Victory for Akala
By Tunji Ola
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Election Petitions Tribunal in Oyo State confirms Adebayo Alao-Akala's victory in the April 2007 governorship election
It is not yet uhuru for Adebayo Alao-Akala, governor of Oyo State. Despite last Monday's ruling of the Election Petitions Tribunal which upheld his election, the opposition has not given up on the battle for the nullification of his election.
Last Tuesday, Abiola Ajimobi, governorship candidate of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, in the April 2007 election rejected the tribunal's verdict and vowed to appeal against it. He was confident that the Appeal Court would upturn the tribunal's verdict because the dissenting judgement delivered by Justice Wali Bashir exposed the entire weakness of the majority judgement.
Bashir had held that the election of Alao-Akala was nullified because the petitioners had established the existence of non-compliance with the Electoral Act. He also held that in 309 units out of 4,746 units, over 200,000 voters were disenfranchised, noting that if these were allowed, it could have tilted the total result in the petitioner's favour. "If the nature of non-compliance gives undue advantage to the candidate who was declared as winner, then the proper thing to do would be to order a nullification and fresh election into the disputed areas. It is obvious Alao-Akala enjoyed undue advantage on the issue of non-compliance," Bashir said.
Adeniyi Akintola, SAN, lead counsel to Ajimobi said he would soon go to the Appeal Court to challenge the tribunal's ruling. According to him, the dissenting judgement delivered by Bashir should have been taken as the lead judgement because it was more logical and accurate.
But Yemi Yusuff Hassan, chairman of the tribunal who took over from Sidi Bage who was elevated to the Court of Appeal, Pascal Nnadi and E.O. Ahamioje, in the majority judgement said that the total number of invalid votes cast did not substantially affect the outcome of the election results.
The total number of 93,173 invalid votes were deducted from the earlier recorded 357,972 votes recorded for PDP, leaving 264,799 valid votes while the total number of 3,949 invalid votes were also deducted from ANPP's votes, leaving a total of 238,587 votes. The invalid votes were in respect of over-voting, or votes cast without proper accreditation, or formed part of results, which were neither signed nor countersigned by INEC's officials. They held that the total number of invalid votes did not substantially affect the election results declared in the state.
Delivering the first judgement on the consolidated petition filed by the governorship candidates of the ANPP, Democratic Peoples Alliance, DPA, Republican Party of Nigeria, RPN, and National Democratic Party, NDP, the tribunal held that all claims challenging the eligibility of Alao-Akala to contest lacked merit. The tribunal also dismissed all allegations of intimidation, thuggery and violence, during the elections and held that the petitioner failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt and held that where a candidate failed to link an agent who perpetrated violence to another candidate, his election cannot be nullified unless it could be proved that the accused candidate authorised the act.
In Ibarapa East, Iseyin and Lagelu, the tribunal dismissed the allegations that votes were inflated in the areas because the petitioners failed to present enough evidence before the tribunal.
Hardly had the tribunal given its ruling, which was aired live on state television station than supporters of Alao-Akala and Lamidi Adedibu, strongman of Ibadan politics took to the streets in a frenzy of celebrations that resulted in a deadly accident in Ibadan, the state capital. A brand new Toyota Hilux belonging to the Oyo State Planning Commission which conveyed about 18 people in jubilation mood took off at a very high speed from the High Court in the Ring-Road area of Ibadan and finally somersaulted close to the court premises. Three people died instantly while 15 others sustained various degree of injuries. Two motorcyclists also died while riding in a convoy to celebrate Alao-Akala's victory.
Richard Akinjide, former attorney-general and minister of Justice hailed the decision of the tribunal and described it as a demonstration of the rule of law. He said it was imperative for contending parties to accept any court judgement "for better or for worse..."
Alao-Akala, in a state-wide broadcast described his victory at the tribunal as a collective one for the people of Oyo State. "Today's ruling is victory for democracy because your mandate, which you so freely gave me on April 14, 2007, has been given further legitimacy," he said.
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