Sen JT Useni Wins Big at the Plateau Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Jos

The Tribunal today agreed with the Counsel to Sen JT Useni that a witness whose statement on oath has already been front loaded in a Petition but not listed can be allowed to testify at the Tribunal.

The Tribunal therefore overruled the objections by counsel to INEC, Lalong and APC which sought to stop a PDP witness,
Baba Ali Adam, whose name had carried an acronym “AAQ” from testifying.

They had based their objections on Paragraph 4 (5) of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act which provides that an Election Petition shall be accompanied by a list of witnesses among other things.

But Useni’s Counsel had countered, describing the objection as a gross misconception of the Electoral Act which gave the tribunal all directions on all matters concerning witnesses.
The Tribunal, in a ruling read by the Chairman,
Hon Justice HA Saleeman, agreed with the position of the Petitioners’ counsel. The Tribunal relied on Paragraph 53 (1) of the First Schedule of the Electoral Act which provides that non-compliance with the rule of practice shall not render any proceeding void unless the tribunal so directs.

The Chairman equally cited other authorities, and therefore refused the objections of the Respondents’ counsel and ordered that the witness Baba Ali Adam, aka ‘AAQ’ should proceed to give his testimony.



She said there is need to do substantial justice to the petition before the tribunal.
Meantime, the tribunal has reserved ruling on another objection by the Respondents’ counsel seeking to stop the same witness from testifying on INEC Form EC8A (Statement of Results) saying he did not refer to the form in his deposition.

However, the tribunal agreed with the position of Counsel to Sen Useni, Barr EG Pwajok, SAN, that stopping the witness at this point will deny the Petitioners “substantial justice” . Hon Justice Saleeman therefore reserved ruling until at the final judgement.

These landmark rulings clear the way for Sen Useni and the PDP to bring in their witnesses and so meet up with the time limit set for the tribunal to complete its assignment.



Yiljap Abraham
Media Consultant
to Sen JT Useni.



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Court Releases Final Judgement In PDP’s Favour

It has been reported that the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Enugu on Monday struck out the petition

challenging the victory of Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi as the winner of the March 9 governorship election in the state.

The petition was reportedly filed by Action Peoples Party (APP) The tribunal, chaired by Justice I. M. Sambo, struck out the

petition after entertaining a motion on notice for the withdrawal of the petition. Counsel to the petitioner/applicant, Mr Obed

Agu, told the tribunal that the petitioner had resolved to discontinue with the process as filed. He prayed the tribunal to strike

out the petition, pursuant to Rule 29, Rules of Procedure of Election Petitions.

“The petitioner filed a notice of withdrawal of the petition before the tribunal. We, therefore, seek the order of the tribunal

granting leave to the petitioner/applicant to withdraw the petition in its entirety, and consequential order striking out the

petition,” Agu said.

In her submission, Mrs A.J. Offiah (SAN), counsel to the governor and first respondent, said that they had entered appearance

after being served with the petition. “We concede that we were served with an application for the withdrawal and dismissal of the

petition,” she said.

Offiah said that they had filed and served the petitioner/applicant, an affidavit against illegal terms of withdrawal, adding that

they were not opposed to the application. The tribunal consequently dismissed and struck out the petition and awarded no cost

to the respondents.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other counsels present during the sitting are counsels to Peoples Democratic

Party (PDP) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chief A. I. Ani and Mr Humphrey Okoli respectively.

Recall that it has been reported that a  Federal High court sitting in Abuja has struck out the suit filed by Peoples Democratic

Party (PDP)  against APC. The suit was filed by a senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Bauchi state,

Garba Dahiru.  Dahiru had asked the court to declare him the winner of the election in Bauchi South Senatorial District and issue

him the  certificate of return as the All Progressives Congress (APC) which polled the most votes in the election did not have a

candidate.

The APC had failed to provide a candidate as there was confusion in the party over who is the authentic candidate for the Bauchi

South senatorial poll is. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) decided to declare the APC the winner of the

election. Results of the February 23 election as announced by INEC showed that the APC garnered 250,725 votes, while Dahiru

scored 175,527 votes. Returning Officer, Ahmed Sarkin-Fagam, said he could not declare a winner for the election because APC

had no candidate recognised by the law. as it had failed to substitute its candidate, Lawal Gumau, as directed earlier by a federal

high court.

The judge at the federal high court in Abuja, Taiwo Taiwo, in his ruling on Wednesday, held that it is a post-election matter and

that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain it. He added that the appropriate court for the matter is the election petition

tribunal. Taiwo said the court could not decide on the candidacy of the APC since it is already a subject before the appellate court.

He added that doing so would merely amount to an academic exercise. Addressing journalists shortly after the judgment, the

INEC lawyer, Alhassan Umar, thanked the court for a well-considered judgement, while Prisca Elesike, who is counsel to Mr

Dahiru, said: “an appeal is a better option.”

Source: Independent Newspapers/Ripples Nigeria

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Alarming!!! Child Comedienne, Emmanuella Summoned By Nigerian Senate

Nigerian seven year old comedienne Emmanuella Samuel Spopularly known as Emmanuella has been summoned by the Nigerian National Assembly.

The comedienne who has just gotten a movie set role from Walt Disney Studio took had been recognized by the Nigerian senate.

The senate president Bukola Saraki who was delighted by the feat the young girl is achieving, saying she is really an inspiration.

Commenting on emmanuella’s post the senate president wrote

Congratulations Emmanuella! Make sure you make them laugh over there. Your story is an inspiration. Come by the @NGRSenate sometime, let’s discuss how we can develop the potential of our young talents in the creative industry.

This is a good step taken by the senate president.