•I’m still governor, Wike declares
• Uneasy calm in P/Harcourt
There was anxiety and palpable calmness in Rivers State yesterday, following the nullification of the April 11, governorship election by the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja.
Apart from nullifying the election, the tribunal also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, to conduct a fresh election within 90 days but the PDP has vowed to challenge the judgement at the Court of Appeal.
Wike has insisted that he remains the state governor and vowed to appeal the judgement.
Though there were pockets of jubilation by some members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, whose governorship candidate, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has petitioned the tribunal praying it to nullify the election on grounds of irregularities, violence and non-compliance with the extant provisions of the electoral act.
When news of the nullification filtered into Port Harcourt, the state capital, members and supporters of the APC went into jubilation
The jubilation was seen at the APC secretariat located in William Jumbo, Old GRA, Port Harcourt, Mgbuoshimiri area, in Obio/Akpor and some other places by members of the APC.
Some APC members said they foresaw the ruling of the tribunal, because it was clear that election did not take place in the state.
But there was calm around the township area of Port Harcourt metropolis, probably due to the heavy presence of heavily armed security operatives who were strategically positioned to quell any attempt to disrupt public peace.
A truck load of policemen was stationed in front of the NYSC secretariat along Ikwerre Road; opposite Government House and at Station Bus Stop, in the Port Harcourt metropolis.
Heavily armed policemen in operational vehicles were stationed at the front of most public buildings.
Some persons who spoke on the outcome of the tribunal’s verdict said they are looking forward to having a smooth re-run election in the next 90 days.
They acknowledged that within the short time Wike stayed in office, he was able to execute some projects that had impact on members of the public.
The All Progressive Congress and its governorship candidate, Dr Peterside Dakuku, had approached the Tribunal challenging the election on ground that it was marred by several irregularities. Joined as respondents in the petition were Wike, PDP and INEC.
In its judgement that lasted for about three hours, the three-man panel headed by Justice Suleiman Ambursa, held that the said election made mockery of democracy.
The tribunal further held that Wike was wrongly declared winner because of non compliance with Electoral process and added that thugs overran the state during the election.
The tribunal also held that the allegation of intimidation, harassment, snatching of ballot boxes, ballot papers, lack of result sheet, late arrival of election materials, diversion of election materials, ballot stuffing, allocation of figures, non collation of result, failure to use card readers were all established by the petitioner stressing that the petitioner produced credible evidence and documents to prove his allegation.
“The witnesses called by the respondent became unreliable during cross examination. They betrayed their character. Even INEC officials who came as witnesses at a point claimed ignorance of their own document.
“The second respondent was not duly elected”, the tribunal held.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the PDP, Mr. Chris Uche SAN said that the party will test the judgment at the Court of Appeal and possibly, the Supreme Court.
“It was wrong of the tribunal to lay heavy weather on the use of card reader when INEC itself admitted that both card reader and manual can be used where there are challenges”, he stated.
Uche further faulted the judgment on the ground that the parties adopted their brief in less than 48 hours and judgment delivered.
In his own reaction, Dakuku said the Rivers people are happy with judgment and that it has given them an opportunity to vote for who they want.
During the adoption, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) however defended the governorship election it conducted, urging the tribunal to uphold the election of Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The commission’s counsel, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition.
He said that the petitioners, the All Progressives Congress and its governorship candidate, Dr Dakuku Peterside had failed to discharge that the burden of proof placed on them to substantiate their claim that election did not take place in the state on April 11.
According to him, the petitioners failed to prove their allegations polling unit by polling unit.
He said that the few witnesses called by the petitioners were not participants in the election and that their testimonies counted for nothing as already established by the Supreme Court in plethora of cases.
He said the soldiers, mobile policemen and operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, invited by the APC gave generic and contradictory evidence which had no relevance in relation to voting at the polling units.
He urged the tribunal to hold that their testimonies were unreliable.
The INEC counsel declared that on the premise of the Supreme Court judgment in the case between Buhari and Obasanjo, INEC guidelines could not supersede the Electoral Act.
He further argued that the Electoral Act did not limit accreditation to card readers alone.
