The failure that was the hallmark of the 2007 elections has come to the judiciary for salvation going by the judgments, which culminated yesterday with the removal of the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris by the Court of Appeal. He became the first governor to be effectively unseated based on an election petition in the 2007 political dispensation in the judiciary.
No one is sure of the exact number of those in the State Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly whose elections have been upturned, even as Abuja continues to be abuzz with speculations that the political camp of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has put in place a Plan B, if a rerun of the presidential election is called as a result of judicial intervention.
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, in upholding the verdict of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal nullifying the elections of Idris, stated that the election was flawed because the former governor of the Kogi and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) candidate in the elections, Prince Abubakar Audu, was unlawfully left out of the poll.
The Appeal Court observed that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Maurice Iwu, and his electoral officers were told in the weeks preceding the elections that the exclusion of Audu, "by the INEC was a wrong that must be cured."
Justice Omage held that INEC acted in excess of a power it did not possess when it decided to exclude the petitioner/2nd respondent from the said election on the basis of his purported indictment by an Administrative Panel of Inquiry set-up by former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
He held that the electoral body constituted itself into a judicial body, which it was not in disqualifying Audu from the poll on the premise of the said indictment, which, according to him was not a conviction passed on him by a court of competent jurisdiction.
He further held that the decision of the electoral body to exclude Audu from the said election amounted to an abuse of the party's right to field a candidate of its choice, who had emerged through a tedious nomination exercise.
States where there have been gubernatorial quakes so far are Anambra, Kogi, Adamawa, Enugu and Kebbi states. In Rivers State, a Supreme Court ruling removed Sir Celestine Omehia as governor and replaced him with Sir Rotimi Amaechi.
With the Appeal Court judgment, the courage of those governors who have rushed to the appellate court must be shaking, and like the speculation concerning Yar'Adua's Plan B, they must be rushing back to the drawing table for fresh polls.
Other states with cases pending are Sokoto, Yobe, Delta, Oyo, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Edo, Ogun and Ebonyi among others.
With the judgments, it is not surprising that that the self-defence from the INEC has reduced considerably. Now, it appears that the electoral commission is operating behind the scene using faceless organisations to tell Nigerians that it is time to move forward. But Rev. Father Mathew Hassan Kukah, in an interview, wondered if it would not be foolhardy to ask anyone to move forward at the edge of a precipice.
It is not only the gubernatorial elections that have created credibility problems for the last general elections. In the senatorial elections, Senate President David Mark is the last man standing among the three senators from Benue State, even though he continues to stand on shaky grounds with his Idoma brother, Alhaji Abubakar Usman breathing down his neck.
Even the number of House of Representatives members from that state continue to be depleted by the tribunals, leaving a huge question mark on the performance of INEC. Some nullified elections are:
• Nasarawa State House of Assembly: Abdulhamid Kwarra (PDP), certificate forgery.
• Adamawa State House of Assembly: Ahmed Mohammed; Yola South, unlawful exclusion of ANPP candidate Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim.
• Adamawa State House of Assembly: Former Speaker Mohammed Hassan Turaki (PDP); Yola North, unlawful exclusion of Thomas Jonathan Dinnang of the Labour Party.
• Edo State House of Assembly: Ovia North East Constituency; Bright Osayande (AC), substantial non-compliance with Electoral Act 2006 (failure to distribute election materials).
• Kogi State House of Assembly: Speaker Clarence Olafemi (PDP), substantial non-compliance with Electoral Act 2006 (election manipulation).
• Adamawa State House of Assembly: Mr Audu Buba Ngete (PDP); Shelleng Constituency, unlawful exclusion of Aliyu Yusuf Shelleng of the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP).
• Zamfara State House of Assembly: Alhaji Kabiru Mohammed ANPP (Gummi II constituency) and Alhaji Yahaya Giwa ANPP (Maradun I constituency).
• Oyo State, the election of AC State House of Assembly lawmaker, Ige Oyebusi from Kajola Constituency was annulled.
• Enugu State, PDP lawmaker Okechukwu Nwoke's victory in Igbo-Etiti Constituency was nullified. The petitioner was ANPP candidate, Mr. Osochi Agha.
• Niger State, the tribunal nullified the election of ANPP lawmaker, Ahmed Bala in Kotangora Constituency.
• Kebbi State: Senator Tanko Ayuba (ANPP) lost his seat
• Ekiti State, Senator Ehinlanwo (PDP) was removed as candidate
• Oyo State, Justice Sidi Bage ruled that a fresh election be conducted in Iseyin-Itesiwaju State constituency where PDP's Waheed Olaniyan earlier been elected.
• FCT, Abuja: Senator Jubrin Wowo (ANPP) has his election annulled because the AC candidate, Isa Ndako was unlawfully excluded from the polls.
• Oyo State: the election AC lawmaker, John Olaoye Oyedokun of Iwajowa constituency.
From Alifa Daniel Asst Political Editor, Abuja
The Guardian
Thursday, February 7, 2008
