Francis Ugwoke , Christopher Isiguzo in Abakaliki
12 July 2008
Enugu — The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu yesterday upheld the election of Sullivan Chime as governor of Enugu State, setting aside an earlier judgment of the Enugu State Election Petitions Tribunal which had in January annulled Chime's election.
Also yesterday, the same Court of Appeal in Enugu, upheld the election of Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State after dismissing the appeal brought by Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, the defeated candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the April 14, 2007 gubernatorial election.
Chime had gone to the Appeal Court shortly after his election was nullified in favour of three gubernatorial candidates - the Labour Party's, Mr Okey Ezea; Action Congress', Mr Dubem Onyia and Democratic People's Congress' (DPP), Dr Oscar Egwuonwu - to pray the appellate court to reverse the judgment.
The tribunal had in its ruling said that Chime's election was massively flawed with many irregularities and was not conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
But in a unanimous judgment read by Justice Funmilayo Adekeye yesterday, the Appeal Court set aside the judgment of the lower court on the grounds that the evidence which it relied upon to annual the election was not substantial enough.
The Appellate Court ruled that the respondents to the case (petitioners in the lower court) did not adduce substantial evidence to show that the election was totally flawed, adding that the lower tribunal erred in admitting the evidence produced before the court by the respondents.
Noting that the issues canvassed by the petitioners in the lower court were lack of compliance with electoral provisions, such as the late arrival of election materials, malpractices and the non-availability of result sheets, among others.
The Appeal Court said that the lower court did not address its mind to "substantiality."
Adekeye faulted all the points canvassed by the respondents, maintaining that they were not substantiated as required in an election matter.
Upholding Chime's appeal, the court said that the burden of proof of the allegations rested with the respondents, adding that they failed to discharge this responsibility.
According to the Appeal Court, the lower court "glossed over" a lot of things, adding that the skirmishes, violence, late arrival and distribution of materials as a result of which some potential voters were disenfranchised could not have been enough to stop the election.
The court said those who might have been disenfranchised were in the minority, a situation which according to the court, could not have led to the nullification of the election, emphasizing that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had repeated the election in four local governments areas in the state to take care of the issue of disenfranchisement.
"It is substantial miscarriage of justice. The lower court fell into a grave error when it rejected documents tendered by the appellant on the grounds that they were not front-loaded in line with the practiced direction," Justice Adekeye said.
All the13 issues formulated by Chime in the case were resolved in his favour, showing that the malpractices in the election did not affect the core election having been held.
Apparently shell shocked by the judgment, counsel to the Labour Party, Mr. Alex Iziyon (SAN) declined comment, claiming lawyers were barred from making statements on such matters.
The gubernatorial candidate of the Labour Party in the election, Okey Ezea described the outcome of the case as a miscarriage of justice, adding that what the Appeal Court did was simply to truncate democracy in Enugu State.
Chime, shortly after the judgment, said it was a new beginning for the people of the state. Chime who declared there was "no victor, no vanquished," extended a hand of fellowship to his political opponents.
He said: "I urge you to dismantle the narrow notion of defeat in order for us all to expand the frontiers of collaboration. I invite all and sundry to join our government in its efforts to make Enugu State the pride of the nation."
Soon after the judgment, hundreds of party supporters in the state thronged the streets near the Appeal Court singing solidarity songs for the governor.
Supporters of the former governor, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani and members of the opposition parties were conspicuously absent from the court.
In the case of Elechi, the same Appeal Court, in its judgment delivered by a member of the five-man panel, Justice A. A. Jauro dismissed the appeal brought in by Onu for "lacking in merit," and hailed the lower tribunal for the "sound judgment" it delivered on November 29, last year with regard to the petition.
While picking holes in the 23 grounds of appeal brought by the appellant, the court also resolved all the relief sought by the ANPP candidate in favour of the respondent, Elechi, adding that the onus of proof lies with the appellant who alleged wide-spread irregularities which allegedly characterised the said election.
The court maintained that though there were a few identifiable irregularities in the April 14 governorship election in Ebonyi State, they were not enough to move for outright nullification of the entire election.
The court said the appeal lacked merit as it did not provide sufficient evidence to support its allegations of fraud and non-voting in many electoral districts of Ebonyi.
Justices O. O. Adekeye, A. Jega and I. M. M. Salawu, who sat on the appeal, concurred with the lead judgment which also held that Section 139 of the Electoral Act as well as section 138 of the Evidence Act has not shifted the burden of proof of allegation of crime to the respondent.
While Onu, who was once governor of the old Abia State, refused to comment on the judgement, the Deputy Governor of Ebonyi state, Chigozie Ogbu and the PDP chairman in the state, Dave Umahi, described the appeal court ruling as "expected." They stated the judgment would be a source of strength for the governor.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu congratulated Chime on his victory at the Appeal Court.
"The victory is a further validation of the mandate of the people who voted for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the governor," Ekweremadu said.
He described the judgement as a victory for the people and called on the people of Enugu to support the governor for accelerated development of the state and for the unity and prosperity of its people.
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