BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE, deputy political editor

2011: Aggrieved parties, candidates storm tribunals with torrents of petitions

AFTER rain comes sunshine, so goes the saying. By analogy, after elections come election petitions and the Nigerian polity is about to witness another torrent of petitions after the 2011 elections. Members of the tribunals have been named and sitting will begin shortly.

So far, about 400 petitions have arisen out of the 1648 elections, consisting of one presidential, 26 governorship, 109 senatorial, 360 House of Representatives and 1,152 state assembly polls, held across the country.

However, the figure is low compared to the 1527 petitions submitted after the 2007 exercise, for which the Delta State gubernatorial litigation is still running.

In spite of the fewer number of  petitions trailing the 2011 polls, which is considered a major improvement on the series of flawed elections held in recent time, some of the petitions, if successful, could alter the electoral map of the country.

Buhari returns to tribunal
For the third time in a row, Maj General Muhammadu Buhari, who contested the presidential election on the plank of the newly formed Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, is returning to the tribunal seeking to nullify the victory of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that fielded President Goodluck Jonathan, as its standard bearer.

Since 1999, no petition against a presidential election has sailed through. But Buhari and his CPC team said they would succeed this time given the weight of evidence at their disposal. Capturing and inclusion of biometric data into the voters’ register for the elections mean that ballot papers can be subjected to forensic analysis to check multiple voting and balloting with palm kernels.

Akala, Uduaghan and Buhari

Buhari is disputing results from the 17 Southern states and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, where he was beaten massively by Jonathan. The bulk of his 12 million votes came mainly from the North-West and North-East geo-political zones. If Buhari succeeds, there would be another presidential election.

Aside the presidential election, the CPC is also set to challenge the outcome of the NASS, governorship and state assembly elections in many northern states, where it failed to meet pre-election rating.

AA threatens Ajimobi’s victory in OyoRelatedly, the guber victory of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in Oyo State is under threat. Reason: Oyo State Action Alliance (AA) has taken INEC to court over the omission of its name and logo on the ballot papers used for the April 26 governorship election in the state.

Oyo AA Chairman, Kelani Anifowose and the guber candidate, Mr. Taiwo Otegbeye, who vowed to pursue the matter to a logical conclusion, debunked allegations that AA was being sponsored by the PDP to rubbish ACN’s victory in the state.

From past experience established cases of omission of candidate’s name or party logo had always led to nullification of an election.

LP seeks to stop Oluremi Tinubu in Lagos Central
It is also on this ground that the Labour Party, LP, which is leading the pack of opposition parties thronging the tribunals,  has filed a petition in Lagos to overturn the election of Mrs Oluremi Tinubu, wife of ACN National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Mrs Tinubu won the Lagos Central Senatorial seat but the LP is kicking against it, saying that its logo was excluded from the ballot papers, a move the party complained, short-changed its candidate for the election, Chief Durosinmi Etti.

LP dispute elections in five states
Aside Lagos, LP National Chairman, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu said the party would challenge the results of governorship, National and State Assembly polls in five states, namely; Plateau, Abia, Enugu, Taraba and Gombe

Disturbed by the controversies that assailed some of the 2007 Election tribunals, the Nigeria Bar Association has said that it would closely monitor the activities of the 2011 tribunals all over the country.

Across the states, aggrieved candidates are compiling their petitions for onward march to the tribunals.

ANPP, APGA, LP, Emenike move against Orji in Abia

In Abia, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) guber candidate, Chief Reagan Ufomba, LP Candidate, Stanley Ohajuruka and their All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) counterpart, Arch. Ndukwo Anagha, have indicated plans to challenge the victory of Governor Theodore Orji of the PDP at the law courts over alleged electoral malpractices.

Relatedly, the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, has ordered an accelerated hearing of the appeal that was lodged before it by Chief Ikechi Emenike, challenging the judgment of a Federal High Court that okayed Governor  Orji  to stand the April 26 gubernatorial election on the platform of the PDP.

