By Ikechukwu Nnochiri, ABUJA
The Supreme Court, yesterday, declined to set-aside its November 26, 2010 ruling, which affirmed Governor Aliyu Magatarkada Wamakko as the legitimate winner of the 2007election in the state.

The Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, and its gubernatorial candidate in the said election, Alhaji Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi, had asked the apex court to reconsider its position on the issue.

The 5-man panel of Justices of the apex court who handled matter, unanimously threw it out as lacking in merit, stressing that the court could not be moved to overrule itself on an issue it had earlier pronounced upon.

Justice Olufunlola Adekeye who read the led judgment maintained that “there can be no re-hearing of any matter the Supreme Court has dealt with to conclusion. This application to that effect is incompetent and equally unconstitutional with the community reading of sections 235 and 287 [1] of the 1999 constitution.

“The Supreme Court is the final court of justice in Nigeria and its decision is final. In short, the Supreme Court shall not review any judgment once given and delivered by it, save to correct any clerical mistake or some error arising from any accidental slip or omission or to vary judgment or order so as to give effect to its meaning or intention.

“We are final not because we are infallible; rather we are infallible because we are final. Justices of this court are human beings capable of erring. It will be short-sighted arrogance not to accept this obvious truth.

“The courts are the custodian of the constitution. It is the duties of this court to interpret the provisions of the constitution and other enacted statutes for proper conduct of affairs, so that democratic governance will be predicated and sustained on the rule of law.’’