Tribunal Sacks Imoke
By Joseph Onyekwere and Godfrey Azubike
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Appeal Court in Calabar nullifies the election of Liyel Imoke and orders him to hand over to the speaker of the state house of assembly
Liyel Imoke, the governor of Cross River State suffered a major setback last Monday as the Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar, nullified his election on the grounds of non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
In a unanimous judgment read by Suleiman Galadima who led four other Appeal Court judges, the tribunal said the April 14, 2007 governorship election was invalid based on the conduct and results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. According to him, INEC did not comply substantially with the provisions of the 2006 Electoral Act, as it failed to make available result sheets for elections at the polling station as demanded by law. He also ruled that there were enough evidence to prove the petitioners’ claim that there was arbitrary allocation of scores and that there was no result sheet at polling stations on the day of the election.
As a result, the court ordered Imoke to immediately vacate office for the speaker of the state house of assembly and that INEC should conduct fresh governorship election in the state within the next three months from the day of the judgment.
Imoke accepted the verdict of the Appeal Court, saying he would abide by the judgment as a law-abiding citizen. "In the light of the judgment, I am handing over to the speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly, until fresh elections are held and an elected governor subsequently sworn-in. I appeal to Cross Riverians to remain calm and go about their normal duties. Let me use this opportunity to thank all Cross Riverians for the immense support given to my administration within the past one year and pray you to extend the same to Francis Adah, the acting governor."
Dorothy Iyamba-Idem, the chief judge of the state, swore in Adah at about 4 p.m last Monday July 14. In his short acceptance speech Adah said the judgment was a temporary setback for the PDP administration in the state, and expressed confidence that the party would still win in the fresh election. "Our mandate was not a stolen mandate. Cross Riverians will use the opportunity of the fresh election to revalidate the mandate that was given to Imoke in the 2007 election," he stated.
Joe Agi, one of the counsels to Imoke said: "We are bound by the judgment. The appeal court has only extended the tenure of my client, as Imoke would now complete his first tenure in 2012."
Ekpo Okon, the PDP state chairman, in his reaction, described the Appeal Court verdict as unfortunate. He, however, expressed confidence that the party would reclaim the governorship seat at the re-run election.
Felix Offia, counsel to the appellants expressed delight with the judgment of the court, saying that the judiciary proved that it is the last hope of the common man. He said by the development, all parties should go and prepare for another election expressing the hope that INEC would put its act together and conduct the election according to the dictates of the constitution.
Okoi Obono-Obla, another counsel to the appellants, said the nullification of Imoke’s election has liberated Cross River State from the hands of political jobbers and buccaneers who used guile, chicanery and electoral roguery to seize the machinery of government. "Imoke did not win any election. Votes were merely allocated," he said. He stated that the petitioners won the case at the lower tribunal but that the tribunal did not have the courage to annul the election after it was shown overwhelming evidence that there was no election in Cross River State on April 14, 2007. Obono-Obla added that investigation carried out by his client showed that only 33,000 people were duly accredited but Imoke was allocated more than the total number of registered voters in the state.
Martins Blessing, the ANPP state chairman welcomed the court verdict, saying his party was prepared for a fresh election. Paul Ukpo, the ANPP candidate said the judgment has vindicated his position that there was no election in Cross River State. "The Appeal Court has proved me right that what happened was allocation of results to the PDP."
Six opposition parties in the state had challenged the declaration of Imoke as governor at the Gubernatorial and State House of Assembly Tribunal in Calabar on the grounds that he committed perjury by claiming on oath to possess some academic qualification, which he never had. The petitioners also claimed that the election was massively rigged in favour of Imoke.
Also joined in the petition were Effiok Cobham, the then deputy governor-elect, INEC, PDP, Rose Obuoforibo, the resident electoral commissioner, the state commissioner of police, state security services, SSS and others.
The petitioners were Eyo Etim Nyong, Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, Paul Ukpo of the All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, Solomon Awa Iheke of the Peoples Progressive Alliance, PPA, James Ebri of African Renaissance Party, ARP, Emmanuel Ibeshi, Action Congress, AC and Emmanuel Idaka of the African Democratic Congress, ADC.
In Kwara State, the result was different. The Gubernatorial and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, confirmed the election of Bukola Saraki, as governor of the state.
Muhammad Aliyu Mua’zu, the tribunal chairman last Wednesday, in his ruling on the consolidated petitions brought before him by Theophilus Bamigboye of Accord Party, AP, and Gbenga Olawepo of Democratic People's Party, DPP, dismissed all grounds of the petitions as lacking in merit.
Mua'zu also said that the petitioners failed to prove their cases beyond reasonable doubt on the various allegations levelled against the plaintiff. The tribunal held that the petitioners were unable to pin-point polling wards or units where electoral malpractices took place but instead made several allegations that cannot be justified. "What the petitioners did was to plead malpractices generally without giving specific instances. What we have in this case are bundles of documents without facts," he said.
The tribunal said contrary to Bamigboye’s claims, AP’s logo and its candidates name were on the ballot papers used for the election except the photograph.
Immediately after the judgment, supporters of the governor erupted in jubilation. Saraki described the verdict as an act of God and the demonstration of the strength of the nation’s democracy. He praised the petitioners for their doggedness and urged them to join hands with him in moving the state forward.
But Olawepo described the verdict as a miscarriage of justice. "The indications that petitioners would not get justice from the tribunal had long been evident. These consists of numerous absurdities such as obvious bias in the open court against petitioners in favour of incumbent and election riggers, the varying of earlier orders given in courts and the falsification of cited cases in order to justify pre-determined rulings," he said.
Olawepo stated that the petitioners were convinced of the truth of their case and as a result would proceed to the Appeal Court to seek justice. Bamigboye vowed to continue the struggle and urged his supporters to remain calm.
Kuti Kayode, chairman of Kwara State All Parties Congress, in his reaction to the judgment, said the body would constitute a panel to probe the tribunal. "The Congress asserts that if after the completion of the committee’s investigations, the tribunal’s hands are found soiled, it would surely sue the tribunal at the appellate court," he said.
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