The appellate court further gave Governor Orji 14 days to file his brief of argument in the matter and slated May 25 for definite hearing on the suit.

Emenike, who claimed that he won the PDP primaries had approached the appellate court with a view to setting aside the High Court judgment of February 28, which declared Orji as the authentic gubernatorial candidate of the party in Abia State.

ACN files 11 petitions in Benue
In Benue, 11 petitions have been filed at the tribunal for the governorship and National Assembly  polls. One is for governorship, three of the petitions are challenging the senatorial polls while seven are kicking against the outcome of the House of Representatives polls.

ACN guber candidate in Benue, Professor Steve Ugbah last Tuesday commenced the judicial process to challenge the election of Governor Gabriel Suswam. His counsel, Andrew Wombo had in the preliminary stages of the petition sought an order of the tribunal to obtain and  inspect certified true copies of election materials used at the April 26 elections, to prepare his petition.

Shinkafi, Alao-Akala, others make U-turn
Few days after they conceded victory and congratulated their victors, Governors Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi of Zamfara State and his Oyo State colleague, Christopher Alao-Akala are making a U-turn.

Shinkafi, who ran on the platform of the PDP but lost to his son-in-law, Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, who contested on the plank of  ANPP had earlier congratulated Yari. But last Sunday, the Zamfara State PDP Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Mallaha together with the governor told reporters in Gusau that the PDP would challenge Yari’s victory at the tribunal.

The party chairman said the PDP would also challenge the victory of some national state assembly elections won by ANPP in the state.

Akala, who had earlier congratulated ACN’s Abiola Ajimobi, is said to be preparing to fight the outcome of the guber polls in Oyo at the law courts.

So also is former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Agagu of the PDP, who is compiling facts to nullify the election of his LP conqueror.

ACN move against Akpabio in Akwa Ibom
The violence pre-election bad blood between the PDP and ACN in Akwa Ibom State has snowballed into election litigation after the victory of Governor Godswill Akpabio of the PDP. His ACN challenger John James Akpanudoedehe, has vowed to proceed to the tribunal, to fight what he described as massive irregularities that characterised the governorship election in the state.

PDP, DPP bicker in Delta
Having fought mortally at the polls, the duo of PDP and Democratic Peoples Party (DDP) will continue the battle for the bulk of elective positions contested at the general polls, at the tribunals. About 40 petitions across the parties are expected from the Big Heart in this dispensation.

In the last four years, DPP Governorship Candidate, Chief Great Ogboru has been in court challenging the election of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of the PDP. He successfully got the courts to annul Uduaghan’s 2007 victory in November 2010; a fresh election was ordered on January 6, 2010. Uduaghan won the re-run but Ogboru alleged votes rigging and returned to the tribunal.

The matter was still at the tribunal when the 2011 elections came. Uduaghan won again with Ogboru also alleging malpractices.  In essence, when he returns to the Tribunal Ogboru would be pursuing two cases simultaneously, as it were – the 2007 (2010) and 2011 victories of Uduaghan.

Last weekend, Ogboru, who was at the country home of Niger Delta leader, Chief Edwin Clark, to confer with him on the alleged anomalies observed during the elections, vowed that he would fight his cases at the tribunal to the letter.

I was made a guinea pig – Uduaghan
Speaking on the elections and petitions, Uduaghan said he had been made a guinea pig of the old Electoral Act, which had not terminable date for concluding election petition as opposed to the 2010 Electoral Act that provides for a maximum of 180 days (six months) for election petitions to be thrashed out.

He said: “Running for two elections within four months was challenging as pressure was mounting on me to still go to court over tenure elongation, which I narrowly missed. It was an election in which I happened to be a guinea pig and that was the way I felt. First, we had a scenario where for three and half years, we were at the tribunal.

A normal process should not take that long but I am happy that it had been corrected in the new Electoral Act, which states that after the election, it should take about 180 days within which the case should be disposed of.”

