allow the panel time to concentrate on the cases that are time-bound.
The Supreme Court had earlier adjourned to January 20 for judgment in the suit challenging the election of Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.
The apex court arrived at this decision after counsel to the parties adopted their briefs on Tuesday.
The 7-member panel of Justices of the apex court presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Ibrahim Muhammad, fixed the date after taking submissions of counsel in the appeal filed by the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Abbah Yusuf.
The Supreme Court on Monday abruptly adjourned proceedings on Kano and other State’s election appeals after one of the panel members became ill.
Yusuf is asking the apex court to set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal which affirmed Ganduje as the duly elected governor of Kano State.
The Court of Appeal had on Nov. 22 last year upheld the judgment of the Kano State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which upheld the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) declaration of Ganduje as the winner of the March 9 governorship election in Kano State.
In arguing the appeal, Yusuf’s lawyer, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo urged the court to nullify the election of Ganduje on the grounds that his victory was based on an illegal bye-election conducted in 207 polling units.
Awomolo argued that the State Returning Officer, who had conducted the bye-election in the affected polling units, lacked the legal powers to do so.
He added that the State Returning Officer after declaring the entire results of election in the 44 local government areas of Kano State was wrong to have gone ahead to cancel the election in 207 polling units and conducted a bye-election thereafter.
Awomolo therefore urged the court to nullify the purported bye-election conducted on March 23 in the 207 polling units and declare his client winner based on the results declared by the State Returning Officer on March 11, 2019.
However, the respondents in their various submissions urged the court to dismiss the appeal on grounds that the State Returning Officer did not cancel election of 207 polling units as claimed by the appellants.
Counsel to INEC, Ahmed Raji (SAN) in his submissions told the apex court that the appellants both at the tribunal and Court of Appeal failed to prove that votes were cancelled in 207 wards
According to Raji, record only showed the inability of the State Returning Officer to collate results of the affected polling units which was occasioned by the action of the appellant’s own witness, who in his evidence admitted carting away with ballot boxes of Galma wards belonging to the 207 polling units.
Both lawyers to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Ganduje aligned themselves with Raji and urged the court to dismiss the appeal for lacking merit.
Justice Muhammad thereafter fixed January 20, 2020, for judgment.
…more details later
