- ….dismisses PDP, APGA’s petitions
By Vivian Okejeme Abuja
The Ebonyi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, affirmed Governor Francis Nwifuru of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as winner of the gubernatorial contest that held in the state on March 18.
The Justice A. Ogunmoye-led three-member panel, in separate judgements, unanimously dismissed two petitions that were brought against governor Nwifuru by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its candidate, Chief Ifeanyi Odii, as well as by the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and its own candidate, Prof. Benard Odoh.
The judgement held that the petitioners, failed to establish their allegations that governor Nwifuru did not secure the majority of lawful votes that were cast during the election.
It will be recalled that the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, had declared that Nwifuru polled a total of 199,131 votes across the 13 Local Government Areas of the state to beat his closest rival, Dr. Odii of the PDP who scored 80,191 votes.
However, dissatisfied with the outcome of the poll, both PDP and APGA candidates approached the tribunal to challenge the return of Nwifuru as winner of the gubernatorial contest by the INEC.
The petitioners, among other things, sought Nwifuru’s disqualification on the grounds of certificate forgery and his alleged ineligibility to stand for the election.
The petitioners told the tribunal that Nwifuru’s election victory was characterized by corrupt practices, alleging that there was substantial non compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
Besides, they argued that Nwifuru did not validly resign from the PDP before he was nominated as the governorship candidate of the APC.
According the petitioners, Nwifuru, being a PDP member at all material times before the governorship poll, was not eligible under section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, to have been sponsored by the APC to contest as its flag-bearer.
They told the tribunal that prior to the governorship contest, Nwifuru, who was elected into the Ebonyi State House of Assembly in 1999, served as Speaker while on the ticket of the PDP, until May 2023.
They argued that Nwifuru was at the time of the election, still a member of the PDP and as such was not eligible to be sponsored for the election by the APC.
Consequently, PDP and its candidate, in the joint petition they filed through their legal team led by Chief Chris Uche, SAN, prayed the tribunal to declare that they were the valid winners of the governorship election.
They further prayed the court to withdraw the Certificate of Return that was issued to governor Nwifuru by INEC and issue a fresh one to Dr. Odii.
More so, the petitioners cited a subsisting judgement of a High Court in Ebonyi state, delivered by Justice Henry Njoku, which they said held that Nwifuru and other lawmakers in the state that purportedly defected to the APC, were still members of the PDP.
Likewise, APGA and its candidate, Odoh, prayed the tribunal to nullify the election and order a fresh one.
While adopting their final written address, APGA and Odoh, through their own team of lawyers led by Mr. Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, argued that governor Nwifuru was not qualified to contest the gubernatorial poll, insisting that he did not validly resign his PDP membership.
“The summary of the Petitioners’ petition is that the 2nd Respondent who was until and after the election, a member of the Ebonyi State House of Assembly and also occupied the office of the Speaker of the said house under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was not qualified to contest the election to the seat of Governor of Ebonyi State conducted by the 1st Respondent on the 18th of March2023, wherein the 2nd Respondent was wrongfully returned elected.
“Firstly, it is a settled position of law firmly rooted in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, that a person aspiring to contest the election for the office of Governor in a Nigerian State must fulfill the dual prerequisites of political party membership and sponsorship. This provision is unequivocally captured in Section 177 (c) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, where it is provided as follows; “A person shall be qualified for the election to the office of Governor of a state if;(c)he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that political party”.
“On the whole, it is submitted that the Petitioners have made out a case for the relief seeking the order of the Hon.Tribunal for a fresh election excluding the 2nd Respondent whom a valid case has been made out for his disqualification.
“The relief for a fresh election is predicated on the fact that upon the disqualification of the 2nd Respondent, non of the remaining candidates would have satisfied the Constitutional requirement of being declared Governor of Ebonyi State having regard to the result declared in Exhibit P1 and P8. Section 179 (2) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended,” APGA and its candidate added.
Meanwhile, governor Nwifuru, through his team of lawyers led by Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, persuaded the tribunal to dismiss all the petitions.
He insisted that he was validly elected, adding that the judgement that declared him as a member of the PDP had since been voided.
Governor Nwifuru argued that he duly resigned from the PDP and joined the APC, in compliance with provisions of the law.
Similarly, the APC, through its lawyer, Mr. A. A. Ibrahim, SAN, urged the tribunal to dismiss the petitions for want of merit, adding that the petitioners failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.
“The issue of membership of a political party cannot be questioned because parties know their members,” Ibrahim, SAN, added.
While dismissing the two petitions on Wednesday, the tribunal upheld the argument of the respondents.
It held that the petitioners failed to establish why the outcome of governorship election should be nullified.
Moreover, the tribunal held some of the grounds of the petitions were pre-election issues that were within the realm of domestic affairs of a political party, which are not justiceable.
It held that the petitioners lacked the locus standi to challenge governor Nwifuru’s nomination to contest the election by the APC.
The tribunal noted that the petitioners failed to produce evidence and details of polling units were the alleged infractions occurred.
It, therefore, dismissed both petitions as lacking in merit.
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