THE election of Alhaji Kashim Shettima as the Governor of Borno state in the last April elections was recently upheld, by virtue of the dismissal of the petition filed by the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Alhaji Mohammed Goni, challenging the outcome of the election.

The verdict of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, which legal analysts described as courageous and damning, has left sweet and bitter tastes in the mouths of parties involved in the legal tussle. While one party sees the litigation over the election as an unnecessary distraction from real issues, the other was unrepentantly combative, threatening to take the matter further, even in the face of obvious failure.

The All Nigeria Peoples’ Party, ANPP, saw the verdict in the summation by the Governor, Kashim Shettima, in which he said, “We cannot afford the luxury of unnecessary legal tussles at this crucial period when our state is under stress occasioned by security challenges. We are brothers after all, and even if we hold different political views, we need each other in the quest to reposition Borno state. It will be uncharitable to say there is a vanquished; we are all victors in this matter. Our doors remain open, and we welcome all those who can make useful inputs towards the development of our dear state”.

Rather than being judgmental upon those who challenge it, or vindictive upon those who chastise it, the attitude of the administration of Kashim Shettima, remained persuasive and magnanimous, by promising to carry the opposition along. This act has not only endeared the governor to many people, some of whom were hitherto reluctant in supporting the new administration, it has also calmed restive nerves which feared that the government will go for peoples’ jugular veins. Even beyond that, Governor Kashim has demonstrated that, once elections are decided, every citizen is assumed to be part of the processes of an administration’s emergence, and should be availed the opportunity to manifest his or her potentials.

The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, on the other hand, which petition was dismissed; is grieving that after all the tricks it employed, some of which nearly caused serious dislocations in the judiciary, the judges hammer still fell. On two occasions, the ruling of the trial tribunal was arrested; first via an interlocutory order, and secondly by a verbal administrative order, disbanding the panel of judges, by the president of the Court of Appeal. Both orders were seen as curious, controversial and assaulting on the sensibilities of legal pundits. The question many are still asking long after the case has been decided at the lower tribunal has been of what particular interest is the Borno case to especially the Court of Appeal.

The first arrest which was quashed by the Supreme Court came on the eve of the delivery of the judgment by the tribunal, while the second was only a few minutes before resumption after the Supreme Court order. The order of the Supreme Court was unambiguous to the effect that no court has the powers to halt proceedings or arrest the ruling of a tribunal in an election matter, because election litigations are time bound. It was apparent that, the President of the court of appeal may have been misled into disbanding the tribunal, thus making an equally hasty reversal of his order. That reversal, although no reason was ever given for the initial action, may have saved the judiciary a big embarrassment, as the disbandment earlier had tended to set a very dangerous precedence to the court hierarchy; in which a court of lower jurisdiction overrules that of higher jurisdiction.

Before the error was corrected, many Nigerians had expressed fears that the situation that surrounded the unresolved controversy in the election petition for the 2007 governorship elections in Sokoto was about repeating itself. The Sokoto situation, which sparked off fears that the governor was about being removed, only for events to take a dramatic turnaround will remain a reference point for controversy in the country’s legal history. It will take the judiciary a long time to cleanse itself of the mess generated by that controversy. Many believe that the immediate past President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami was sacrificed on the altar of that controversy.

At every stage of the prosecution of the case, Kashim Shettima, although not a lawyer understood very well what was playing out, but watched on with philosophical calmness, believing that God will resolve this jigsaw. Like every party in litigation, he went to the court unsure of which dimension it will take, especially against the background of the controversies that trailed it. Like every party too, he was hopeful that victory should come his way. Even that, he was not desperate believing that power comes from God, and He gives it to whom He pleases at his own time and place. When judgment eventually came, Kashim was still as calm and unperturbed; prompting his no vanquished, all victors submission.

And so when it was time for Governor Kashim Shettima to return to Maiduguri from Abuja where the tribunal had been sitting due to the security situation in Maiduguri, the entire city stood still for him for hours. Clutching a copy of the tribunal’s judgment, the Governor waved to the enthusiastic crowd, which defied the threats of and explosions to welcome the 45 year old who is their hero of democracy. He said to them: “I know that the crowd I see all round this city derived from across political divides. I know that you have come from far and near.

I feel indebted to you for this honour done me today; it is the happiest day in my life, because you have confirmed to me the rating of democracy, the rating of my government and the rating of myself as your servant. This will spur me to do more for the development of our state. I pray that everlasting peace returns, and you shall see what we mean”

Mr.  INUWA BWALA is Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information &Culture, Borno State.