From Desmond Mgboh, Kano
The National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Kano has struck out a petition seeking to restrain the INEC from conducting supplementary polls in Tudun Wada/ Doguwa Federal constituency in the state.
The petition, dated 29th March 2023, has the candidate of the New Nigeria People Party(NNPP), Retired Air Commodore Salisu Yushau and the New Nigeria People Party(NNPP) as applicants while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Al Hassan Ado Doguwa and the All Progressives Congress are the respondents.
The three member tribunal, consisting of Justices L.B Lawal Akapo, Thelma Achon and Abdulrahaman Idris, struck out the application on grounds that they had no jurisdiction to entertain the case.
They insisted that the jurisdiction of the tribunal could only be activated or set in motion only and if only an election had taken place and had been concluded in the constituency, which was not the case.
According to them, upon reading the motion on notice, they suo moto raised the issue of jurisdiction and thereafter, formulated the issue on whether or not, they had the jurisdiction and competence to entertain the application in view of the provision of Section 285 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)
Bashir Yusuf Muhammed, Counsel to the applicants, had earlier addressed the tribunal, whereby he submitted that they had the jurisdiction and competence to entertain the application giving regard to the combined impetus of Section 285(1) CFRN, 1999, Section 24(6) of the Electoral Act 2022 and Section 6(6) of the 1999 Constitution.
He had insisted that the decision of INEC was challengeable by any of the contestants, imploring the tribunal to look into the decision of the Commission as it relates to the decision to organize a supplementary election in the constituency.
It could be recalled that INEC had fixed April 15th for the supplementary election in the constituency after declaring it inconclusive. The decision to conduct a supplementary election was arrived at after a review of the result of the polls, which had posted the House Majority leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa of the All Progressives Congress as the winner.