By Olasunkanmi Akoni

On April 11, 2015, the people of Lagos State trooped out to make a choice through the ballot box during the general elections. The elections were keenly contested among candidates of two major political parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the determined Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who contested for various positions.

The positions contested for were: Governorship, The Senate, into three senatorial districts, West, East and Central, as well as Federal House of Representatives and state House of Assembly. Though, overall, APC came tops, there were upsets in some areas as PDP grabbed some slots.

Subsequently, aggrieved contestants in PDP approached Lagos State Election Petitions Tribunal in accordance with Nigeria’s Constitution, to seek redress. PDP governorship candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, through his counsel filed a petition before the Tribunal against the declared winner, the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode and Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

The Tribunal had on July 1st, during the hearing struck out the petition filed against the election of Ambode of the APC by the PDP candidate, Agbaje following a preliminary objection filed by the counsel to the APC Candidate, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN).

Subsequently, the Appeal Court also on August 26th, upheld the ruling of the State Election Petitions Tribunal and also ordered the PDP candidate to compensate each of the respondents in the sum of N50, 000 each. Also, on October 20th, Supreme Court, in its ruling similarly, upheld Ambode’s victory of 2015 governorship election in the state.

Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), had initially, argued at the resumed hearing on, June 25,  that the petition should be struck out for being incompetent and that there was no correlation between the reliefs sought by the petitioner and the particulars of application on one hand and the grounds for questioning the election of Mr. Ambode on the other hand.

“The grounds and particulars in the petition are at opposites with the facts and reliefs being sought within the purview of Section 285(2) of the 1999 Constitution. I urge my Lordships to dismiss the petition,”  Chief  Olanipekun had said.

He stated that there was nowhere in the pleadings where the petitioners attacked the victory of the respondents or questioned the conduct of the election, saying  “I submit that there is no petition before your lordships known to law. There are no grounds challenging the election of my client under Section 138(b)(c) of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended.”

According to him, the court cannot act on sentiment and sympathy of parties, emphasizing that sympathy does not override clear provisions of the law. Though, Agbaje was unavailable for comment, it was learnt that from the onset he was not really interested in pursuing the case but was prevailed on by his party to press on with the case.

On July 1st, the Tribunal upheld Ambode’s victory. In his reaction to the ruling of the State Election Petition Tribunal headed by Justice Mohammed Sirajo the governor, described the confirmation of his victory at the polls by the Tribunal as a welcome development which was a reaffirmation of the mandate given to him by people of the state.

“I am elated at the ruling of the tribunal which is an affirmation of my victory at the polls. On April 11, 2015, the people of Lagos spoke with their votes about continuity and that is what the tribunal has just reaffirmed”. “The task ahead requires concerted efforts from everyone. I urge all my opponents to put the election struggles behind them and in the spirit of sportsmanship join hands with me to take Lagos to the next level”, the governor said.

He posited it was needless in the first place for the PDP to have petitioned his election which was adjudged to be free, fair and credible.” Now that the right thing has been done which of course the people expected, we should all come together above partisanship and move the state forward”. Ambode stated.

Ambode in a swift reaction to the verdict, through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna, said “the decision of the Supreme Court has put all issues on election matters to rest once and for all.” “Our government is thus poised without further delay to provide the needed leadership to justify the confidence reposed in us, especially with the ruling coming in the wake of the swearing-in of members of the State Executive Council.”

The governor also commended the Judiciary for its consistency, saying that “the ruling has further proven the judiciary to be the critical institution that could further deepen our democratic values”.

“We have in the last four months embarked on reforms in the judicial and security sectors based on our conviction that these are the fundamental organs on which any government can carry out its duties optimally; we believe this is the way to go, we won’t relent until we achieve our goals to make life more comfortable for our people irrespective of creed or colour”.

With the Supreme Court ruling putting to rest the issues surrounding the April 11 elections, Ambode, however, called on the opposition party, PDP, to move beyond partisanship and join hands with his administration to move Lagos to the next level.

Obasa hails ruling

In his reaction Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, described the victory of Ambode, as well deserved. Obasa, stated that the tribunal verdict was a further confirmation that indeed the people of the state voted for Ambode and the APC.

“We are happy with the verdict and it was  further proof of the legality of our Governor’s and APC’s victory during the election,” he said. According to him, Lagosians have always aligned themselves with the progressives hence the results of the last elections in the state should not have generated any contention.

“Lagosians have always cast their lots with the progressives, therefore, the results of the elections in the state in which APC symbolised by our Governor and other candidates of the party won convincingly should not have given room for any contention.

“But this is democracy and democracy allows one to challenge election results which PDP, and its candidate have done and the Tribunal has judiciously done its job. Reacting to the verdict by the nation’s highest court affirming Ambode’s victory, he stated that the court verdict had put the final legal seal on the victory of the governor in particular, and the party, APC in general in the election.

According to him, “That the people of Lagos love Ambode and APC is not in doubt. Thus this Supreme Court victory is a final legal seal on the victory of our governor and the party at large.” He stated that the people of Lagos are happy with the performance of the party in the state hence, they would continue to vote for the party and its candidates. “Our party has been tested and Lagosians have come to trust us hence their support for us.”

He stressed that by going to court, the PDP and its candidate wanted to exercise their legal rights and thank God, the courts have proved to them (PDP) that the mandate the governor and APC are holding is legitimately given to them by the people of this state. “It is the final nail in their coffin”. Obasa concluded.

Lagos APC

Also reacting to the ruling, Lagos State Publicity Secretary, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said the party did not expect anything less, as PDP is pursuing a lost case. The dismissal of the case filed by Lagos PDP against Ambode of APC has rested the “inordinate ambition of PDP to steal Lagos by force.”

