Stories by Vivian Okejeme Abuja
Justice Gabriel Kolawole of a Federal High Court, Abuja, will on June 23 deliver judgement on the controversy surrounding the Sokoto state governorship primary election in December 4, 2014. Th e legal tussle involves the state Governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and another All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in the exercise, Senator Umaru Dahiru. Senator Dahiru dragged the APC, Tambuwal and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) before the court, seeking for an order to nullify and set aside the Sokoto state APC primary election on the grounds that its conduct was not in compliance with the Electoral Act 2010, the party’s guideline and constitution on the primary election. At the last adjourned date, Counsel to the plaintiff , Roland Otaru, SAN, urged the court to void and set aside the exercise that produced Tambuwal for the 2015 governorship election.
Th e counsel based his argument on the ground that the APC constitution, its guideline on the primary election and the Electoral Act 2010 were violently violated in the conduct of the election. He further alleged that in breach of the rules, verifi cation and accreditation of delegates were not done in spite of the fact that they were mandatory. Otaru urged the court to take a judicial notice of the list containing the names of the delegates who participated at the purported primary and the report of the APC, adding that there was no evidence of verifi cation and accreditation of delegates as required by relevant laws. Th e SAN insisted that the purported primary that produced Tambuwal was a nullity having failed to comply with the APC guidelines and other relevant laws on primary election. Opposing the motion, counsel to the APC, Jubrin Okutepa, SAN, told Justice Kolawole to dismiss the plaintiff ’s case on the grounds of inconsistency in his claims. He drew the court’s attention to the affi davit evidence of the plaintiff prepared in 2015, where he (plaintiff ) admitted that accreditation of delegates was done and further affi davit of the same plaintiff prepared in 2017, and made a u-turn.
Okutepa therefore submitted that a litigant must be consistent in his claim, adding that “the case of the plaintiff is bereft of any evidential support to warrant any declaration to be made in his favor.” He therefore urged the court to dismiss the case and uphold the nominee. In his own argument, Counsel to Tambuwal, Sunday Ibrahim Ameh, SAN, aligned himself with te submissions of his APC counterpart, saying, it is too late in the day for the plaintiff who admitted in January 2015 that accreditation was done to make a U-turn in 2017 that no accreditation was done. Besides, the counsel submitted that the period for primary election had expired in line with 1999 constitution, as such the case of the plaintiff has become an academic exercise. Counsel to INEC Alhassan Umar told the Court that INEC would be neutral and will abide by the court’s decision. Justice Kolawole, after listening to the parties’ arguments, adjourned to June 23 for judgment.