He added that the reports tendered by the Rivers State APC were rejected by INEC before Wike was returned as winner of the election. He said such reports were no longer tenable.
But the petitioners led by their counsel, Chief Akinlolu Olujimi, SAN urged the tribunal to grant the reliefs sought in their petition.
However, the PDP had urged the tribunal to dismiss the petition for lacking in merit and substance.
In his submission, Counsel to the PDP, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) argued that the petition was incompetent; pointing out that the tribunal had no jurisdiction to amend the petition of the APC, especially the reliefs already abandoned by the party.
He stated that whilst the petitioner alleged several cases of violence and abduction of voters, the petitioners failed to lead any evidence in that direction or call any witness to prove their claim.
Similarly, Wike called on the tribunal to dismiss the petition on the grounds that the petitioners failed to prove the several allegations against his election on April 11, 2015.
His counsel, Emmanuel Ukala, SAN, declared that the Rivers State APC Governorship Candidate, Dakuku Peterside was not qualified to contest the April 11 election because his nomination contravened Section 85 (1), of the Electoral Act.
He cited the case of Wike V Labour Party wherein the Appeal Court held that Section 85 (1) of the Electoral Act is critical to the nomination of a candidate.
He said the petition is not properly before the tribunal because the Rivers State APC Gubernatorial candidate was not duly nominated.
Despite his sack by the Rivers Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja yesterday, Chief Nyesom Wike has declared that he remains the governor of the state.
This is as he alleged that there was a gang up in Abuja against the state, but expressed the optimism that nobody can claim his mandate.
Wike spoke to newsmen at the Port Harcourt International Airport, shortly after returning from Abuja, along with Prince Uche Secondus, Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP along with other top party members.
He said his lawyers were already preparing their papers to go on appeal, pointing out that he has a good case.
The governor said, “Let me on behalf of the deputy governor and the party chairman thank all of you for the support you have given to us.
“We have come back from Abuja with the national chairman and other leaders of the party, who were at Abuja with us for this period,” he said.
He appealed to his supporters to remain calm and peaceful, even as he said he will not criticise the tribunal judgement despite the obvious lapses.
“By my training, I am not supposed to criticize any judge for whatever opinion the judge has. So, what I can say is that the tribunal has given its own verdict, but we know that by the special grace of God, that is not the verdict of God. Nobody can take your mandate.
“All the gang ups in Abuja is against Rivers State, but we must protect the interest of this state. If they like, let them use all the powers they have, but their power cannot be superior to God’s power.
“So, I want to urge you to be calm and be peaceful; I am still the governor of Rivers State. Our lawyers are going on appeal; we are all going on appeal.
“There is also the Supreme Court. We believe that we have a good case. I have never seen where a lower court will overrule a superior court like the Court of Appeal.
“In Lagos State, PDP went to court with our governorship candidate, and one of the grounds they went to court is the issue of card reader,” Wike said.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described Saturday’s judgement of the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that overturned the election of Gov. Nyesom Wike of the PDP as a deadly body blow to impunity and hooliganism.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the judgement has shown clearly that the era of impunity and hooliganism is over, and that the only way for elections to have legitimacy is for them to be free, fair and credible.
”What has come across from this judgement is that there is no shortcut to free, fair and credible elections. This is part of the wind of change that is blowing across the land and touching all arms of government under the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
”Elections are about the expression of the will of the people, and they must always be free to express themselves, irrespective of what some desperate politicians may feel,” it said.
APC said politicians, especially those seeking or occupying elective office, must realize that they can only derive their legitimacy from the people, and that unless they respect the wishes of the people, they will not go far.
The party hailed its governorship candidate in Rivers, Mr. Dakuku Peterside, for his doggedness and strong conviction in the pursuit of his petition against the election of Wike that was not only marred by widespread violence and electoral malfeasance, but also acknowledged to be so by local and international observers – and now by the judiciary.
It urged all APC members and supporters in the state to remain peaceful, even in the face of provocation by those who are now realizing, to their chagrin, that there is always a limit to everything, including impunity and hooliganism.
0 comments:
Post a Comment