According to Igbokwe, “It is a well deserved victory by all standard. The people of Lagos have spoken and there is no going back. It is an affirmation of the peoples’ will and the PDP know it. PDP does not exist in Lagos.

“We told them that Lagos is not for grabs but this party will not listen, and now they have been told that light and darkness have no meeting point. Millions of dollars and pound sterlings, OPC, and all the security agencies were massively deployed by Jonathan and PDP just to snatch Lagos but they failed.”

Igbokwe contended that PDP can never get anything near to the so-called votes they claimed to have scored in the last governorship elections in Lagos. “I congratulate Governor Ambode for trouncing PDP. I congratulate Ambode for retiring Jimi Agbaje from Lagos politics. Igbokwe stated. However, the initial victory further served as harbinger for more victories from the Election Tribunal to APC candidates.

Tribunal dismisses PDP candidate’s claims, declares Sen. Olamilekan winner

The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Lagos, On September 18, 2015, dismissed petitions filled by Segun Adewale of PDP challenging the election of Senator Solomon Adeola of the All Progressives Congress, APC on March 28th. The three man tribunal, led by Sylvester Orji argued that the PDP petitioners failed to provide evidence to prove that the election did not comply with the country’s Electoral Act.

According to the tribunal from the evidence laid before it in the petition, it concluded that the petitioners failed to show any burden of proof that the respondents failed to comply with the Electoral Act 2010 as amended. “The petitioners have failed to use relevant evidence to question the election in Lagos West Senatorial District, and therefore, all the reliefs sought failed,” The Tribunal added.

The tribunal held that while Adewale stated that he polled the highest number of votes in the election, he failed to state the scores of the other contestants. “We hold that the failure of the petitioners to state the scores of the candidates is fatal to the petition, but we decided to hear it on its merits,” said the tribunal .

“We have not seen where the PW1 (Mr. Adewale) tried to explain the discrepancy in the two sets of scores. PW1 said some of the card readers where pre-loaded but he did not state which of the polling units where the card-readers were pre-loaded. The tribunal further stated that Adewale’s testimony was “devoid of any meaning.”

In their petition challenging the APC’s victory in Lagos West Senatorial District, Adewale and his party had argued that Adeola was not validly nominated at the primaries. They added that he was not duly elected by majority of valid votes, noting that elections conducted in specific wards in Ikeja, Alimosho, Agege, Ifako-Ijaiye, and Mushin local government areas were invalid due to electoral irregularities. The petitioners stated that 91,641 votes from the five local government areas ought to be deducted from the APC candidates’ tally.

How Gbajabiamila slam Ashikodi at election tribunal

It was a day of joy and reconfirmation of victory for the Majority Leader of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, representing Surulere Federal Constituency I, when the Lagos State National Assembly Election Tribunal sitting in Ikeja, on October 9thh, upheld his declaration as the winner of the March 28, 2015 House of Representatives election in the state.

The tribunal in its judgment resolved all the issues raised in favour of Gbajabiamila. Justice C.U Anwuka-led Three-man Tribunal dismissed the petition challenging the victory of Gbajabiamila and his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the said election.

Gbajabiamila, who is the current Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, had been declared winner of the said election by the Independent National Electoral Commission after polling 21, 715 votes. 21 The candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Tony Ashikodi, who polled 14, 550 votes to emerge the first runner-up, had however headed for the tribunal to challenge Gbajabiamila’s victory.

Ashikodi prayed the Tribunal to nullify Gbajabiamila’s victory on the basis of electoral irregularities. He alleged a breach of the guidelines set out by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the conduct of the election. Ashikodi claimed that Gbajabiamila and his party did not score the highest number of valid votes in the election and should not have been declared winner by INEC.

He also claimed that the number of votes cast exceeded the number of registered voters. The petitioner’s lawyer, Kalu Onuah, urged the court to declare the election null and void in the circumstance as stipulated by Section 53(2) Electoral Act, 2010.

While delivering the judgment, Justice Anwuka, explained that the petitioner failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and also failed to substantiate his allegations of ballot boxes snatching and falsification of result sheets by not calling witnesses to justify his claim.

The judge also dismissed Ashikodi’s claim of multiple irregularities holding that the petitioner said in his evidence, he was not present at the collation centre. The tribunal further revealed that the petitioner did not link any document tendered with his allegation of irregularities.

On the issue of allegation of failure to comply with section 139 of the Electoral Act, the tribunal held that the petitioner was wrong in law. In his petition, Ashikodi had alleged that the election was characterised by irregularities and a breach of the guidelines set out by INEC for the conduct of the election.

Apart from seeking an order nullifying the election, the petitioner had also urged the tribunal for an order compelling INEC to conduct a fresh election, arguing that Mr Gbajabiamila did not score the highest number of valid votes as declared by INEC.

Ashikodi’s counsel, Kalu Onuah, said the tribunal was bound to declare null and void the declaration by INEC that Mr Gbajabiamila won the election, in compliance with Section 53(2) of the Electoral Act, 2010 which mandated the nullification of any election where the number of votes cast exceeded the number of registered voters.

Onuah, further argued that a situation where the result sheets were not signed and counter-signed by the agents of the candidates at the polling units should lead to the nullification of the result. Opposing him, counsel to Gbajabiamila and the APC, Omotayo Olatunbosun argued that the petitioner’s counsel misrepresented the facts.

The respondents’ counsel argued that none of the exhibits tendered by the petitioner and his party alluded to any of their claims that the election was fraught with irregularities.

Gbajabiamila in his brief comment on the judgment, described the victory as victory for democracy and the people as well as a reconfirmation of people’s mandate. He therefore, promised not to let the people down by not disappointing them at the hallowed chamber, the constituency and the state.