Uwakwe Ifeanyi Regis
30 November 2008
opinion
Lagos — The epoch-making, courageous and landmark judgment of 11th November, 2008, by a panel of five justices of the appeal court led by its president Justice Umaru Abdullahi on the appeal filed by then Edo Governor Oserhiemen Osumbor against the judgment of the State Election Petition Tribunal, will no doubt be a booster to the various appeal tribunals scattered across the country.
The verdict also raised hopes that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man and the oppressed. As the appeal tribunals continue to adjudicate and give judgments on the various election petitions brought before them, many Nigerians are now full of expectations that they would follow the same path of the Edo example in restoring legitimacy and credibility to the April 2007 general elections believed to have been greatly flawed. The relative peace we still enjoy in the country today in spite of the charade of the last general elections, stems from the renewed confidence that most Nigerians now have the hope that they would obtain justice from the courts and election tribunals. This clearly demonstrates the importance of the delivery of justice by an independent, bold and fearless judiciary to the sustenance of the general peace in any polity.
In all honesty, the Edo judgment has become good news to lovers of democracy, especially those who believed that the Appeal Tribunals were the weakest link in the election petition process. As the nation waits with bated breath on the judiciary to clear the augean stable left by Obasanjo and his men, it has become imperative to examine how the nation came to this situation.. It is now obvious that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the weakest link in the electoral process as could be deduced from the Edo case. Its formation, funding, decentralization and staff recruitment should be totally overhauled by the Electoral reform committee in its report. What role did the government and the political parties play in this mess?
Indeed, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially under the Obasanjo hegemony, had combined brute governmental force and federal might to impose whomever it wished on any electoral throne. Even when the courts of law declared such means as illegal they (courts) were ignored (e.g the Senator Ifeanyi Ararume's PDP candidacy in Imo State). But not anymore. The dawn of the Yar'dua administration has ushered in the era of due process, rule of law, and restitution.
But how has the judiciary fared generally on the Election Petition assignment? The nation has witnessed some bold and heart-warming pronouncements across the country at the lower tribunals especially in Kogi, Sokoto, Adamawa, Ondo and Edo States where the tribunal nullified governorship elections on different grounds. However, there is still cause to worry about the judgments of some of the lower tribunals. The most disturbing was the decision of some tribunals to use purely technical grounds to dismiss election petitions. Two of these judgments are very prominent. The judgment of the Ogun State election tribunal that struck out the petition of the
All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) gubernatorial candidate, Senator Ibikunle Amosun on the ground that he did not state his "party, age, education, qualification and nationality" in the petition was embarrassing. It was the same in Delta State where the tribunal ruled that a Petitioner, Mr. Peter Okocha, candidate of the Action Congress (AC) did not indicate his party in his petition and therefore, lacked the locus standi to file the petition. In the wisdom of the tribunal, since the Nigerian Constitution does not provide for independent candidates, Okocha for not disclosing the party that sponsored him for the election lacked the locus to file a petition.
Elsewhere in Imo State where the INEC Principal witness and Chief Operations Officer confirmed both in his oral testimony and results presented by him that in some Local Governments (e.g Ihitte-Uboma and Ideato North L.G.A.s) the total number of votes cast exceeded the total number of registered voters, the panel of judges ignored such in their judgment. In a courageous manner however the Appeal Court was reversed the judgments of the Ogun Tribunal and ordered for fresh trials, while the appeal hearing of Delta and Imo are on-going.
The Edo appeal tribunal judgment has removed the scare among some judges over the social cost of reversing electoral verdicts especially in cases involving incumbent office holders. In the past some judges, when faced with overwhelming evidence against incumbents often pleaded public interest as basis for their judgments whereas it is really self serving. The appeal tribunals should diligently bear in mind that the integrity and credibility of our country is at stake in the comity of nations as the 2007 elections have been roundly condemned as greatly flawed.
Therefore, the social cost burden should not override the national interest in liberating our nation from the bin of international condemnation and mockery.
While we praise the Edo Appeal Tribunal judges for being courageous and bold, they must be reminded that some Appeal judgments before now have raised eyebrows especially the Appeal Court Judgments of Kebbi and Sokoto States that many enlightened legal minds considered as having similar facts but differed in judgments. Furthermore, the Appeal Court judgment of the Senate President, David Mark (PDP) and Alhaji Abubakar Usman of the (ANPP) has been adjudged as a political judgment as some people think that it did not rigorously follow the facts of the case.
In fact it has been said often times, that the quality of judgment of any tribunal reflects the integrity and quality of its members. Therefore getting justice at the Election tribunals does not only depend on law and availability of figures but also on the integrity and courage of the trial judge and tribunal members. The advice of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Kutigi that tribunal members should not take bribes should be strictly adhered to.
History, humanity, and God shall take note of the Tribunal membership and their verdict.
Since most Nigerians have been robbed of the opportunity to make their voices heard through the customary democratic avenue of the ballot box, they cannot also loose the opportunity to having glaring cases of electoral fraud upturned.
Personally, my fear is that if the 2007 elections are not thoroughly overhauled and panel-beaten by the tribunal, we may never have any elections in 2011. Politician riggers, electoral bandits and armed government agents must be made to realize that most of their efforts were in vain, and electoral crime seldomly pays and are source s of shame to the nation.
The Appeal Tribunal members must be reminded that, the expectations of Nigerians are very high in states like Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo, Delta, Imo and Abia States and that Oshiomhole's Judgment is another booster for the rule of law and the development of a sound democratic culture. It sends a signal that any action not founded upon the law is nothing but a house built on sand which is liable to be blown away by the uncompromising wind of justice. The Edo Appeal Tribunal has demonstrated that politicians cannot b allowed to profit from brazen lawlessness, manipulations, and rascality in the manner inflicted upon the country by ex-president Obasanjo and his cronies. We can no longer persist in the deceit of styling our country a democracy whereas only a handful of the politician elite decide the outcome of electoral processes thereby disenfranchising Nigerians in a manner that is vulgar and blatant rape of their will. Finally, the appeal tribunal, have by their new found courage, re-affirmed that electoral rigging is no longer an end in itself, but a means to (sometimes) disastrous end.
Regis wrote from Lagos
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