As the battle over who takes charge of the
governance of Taraba State continues to rage,
ANDREW OJIH examines the verdict of the Court of
Appeal which upturned the removal of Governor
Darius Ishaku within the backdrop of the appeal by
Senator Aisha Alhassan before the Supreme Court.
Last week, the legal battle over the governorship seat
in Taraba State incidentally shifted ground to the
Supreme Court. Senator Aisha Jumai Alhassan of the
All Progressive Congress (APC) has taken the case on
appeal to the apex court. She is challenging the
verdict of the Court of Appeal which reversed the
judgement of the governorship election petitions
tribunal that nullified the election of Darius Ishaku as
governor of the state.
The verdict of the appellate court on Taraba
governorship tussle, coupled with another one
bordering on Abia State gubernatorial seat delivered
by the same court ended the year 2015 on a dramatic
note. While somewhere in Jalingo, supporters of
Governor Ishaku shut down the state capital in a
frenzy of jubilation, Umuahia, the state capital of the
South Eastern state wore a gloomy look in the camp
of Gobernor Okezie Ikpeazu.
Of these two judicial pronouncement, the appellate
court judgement on Taraba elicited much public
interest. It seemed to have dashed the faith of
thousands of Tarabans and, indeed, some Nigerians
who were waiting curiously to see the state
producing the first female governor. Alhassan met a
tall brick wall on her way to the Taraba Government
House which legal experts are wondering whether
she would be able to climb over. For Ishaku, it was
smiling all the way to the New Year together with his
teaming supporters.
Presently, the last fight is in the highest court in the
land and the watchword is ‘finish and go’, as there is
no other platform to appeal the case after their
lordships at the apex court would have taken their
decision on Alhassan’s appeal. But considering the
changing pattern of the legal tide in the matter, can
Alhassan get her groove back at the Supreme Court?
In attempting to answer this question, it would be
better to take a look at the decision of the appellate
court.
Likened to a football match, the political battle now
stands at 1-1 draw. Ishaku came from behind after
suffering a one goal down at the tribunal to register
an equalizer against Alhassan at the appellate court.
On November 7, 2015, the governorship election
petitions tribunal sitting in Abuja had nullified
Ishaku’s election and ordered the swearing in of
Alhassan of the APC on the ground that the governor
was not a validly nominated candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) and therefore was not
qualified to contest in the election ab initio.
The tribunal’s judgement sparked up a debate among
legal experts who were sharply divided into two
schools of thought. Some contended that the verdict
of the tribunal was in order, while many maintained
that it was the peak of judicial rascality which, if not
reversed, could affect the country’s vibrant and
promising democracy adversely.
Dissatisfied with the verdict, Ishaku approached the
appellate with an appeal, challenge the decision of
the tribunal. Confidently, he told his supporters that
he was certain the appellate court would upturned
the tribunal’s decision which allegedly stood the law
on its head. Simultaneously, Alhassan also ran to the
Court of Appeal to file a cross appeal, a development
described by state the Commissioner for Justice,
Yusufu Akirikwen as outright demonstration of lack of
faith in the tribunal’s ruling. She challenged the
decision of the tribunal that the Ishaku’s election was
not marred by substantial non-compliance with the
Electoral Act.
But after all the legal fireworks at the appellate court,
the five-member panel of justices sitting in Abuja
upturned the verdict of the election tribunal. Their
lordships ruled that the method of nomination of a
candidate ought not to have been one of the grounds
for removing an incumbent governor. In a
unanimous judgement read by Justice Abdul Aboki,
the five-man panel of justices held that the PDP
primary which produced Governor Ishaku was a pre-
election matter that ought not to have been
entertained by the Tribunal.
The court also said that only the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) and members
of the PDP who participated in the primary election
had the right to complain. The court held that
whether the primary of a political party was done
right or not cannot be subject of an election petition
because it is purely a preselection matter meant for
the ordinary court.
The appellate court said that the constitution clearly
spelt out that until a candidate has been indicted by a
court of law, or is known to have a criminal record,
or has certain degree of health condition, among
others, such a person cannot be determined by a
tribunal as not being qualified as a candidate. Aboki
said the inability of a political party to conduct a
conclusive primaries was clearly a pre-election issue
which the tribunal has no jurisdiction on. He said the
important question about Section 85 of the Electoral
Act was whether the INEC, which the section was
made for, was complaining about the candidature of
Ishaku.
“If INEC does not see any reason to complain, can the
first and second respondent be seen complaining
loudly? I have found in this case that the first and
second respondent have no right to challenge the
emergence of the PDP governorship candidate since
none of them is a member of the PDP”, the judge
stated.
According the appellate court, what was most
important as a question was whether the appellant
was a member of PDP and was sponsored by the
party for the gubernatorial race. The court ruled that
Ishaku was validly nominated candidate of PDP for
the election and he participated in the election. It
noted that in the eyes of the law, Alhassan and APC
have no right to challenge the election in which
Ishaku emerged, since none of them is a member of
PDP.
