BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

ABUJA-After six months of intense legal fireworks at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal sitting at the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, a five-man panel of justices will today determine whether the April 16 general election was duly won by President Goodluck Jonathan or not.

Having concluded hearing on the petition lodged against the election by the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, the tribunal will today, deliver its final judgment on the matter.

The five justices on the tribunal panel are Justices Kumai Bayaang Akaahs, Mohammed Garba, M.A. Owoade, I.I. Agbube and Justice Obande Ogbuiya.

The opposition party had in the substantive suit it filed before the tribunal on May 8, alleged that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, connived with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to rigged the presidential election against its own candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).

Consequently, it joined INEC, its chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, all the Resident Electoral Commissioners in the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT, President Jonathan, his Vice, Namadi Sambo and the PDP, as respondents in the suit.

CPC is praying the tribunal to sack President Jonathan from office and order a re-run election between it and the PDP, alleging that ballot papers meant for certain polling units were illegally diverted to other units and subsequently used for ballot stuffing during the April 16 presidential poll.

The petitioner specifically challenged all the results that were garnered by the PDP in all the 17 states in the South, as well as in Sokoto, Kaduna, Plateau, Kwara, Benue, Adamawa, Nasarawa states in the North and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.

Before the Justice Akaahs led panel concluded hearing on the petition, on October 20, CPC called 44 witnesses that testified for it, INEC brought 3 witnesses while President Jonathan and the PDP called 26 and 10 witnesses respectively.

Meantime, at the last sitting, the petitioner’s counsel, Chief Oladipo Okpeseyi, SAN, while adopting his final address, told the court that he filed a preliminary objection against the defendants written addresses, insisting that INEC abandoned its pleading having not called witnesses to substantiate them.

He contended that INEC called only three witnesses out of the 36 states of the federation and the FCT and as such, abandoned all the other written witness depositions it filed before the tribunal.

Okpeseyi argued that the testimony of the three INEC witnesses was not sufficient to defend the victory of President Jonathan who it returned on April 18, 2011 as the winner of the Presidential contest.

He said: “my lords, we submit that this confusion over witness pleadings epitomizes what we are saying about INEC and that is why we have asked them to bring the relevant documents that were used in conducting the Presidential election to court but they blatantly refused.”

Counsel to President Jonathan, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, in his final address, referred the panel to a ruling that was delivered by the tribunal on July 14.

Olanipekun said the tribunal had refused to grant relief six of the petition which sought for a conduct of fresh Presidential election between the CPC Candidate Muhammadu Buhari and President Jonathan, on the ground that Buhari was not a party to the petition, just as he described the entire suit as a mere academic exercise.

In his submission before adopting his address, Counsel to INEC, Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, argued that “a party is supposed to rely on evidence presented before court and also authorities cited. But in this case, the petitioners tendered evidence documents that belong to INEC.

“These are documents that are meant to support INEC and its Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega’s position that the election was conducted in full compliance with the electoral Act 2010.”

His position was further substantiated by counsel to the PDP, Dr Amaechi Nwaiwu, SAN, who also urged the panel to dismiss the petition as grossly lacking in merit.

Meanwhile, Buhari and his running mate, Tunde Bakare, were among chieftains of the CPC that stormed the tribunal at the last adjourned date.