In another breadth,my Lords at the supreme court willfully ignored the evidence in a manner inconsistent with the records before the court   and proceeded to make another finding when it held in paragraph 8 of the lead judgement that: “This suit was filed by appellant on 9/2/12. That is,it took the appellant over two months to complain about an election he did not take part in…”

With much respect to their Lordships,Suit no. FHC/ABJ/CS/807/2011 – UMAR LAWAL & ALHAJI JIBRIN ISAH V. INEC, PDP & CAPTAIN IDRIS WADA before the Honourable Justice B.B Aliyu of the Federal High Court, Abuja was filed before the illegal primary election in September,2011. So,how did my Lords arrive at the mathematics of appellant filing the suit 2 months after the election?

Permit me to also pointedly state that,   their Lordships   decision to uphold the lower courts   decision on the issue of jurisdiction   conflicts with the decision of the apex court in ORHENA ADUGU GBILEVE & ANOR v. MRS. NGUNAN ADDINGI & ANOR   (SC.193/2012) ,where, his brothers Justices, declared in that case that, Addigi as one of the aspirants in the primary election, had acquired the right to approach the Federal high Court, Makurdi as she did in her originating summons to seek redress in that court which was vested with jurisdiction by virtue of the provisions of section 87 (4)(c) (i) (ii) and (9) of the Electoral Act 2010, the federal high court, Makurdi had the jurisdiction to hear and determine the case as it was determined by it in favour of Addigi on the 31st of January,2014. Are they now different rules for different classes of people?

Finally, let us assume without conceding that the Supreme court was tangentially right in restricting itself to the purported election that produced Idris Wada on 3rd December 2011,the Supreme Court is duty bound by the Nigerian Constitution and the statutes to let Nigerians and the international community know what section of the constitution or under which provision of the electoral act, was the said election conducted. INEC would not have deliberately acted to overreach an appeal it filed by taking a pre-judicial step during the pendency of that appeal. Put more pointedly, it was because INEC was convinced that the provisions of the Sections 180(2) and (2a) of the Constitution were clear and unambiguous that it filed an appeal in SC/357/2011. The Supreme Court agreed with INEC as per INEC’s appreciation of the clear and unambiguous provisions of these Sections.

INEC is therefore estopped from avoiding the clear and unambiguous provisions of Section 287 of the 1999 Constitution with regard to the effect of that judgment of the Supreme Court and also forbidden from taking pre-judicial steps during the subsistence of the said appeal.

The questions I am constrained to   ask their Lordships are: If, by constitutional imperative and a judicial pronouncement of the Apex court,the tenure of the last holder of the office of Governor of Kogi State ended on May 28,2011,was the election conducted after May 28,2011 during the pendency of INEC’s own appeal before the Supreme Court,constitutional? If Wada was actually a Governor-in-waiting after the judgement of the Supreme Court on 27 January,2012,why did the PDP approach the same Court vide an application on 1st. February,2012 praying the Supreme Court to exempt Kogi State from the effect of the judgement of the Supreme Court on 27 January 2012? Recall that the Supreme Court in a ruling on 16th February 2012, dismissed the said application.

On another leg, when the facts in this case are assessed and properly distilled, it will be safe to also conclude that, the primary elections of the People Democratic Party (PDP) Which held in Kogi State on the 22nd day of September, 2011 as well as   gubernatorial   elections that was held on the 3rd day of December, 2011 were held in utter disregard and contempt of the orders of the Federal High Court, Abuja.  The orders referred to the above are the orders of the Federal High Court, Abuja Judicial Division contained in the judgment delivered on the 23rd day of February, 2011 by Hon. Justice A. Bello in Suite No. FHC/ABJ/CS/651/10 which was also  up-held by the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division.

The judgement of the Federal High Court, Abuja and that of the Court of Appeal were all subsisting and building when in   a show of unbridled and arrogant impunity, the PDP and INEC decided to engage in frolics of their own when they organized the primary elections and the gubernational elections respectively that produced the Capt. Idris Ichalla Wada as the Governor of Kogi State.

For all purposes and unequivocally, the judgment of the lower courts subsisted  until the 27th  day of January, 2012 when the judgment of the Supreme Court was delivered. It is therefore an elementary law to say that all things done in disobedience to the clear orders contained in the judgment of the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal are to the extent of their inconsistency thereto improper, unlawful and illegal and the product of such illegality and illegitimacy must be dismantled.

From the foregoing,it is clear that the verdict of the apex court was based on non-existing facts and wrong   legal foundations. So,its validity remains questionable.   It is my considered opinion this action amounts to   an established case of bias vide an abuse of judicial powers which the Chief Justice of Nigeria must investigate to bring sanity to the Judiciary. It is hoped that the Supreme Court will have another opportunity to reverse the judgment so as to restore the confidence of the common man in the judiciary.

Ogbonna V Ogbonna is of the Lawyers for Justice and Equity, Lagos.