As we rescue from the courts

The dust raised by the last general election is yet to settle given that several cases still remain to be resolved by the election petition courts. In virtually every state, the election petition courts have been on their toes to ensure quick resolution of election disputes. Many cases stand out in their seeming glaring declaration of winners who fall short of being termed choice of the people. They are either choice of the electoral body, as it were, or choice of the courts. In the case of Abia, a court from faraway Kaduna declared the nomination of Labour Party candidates as invalid but  was smart enough to know that it could not make such declarations for states where it had no jurisdiction, which was why the initial declaration of anxiety over the swearing into office of Governor Alex Otti was rested when he was sworn into office.

Another state where Labour Party seems to be standing on a sure ground, for which only the courts can come to its rescue, is Enugu State where the candidate of the major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has been declared winner. Chijioke Edeoga, journalist and politician, who flew the Labour Party’s flag, appears to rely heavily on the courts to declare him winner in an election that he seems to have won, but was denied. Like Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the party, Edeoga has decided to bank on the law rather than cause anarchy. Obi had told his supporters not to go to the streets when they became so aggrieved that they threatened to cause mayhem. Edeoga had toed the same line. He assuaged his supporters in the state and told them that he had confidence that the courts would come to his rescue.

First, he challenged the qualification of the person the Independent National Electoral Commission had declared winner. He told the court that the candidate did not qualify because he did not serve the nation in the National Youth Service Corps, although the candidate gave the body a certificate of service, which paved the way for his party and the electoral body to declare him qualified. Edeoga insists that document his opponent presented was fake, which implies that it did not originate from the National Youth Service Corps. The body has confirmed same. There have been arguments that the candidate did not need be a graduate to become governor given the provisions of the Nigerian constitution. But he has presented documents to the court to the effect that he had undergone the process when his opponent says he did not, which means he may have committed perjury, willfully telling an untruth under oath. There is, therefore, a forgery case pending in the court. Edeoga’s petition in the tribunal is standing on other grounds apart from the forgoing.

The matter of Nkanu East Local Government area is another kettle of fish. According to figures from the INEC BVAS, the area recorded a total number of 15,000 accredited voters on election day. When the votes where declared, the incumbent governor’s party was said to have polled 30,350 votes while a paltry 1,885 votes were credited to Edeoga’s party. This meant an excess votes of 15,000. The possible explanation of that anomaly is widespread overvoting. When the figure was  brought to the collation centre, Edeoga’s agents protested vehemently. This led the election authorities to set up a panel, which lawyers have said was an illegal one, to look into the issue raised. The panel sat in Abuja and, after reviewing the Nkanu East votes, agreed with the Labour Party that there was manifest overvoting. But  rather than do the needful it allegedly slashed votes from the incumbent Governor and asked the Returning Officer to declare the new figures. The body did not have the power to declare itself a committee/panel to take such a far-reaching decision that ought to be taken by a court.

Edeoga and his party had raised some concerns about the Nkanu East votes even before anyone was declared winner, but the electoral body was said to have ignored the protest. The above recap of events is necessary, especially given the attention the media has given the matter of NYSC certificate as though it were the only ground on which Edeoga’s petition is standing. The Nkanu East votes also constitute a reason for which Edeoga believes he won that election. The candidate is not seeking to stand on the political opportunism of getting his opponent disqualified in order to take his place as happened in some places, including Bayelsa in its last gubernatorial election. He says he won the election, and is thus the choice of his people. This may indeed be true given the immense popularity of his presidential candidate in that state, which ought to naturally affect his candidacy positively. The ball is in the court of the tribunal to renew the fact that the peoples’ votes are sacrosanct and that the people have the ultimate power to choose their leaders. We await the tribunal and the courts to do the needful and return the people to the polls rather than scare them from the ballot box. The courts have a  duty to strengthen the power of the people. If the incumbent governor has overwhelming evidence, one can only say let justice be done.