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Tribunal Orders Yakubu, REC to Produce Documents Demanded by Atiku
The five-man Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja on Wednesday ordered the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and the commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Zamfara State to produce electoral documents requested by the Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
The tribunal, led by Justice Mohammed Garba, gave the order after receiving complaints by the petitioners that INEC officials had refused to comply with the court’s subpoenas served on them for the production of the documents.
He ordered INEC officials to produce the documents in court on Thursday.
But the tribunal at the end of the proceedings, following a request by the petitioners’ lawyer, Chris Uche (SAN), fixed Friday as the next hearing day.
The Wednesday’s hearing was the ninth of the 10 days given to the petitioners to present their case.
The proceedings were adjourned Wednesday after the petitioners called nine additional witnesses, making a total of 58 they had called in nine days.
The PDP and Atiku, who are the petitioners challenging the victory of President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress at the February 23, 2019 poll, spoke through their lawyer, Chief Chris Uche (SAN).
Before the petitioners started calling their witnesses on Wednesday, Uche informed the tribunal that INEC officials had refused to release the requested documents to the petitioners despite the fact that the fees for the certification of the documents had been paid to the commission.
“We have made concerted efforts and we stated in the letters we wrote to them that we had it on good authority that they were instructed not to release the documents,” Uche said.
Accusing both INEC chairman and the Zamfara State REC of disobedience to the summons of the court, he said that upon his clients’ applications, the court issued two subpoenas on July 9, 2019 which had been served on the two officials.
“One was upon the chairman of INEC for the production of some documents. The subpoena was issued on July 9, 2019. The documents were paid for. The subpoena was served on the same date of July 9, 2019. It was to produce documents, not to testify.
“On the same July 9, another subpoena was issued to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, INEC, in Zamfara State, Gusau, in which we applied for all the Forms EC8A (polling unit result sheets), and they refused to release them to us.
“They have not been produced and we have not seen them in court. Neither have the persons on whom the subpoenas were issued in court. We seek your lordships’ intervention,” he said.
Responding, Justice Mohammed Garba, who leads the panel, noted that the subpoenas were not served on INEC officials as claimed by the petitioners’ lawyer, but that one was served on the chairman on July 15 and the other was served on the REC, Zamfara State, on July 12.
In his reaction, INEC’s lawyer, Yunus Usman (SAN), said he and members of his legal team met with the commission’s chairman, up till 11.30pm on Tuesday but he never made mention of any subpoena.
As for the Zamfara REC, Usman said he received a text message from her indicating that the documents requested by the petitioners had been certified but the petitioners had refused to come up to make the needed payment.
Other respondents’ lawyers, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN) for Buhari and Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) for the All Progressives Congress, said the petitioners ought to do more by liaising with INEC’s lead counsel and ought to have made the requests for the documents earlier than last week.
But responding, Uche said, “We have made so many efforts.
“We wrote a letter addressed to the chairman of INEC on April 15, 2019 and the letter was received the same date.
“An earlier one on the same subject matter was dated April 9, 2019 was received the same date.
“We also wrote an earlier one on the same subject-matter on March 12 and it was received the same date.”
In his comments before ruling, Justice Garba noted that the legal team representing INEC in the matter owed the court the duty to ensure that the court’s orders were obeyed by their clients.
“I have seen from the record of the court that the INEC chairman and the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Zamfara State, were duly served with subpoena issued on July 9, 2019, to produce documents named therein.
“The INEC chairman and the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Zamfara and the legal team representing them are under binding obligation to ensure that the orders contained in the subpoena are obeyed.”
The Punch
Source: Reuters
Arise Television anchor, Rufai Oseni, has alleged that there may be attempts to prevent key opposition figures, including Peter Obi and Atiku Abubakar, from appearing on the ballot for the 2027 general elections.
Oseni’s remark followed a Federal High Court judgment ordering the de-registration of some political parties.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples’ Party (APP), Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), and Action Alliance Party (AAP) over alleged constitutional breaches.
The judgment arose from a lawsuit filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the National Forum of Former Legislators (NFFL), which argued that the affected parties failed to meet constitutional and statutory electoral performance requirements necessary for continued recognition as political parties.
Justice Lifu subsequently barred INEC from recognising the affected parties, accepting nominations from them or permitting them to participate in activities related to the 2027 general elections.
The ruling, if upheld, could affect the political ambitions of several politicians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who is the ADC presidential flag-bearer, and Osun State governor Ademola Adeleke, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Accord Party.
But speaking on Arise TV’s Morning Show on Tuesday, Oseni described the court ruling as a “test” of public reaction, warning that more actions could follow ahead of the next general election.
According to him, opposition parties such as the African Democratic Congress, ADC, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, should be cautious, claiming that efforts could be made to stop major figures from participating in the election.
Oseni argued that the judgment was part of a broader process aimed at shaping the political landscape ahead of 2027.
He maintained that the ruling came despite some of the affected parties having recorded electoral victories in recent elections.
He warned that Nigerians must remain vigilant to safeguard the country’s democracy, stressing the need for judicial reforms alongside efforts to tackle insecurity.
Oseni said: “NDC, ADC should be careful because there will be attempt, and this is me predicting now, to ensure that Obi, Atiku and other big contenders are not on the ballot.
“This that you saw yesterday is just a test. This is not the real place where the whole thing is going. This is me predicting now.
“You know before you have a show you test the microphone. They want to see the reactions of Nigerians. More is still coming.
“You can see how they carry a judgement when ADC won two House of Representatives seats in Kogi, one Kogi House of Assembly seat, APP one chairmanship seat in Jigawa, Zenith Labour party won several seats in Abia, but they still went ahead and issued judgement for deregistration after the Court of Appeal, a higher court, said it should stay on that.
“If we want to deal with this judicial rascality, can I tell you something? The judge that gave this judgment, nothing will happen to him. Nothing on this earth. They are just coming.
“And who is leading this group? Gbajabiamila. Have you forgotten what Gbajabiamila said on Hon Ajibade’s birthday? So they are just coming. This one is just a test. The next one they will do is the NDC.
“With the way they’re going, if Nigerians don’t shine their eyes when they will finally have this election, you will not have the major contenders in the ballot. This thing they have just done is to test reactions from Nigerians.
“I saw this thing coming. You know we are going into an election in which Atiku Abubakar is the only major candidate from the North. It’s not like the last one you have Kwankwaso that can split the Kano votes. And you have Peter Obi and general consensus that a lot of people are in abject penury, insecurity is raging hard.
“This is the beginning of many things. They are just testing the microphone. It’s engineered. More is coming. Nigerians, it is you that will save your democracy. Judicial reforms have become so important as insecurity in Nigeria.”
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has picked former Rivers State Governor and former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as his running mate.
Announcing the decision, ADC National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi, said Amaechi’s emergence followed broad consultations within the party and reflected his strong performance as runner-up in the party’s presidential primaries as well as his track records of service to his state and the country.
According to the ADC, Amaechi’s extensive experience across both the legislative and executive arms of government, as former Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, two-term Governor of Rivers State, and former Minister of Transportation, makes him uniquely qualified to complement Atiku’s leadership, strengthen the party’s national appeal, and bolster its campaign to offer Nigerians an experienced and credible alternative ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The party said the choice of Amaechi underscores its commitment to presenting a leadership team with proven governance experience and national appeal as it prepares for the 2027 presidential contest.
ThisDay