According to the court, the decision of the Tribunal
not to take into consideration the testimony of the
appellant witnesses that the PDP primary election
was shifted to Abuja because of security situation
was perverse. Accordingly, it set aside the decision of
the Tribunal. “If the Tribunal decides that a candidate
elected at an election was not validly nominated, it
can nullify the victory, it should order fresh election
and not declaring the petitioner the winner of the
poll”, Justice Aboki declared.
The court maintained that the tribunal erred in law
when it declared the APC candidate who scored the
second highest number of votes the winner of the
election. The court said it was a gross misdirection
for the tribunal to declare the APC candidate winner
of the election on the basis that she secured the
second highest number of votes. Allowing Ishaku’s
appeal, the court summersaulted the judgement of
the tribunal and held that Ishaku was validly elected
as Governor of Taraba State and ordered that his
certificate of return remains valid.
The five member panel of justices, however,
dismissed arguments by the appellant, Ishaku, that
the tribunal should not have accepted the statements
of the witnesses because they were not properly
signed. Ishaku had argued that the tribunal should
have struck out the petition. But the appellate court
held that the statements upon examination were
properly signed and stamped by the secretary to the
tribunal who statutorily was the head of the registry
of the Tribunal. The court held that the petitioner,
Alhassan fully complied with all statutory stipulations
for filing of statement of witnesses and that the
Tribunal was right to have accepted them.
The court also argued that it will amount to great
injustice if the petitioner is held responsible for the
mistake of the registry of the tribunal. Also, the court
dismissed arguments by the appellant that the reliefs
sought by the petitioner are incongruent. The
appellant had argued that the petitioner cannot be
claiming that the election was marred by
malpractices and at the same time, asking to be
declared winner of the election.
Reacting to the judgement, Senator Alhassan
announced that she was heading for the Supreme
Court to challenge the verdict. Her counsel, Mahmud
Magaji (SAN) who spoke to journalists shortly after
the verdict was delivered in Abuja, said, “Their
lordships have gone through our various speeches
and have come up with their own ruling and we feel
that we have the right to proceed to the Supreme
Court”.
On his part, governor Ishaku in reaction to the
judgement said he would not undermine the right of
the APC and its candidate to seek further appeal.
Speaking through his through his, Kanu Agabi (SAN),
the governor stressed that the right of appeal was
what brought them to the court and the right of
appeal is still what will take them to the Supreme
Court. Ishaku, who further spoke to newsmen shortly
after he returned to the state from Abuja advised
senator Aisha and her supporters to concede to
defeat and join the wining team.
He told them that he will run an all inclusive
government that would carry every Taraban along to
enable him achieve his rescue agenda. He noted that
his decision to stopped his party supporters from
jubilating over his recent victory was to ensure peace
and order in the state. The governor added that he
has confident in the judiciary, stressing that the
Supreme Court would do justice to case at the end of
it all.
The appellate court verdict has, however, led to a
media tirade between supporters of the governor
and those of the Minister. Ahlasssan’s camp are
alleging that the appellate court ruling on Taraba
guber promoted godfatherism. A group known as
Taraba indigenes club support for Senator Alhassan
said the appellate court judgement which returned
Darius Ishaku of as duly elected governor of the state
was a prove of “man pass man”.
Speaking on the verdict, the coordinator of the group,
Aaron Wanchebe said that their lordship, by their
ruling, disappointed the people of the state and
indeed Nigerians who depend solidly on the judiciary
for justice. “To be frank with you, we were all
disappointed by the ruling. We have been following
the entire scenario, the PDP did not conduct
Primaries,because the party imposed a candidate on
the people of the state”.
But the PDP in the state lambasted the APC, saying
instead of conceding defeat and joining the wining
train, Senator Alhassan and her party supporters
were busy criticizing the ruling of the appellate court.
The state chairman of the PDP, Mr. Victor Bala Kona
said Alhassan and her party, the APC, were only
showing its desperation in the face of obvious defeat
by the PDP at the court. “As I speak with you, the APC
is only being jittery and desperate, because it knows
that if the court orders for fresh election, they can’t
win an election in a predominantly PDP state like
Taraba”, he said.
As it is, pundits are watching with ecclesiastic
passion to see the outcome of the legal tussle
bordering on the Taraba governorship seat which
has gone before the Supreme Court. They say they
are curiously waiting to see the legal ‘abracadabra’
Senator Alhassan’s team of lawyers would perform at
the apex court. The thinking is that the appellate
court verdict which reversed the judgement of the
tribunal was clear on points of law as it was well
fashioned. But since the apex court is a superior
court with more experienced justices, it is still daisy
for one to preempt or undermine Alhassan’s appeal,
just as Ishaku himself has pointed out.