By Goodluck Edafe

DELTA Assembly Warri South Constituency 2 pre-election case is seemingly a sort of journey without end. It’s a journey for the determination of the rightful ownership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) ticket for the April 11, 2015 election. It’s a journey of who represents the Urhobo of Edjeba, Igbudu, Okere, Okumagba and Pesu of Warri at the Delta State Assembly, Asaba. It’s a term of four years unfortunately three good years are already frittered away on questionable activities and judicial shenanigans.

Delta State House of Assembly

The case between Hon Mark Ikpuri (Plaintiff) and the PDP, INEC and incumbent Hon Dennis Omovie as 1st, 2nd and 3rd Defendants in their particular order, was filed on 6/3/2015 at the Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja. Following a motion by the 3rd Defendant for a transfer, the case journeyed to the FHC Warri on 11/5/2015. Since that date, despite the FHC Chief Judge’s directive to judges handling election matters to hear them during vacation, a pre-election case of this brand has not seen the light of day in a 21st century Nigerian court for three good years. Most worrisome  is the fact that the substantive suit has not gone beyond the court of first instance. Meanwhile, the term of office for which the case is in court gradually fades away.

Urging Hon (Justice) Gabriel Kolawole of the FHC, Abuja to determine the case at once, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kanu Agabi, described it as “a simple case that requires no time waste”. Disappointingly, three years have gone down the drain yet the substantive issue has not been heard. Perhaps, a narration of the journey so far will show the problem. As indicated above, the case started at the FHC Abuja on 6/3/2015. And from Abuja, it journeyed to the FHC Warri on 11/5/2015 and in November 2017, it  landed at the FHC 2 Asaba. Just after a few adjournments by former Hon (Justice) Shittu Abubakar, then presiding Judge at the FHC Warri, Hon (Justice) Emmanuel Obile took it over on January 2016. That is to say that the case was before Justice Obile for about two years. Sadly, for all that length of time, the case never proceeded beyond the level of  motions. Thus, after almost two years of fruitless judicial rigmarole, the Plaintiff sought a transfer from the court. In a letter to the Chief Judge’s FHC, Abuja, the Plaintiff accused Justice Obile of compromise and abuse of judicial privilege. He alleged him that apart from pushing for long adjournments, the Judge often dodged out of court sitting to hear the substantive suit each time it was fixed for hearing. In the letter, the Plaintiff lamented not just the Judge’s alleged accommodation of Defendants Counsel’s tactics of filing motions on the date fixed for hearing but also his alleged refusal to grant a motion for amendment and accelerated hearing.

The Plaintiff, on 2/9/16, filed a motion for amendment and accelerated hearing, which was heard on 13/2/17 after about six months. Although, the Judge agreed with the Plaintiff that the case is unduly delayed and that time is of the essence, he declined to grant the motion for accelerated hearing all the same. The Plaintiff asked for a transfer of the case from FHC Warri back to Abuja. But in the wisdom of law, the Chief Judge, transferred it to the FHC 2 Asaba where it is now pending before Hon (Justice) T. B Adegoke.

As Agabi put it, the case is actually a simple one. It is a case of multiple and conflicting results. Beyond this lacuna, three issues canvassed by the Defendants are that one, the court has no jurisdiction. Two, that only three contestants participated at the PDP primary election, and three, that the Plaintiff is not a contestant at the PDP primary election. The question is: Does the court have jurisdiction to hear the matter? Is the Plaintiff a contestant? Are there more three contestants? Or are the conflicting results from the PDP and INEC acceptable in law? Who is the rightful owner of the PDP ticket for Warri South Constituency 2?   The court has a legal duty to examine all the issues based on the pool of evidence before it.

Justice Adegoke understands the Plaintiff’s reasons for the transfer  back to Abuja. She has shown certainty and candour. Her words are firm. She has assured both parties of justice and fair play. But the question is: Will the case end in her court? Or will there be another transfer?

 *Edafe is a  member of the Campaign for Social Justice and Constitutional Democracy.