The President of the Senate, Mr. David Mark, and the Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, on Tuesday secured major reprieves as their elections were upheld.
While the Court of Appeal in Jos, Plateau State, upturned the judgment of the Benue State Election Petitions Tribunal, which had earlier nullified Mark’s election, the tribunal in Osun State declared that Oyinlola was the winner of the April 14, 2007 governorship election in the state.
Before the judgment in Osogbo, Mr. Kola Awodein(SAN), the counsel for the Action Congress candidate in the poll, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, who was at the tribunal to request for the invitation of a telecommunications company, MTN Nigeria Limited, walked out.
The President of the Senate had gone to the appellate court to contest the February 21, 2008 nullification of his victory by the tribunal.
His opponent, Alhaji Usman Abubakar, of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, had told the tribunal that there were malpractices during the election.
The three judges of the appellate court, led by Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa, agreed with the Senate President that the returning officer, who cancelled the results of the elections in Agatu and Okpokwu, did so without authorisation.
They said that by cancelling the results, the returning officer gave Mark 135, 372 votes and Abubakar, 172, 636. The judges added that with the addition of the results, the President of the Senate had 252, 917 votes as against Abubakar’s 188, 184 votes.
Bulkachuwa also said that since the returning officer admitted that he made the report to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, the result of the election should have been considered.
The judge held that the lower tribunal did not take into consideration the fact that Abubakar did not prove all the allegations of rigging and violence that he claimed characterised the election.
She also faulted the tribunal for not entertaining the allegations of alterations of the results sheets while at the same time blaming Mark for the act.
Bulkachuwa said such allegations that bordered on acts of criminality should have been dealt with thoroughly before apportioning blames.
She added that Abubakar did not make references to the documents he alleged were forged and the original ones to enable the court arrive at an equitable decision.
As she announced that Mark won the poll, the supporters, friends and aides of the Senate President took over the premises.
Security agents had to fire gunshots into the air in their bid to control the crowd outside the court premises.
Mark, in his reaction, appealed to his opponent for support in nation-building.
He said, “To my opponent, Alhaji Abubakar, and his supporters, I urge them like good sportsmen to close ranks and join me in the arduous task ahead.
“In this case, there are no losers but winners. I bear no grudge against anyone. But I hope that above all, this judgment will usher the much needed unity in Idomaland. It is only in unity that our land can develop.”
Reacting on behalf of the Senate, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media, Mr. Ayogu Eze, said, “We are elated by this judgment.
“This victory will ensure the stability of the Senate. By this judgment, our democracy is now on good footing because Mark’s leadership has given our democracy colour and respect.”
The Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, who spoke from Lusaka, the Zambian capital, said the verdict was in the best interest of the country.
He said, “I thank God for the judiciary. The judiciary has spoken and I believe that the judgment is in the best interest of the judiciary.”
In Osogbo, The Justice Thomas Naron-led tribunal said Aregbesola failed to substantiate his claim that electoral malpractices, violence and rigging occured in 12 of the 30 local government areas in Osun State.
It, therefore, turned down Aregbesola’s 1,004-page petition, which sought the nullification of elections in the 12 councils.
The local government areas are Atakumosa-West, Ayedaade, Boripe, Boluwaduro, Ede-North, Ife-South, Ife-East, Ife-Central, Ifedayo, Isokan, Odo-Otin and Ola-Oluwa.
Aregbesola, who also prayed the tribunal to declare him the winner of the governorship election, maintained that he won majority of the lawful votes cast in the election.
His plea to call a United Kingdom-based forensic expert, Mr. Adrian Forty, to testify at the tribunal was rejected on the grounds that he could only argue applications that were front-loaded.
But in the judgment that lasted for more than four hours, Naron said, “He who alleges must prove. This tribunal shall bear in mind the burden of proof which rests on who asserts.”
As he announced that the petition failed in its entirety, Peoples Democratic Party members outside the court burst into victory songs.
Before the judgment, Aregbesola’s counsel, Awodein, urged the tribunal to subpoena MTN over allegations that the tribunal members had clandestine contacts with Oyinlola’s counsel, Mr. Kunle Kalejaiye (SAN).
He also insisted that the application brought by the AC, which called on the tribunal members to disqualify themselves from the petition, should be heard.
But the PDP counsel, Mr. Nathaniel Oke (SAN), opposed the application on the grounds that it was meant to delay the delivery of the judgment.
Awodein said the rejection of his subpoena and application underscored the allegations of compromise against the tribunal.
A weekly magazine, The NEWS, had alleged that call logs of the MTN indicated that there were exchanges of communication between Oyinlola’s counsel and two members of the tribunal.
Awodein said, “The judiciary is on trial, why can’t MTN be compelled to come and show proof of the claim that the call logs did not emanate from it?
“The judiciary will be best served if the tribunal members disqualify themselves from the petition.”
Dismissing the application and call for subpoena, the tribunal chairman said the application was unnecessary.
Awodein consequently walked out of the court.
In his reaction, Aregbesola said, “On all the rulings and judgments of the tribunal on 20 petitions outside the governorship petition, it is clear that the judges were not interested in the course of justice but rather in its perversion.
“The judgment arrived at today (Tuesday) is therefore, not unexpected and therefore, absolutely rejected.”
Nine opposition parties in the state also faulted the judgment on the grounds that the judges had no moral justification to deliver a verdict on the petition.
The parties are All Nigeria Peoples Party, Justice Party, Labour Party, All Progressive Grand Alliance, National Conscience Party, Progressive Peoples Alliance, African Democratic Congress, African Political System and the AC.
The Chairman of the opposition parties, Alhaji Sule Alao, said the tribunal lacked the moral justification to deliver the judgment.
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