List of 110 Justices for the 2011 Election Tribunals

•ABIA: Justice C.I Jombo_Ofo, Justice Ory Zik_Ikeorha and Justice A.U Kalu.
ADAMAWA: Justice W.I Leha, Justice Hafsatu Abdulrahaman and Kadi Ibrahim Waliki
Sudi.
ANAMBRA:  Justice C.O Nweke, Justice O.M. Anyachebelu and Justice P.C Obiora.
AKWA_IBOM: Justice Stephen E. Okon, Justice Umoekoyo E. Essang and Justice Joy I. Unwana.

•BAUCHI: Justice B.G Sanga, Justice Kunaza N. Hamid and Justice Moh’d A. Sambo.
•BAYELSA: Justice Rahpael Ajuwa and Justice B.M. Ugo.
•BENUE: Justice T. Tur, Justice A.O Onum, Justice A.K. Baaki and Justice T.A
Kume.
•BORNO: Kadi U.R Muka’Ila and Justice A.G Kwajaffa.

•CROSS RIVER: Justice Elias O. Abua and Justice B.E. Ikpeme.

•DELTA: Justice  V.I Ofesi and Justice G.E. Gbemre.

•EBONYI: Justice A.A Nwaigwe,  Justice Benson Ogbu, Justice John
Igboji and Justice O’Connel Ogbonna.
•EDO: Justice M.O  Ighodalo, Justice J.I Acha and Justice J.O Okeaya_Inneh.
•EKITI: Justice M.O Abodunde anf Justice A.A.Adeleye.
•ENUGU: Justice N.P Emehelu, Justice L.O Okereke and Justice C.I
Nwobodo.

•GOMBE: Justice Halima S. Moh’d and Justice M.A Pindiga

•IMO: JusticeU.D. Ogwurike, Justice P.O Nnadi, Justice Nonye Okoronkwo  and Justice K.A
Ojiako.

•JIGAWA: Justice Ubale Ahmed Taura and Justice Umar M. Sadiq.

•KADUNA: Justice B.U Sukola, Justice M.L Muhammed, Justice L.D Aba and Justice B.
Mohammed.
•KANO: Justice Lawan Wada Mahmoud and Justice Dije Abdu Aboki.
•KATSINA: Justice Abdullahi  Yusuf and Justice Sada Abdulmumini.
•KEBBI: Justice SuliemanAmbursa, Justice Sani Adamu, Justice Umar Abubakar and Justice Abba Ahman.
•KWARA: Justice A.A Adebara, Justice M.A Akoja, Justice H.A Saleeman and Justice
E.B. Mohammed.

•LAGOS: Justice W.A.E Ayo (Mrs) and Justice R.I.B. Adebiyi (Mrs).

•NASARAWA: Justice John A. Viko,  Justice  S.U Dikko.
•NIGER: Justice ChristopherI. Auta, Justice Maria Sanda Zukogi, Justice Amina A. Wambai.

•OGUN: Justice M.A.Ojo, Justice O.A Jibodu and Justice O. Ogunfowora.
•ONDO, Justice W.A.Akintoroye,  Justice T.O Osoba, Justice O. Akintan-Osadebay.
•OSUN: Justice F.EAwolalu (Mrs), Justice A.A.G. Onibukun and Justice M.A Adeigbe.
•OYO: JusticeS.A. Akinteye, Justice M.L. Abimbola, Justice A.L. Akintola and Justice M.O.
Ishola.

•PLATEAU: Justice M.I Sirajo and Justice D.G Mann.

•RIVERS: Justice O.O.Daniel Kalio and Justice S.O Teetito.

•SOKOTO: Justice Mohammad S. Sifawa.

•TARABA: Justice B.SS Mohammed.

•YOBE: Justice G.K Kaigama,.

•ZAMFARA: Justice Mukhtari Yusha’u.

•FCT: Justice F.A Ojo, FHC, Justice C.M.A. Olatoregun_Ishola
and Justice Tijjani Abubakar.