Group Urges Supreme Court to Consider Ihedioha’s Request on Merit

Davidson Iriekpen

A civil society organisation based in Lagos, Peoples’ Will, has urged the Supreme Court to consider former Governor Emeka Ihedioha’s application for the review of his case whenever he approaches the court.

It was revealed last weekend that Ihedioha, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the poll, would soon approach the court for a review of the judgment.

But in a statement yesterday, the convener of Peoples’ Will, Mr. Victor Imoukhuede, appealed to the justices of the court not to hurriedly throw out the application.

He said a careful review of the case had revealed that there was indeed substantial miscarriage of justice when the apex court first heard it on January 14, 2020.

The convener added that the review has merit and that the justices of the court should diligently examine the case whenever Ihedioha comes with his application for a review.

He said his appeal is based on the judgment of the former justice of the court, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, who was regarded as the Socrates during his time where he said justices of the court are human-beings, and therefore are capable of erring.

Justice Oputa while delivering the lead judgment in the much celebrated Adegoke Motors Ltd. v. Adesanya (1989) 13 NWLR (Pt.109) 250 at page 275A said: “We are final not because we are infallible; rather we are infallible because we are final. Justices of this court are human-beings, capable of erring. It will certainly be short sighted arrogance not to accept this obvious truth. It is also true that this court can do inestimable good through its wise decisions.

“Similarly, the court can do incalculable harm through its mistakes. When therefore it appears to learned counsel that any decision of this court has been given per incuriam, such counsel should have the boldness and courage to ask that such a decision be over-ruled. This court has the power to over-rule itself (and has done so in the past) for it gladly accepts that it is far better to admit an error than to persevere in error.”

Imoukhuede said based on Justice Oputa’s judgment, the justices of the court can correct the mistakes they might have made in the case.

He contended that from the processes filed from the tribunal to the Supreme Court showed that there were mathematical and factual inconsistencies which the apex court ignored.

He also noted that if the apex court had carefully examined the certified-true-copy of the record of the appeal filed before it by Uzodinma and APC, there was no way it would have given judgment to them.

“In the records tendered at the tribunal, Uzodinma, from pages 9 to 27 of his petition, drew a table of votes allocation which he claimed were the figures obtained from the duplicate copies of Forms EC8A handed over to his party agents at the 388 polling units, the results of which were excluded in the overall result of the election.

“From the table he compiled from the 388 polling units, there were 252,452 registered voters, out of which 213,695 voted for APC, and 1,903 voted for Ihedioha. But the table does not indicate either the total number of accredited voters or the number of invalid votes, if any, and the votes allocated to the remaining 68 candidates that contested the election, aside from Uzodinma and Ihedioha.

“Also, the duplicate Forms EC8A tendered by the PW54, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Mr. Rabiu Hussein, showed that there were no fewer than six polling units where more votes were recorded above the registered number of voters.

“For instance, on figure number 69 which shows votes cast at Eziama/Okpala (Umualum Village Square, Eziama), the total number of registered voters was 492, whereas the table shows that the APC scored 819 votes and PDP scored 7 votes, meaning that 334 more votes than the registered voters were recorded, apart from the votes polled by the other candidates at the election that were not shown on the table.

“Similarly, on page 22 of the petition referencing polling unit 282, the number of registered voters was put at 591, whereas the tabulation shows that APC polled 586 votes and PDP nine votes, indicating a total of four votes higher than the registered number of voters. This, again, excluded the votes scored by the other candidates.

“On the same page 22 of the record, at the polling unit 285 (Obudi/Aro, Central Assembly Square, Unusable 11) with 449 registered voters, APC was credited with 780 votes and PDP with four votes, leaving a total of 335 votes higher than the actual number of registered voters.

“Figures obtained from page 79 of the record of appeal under item 384 show that APC scored 526 votes, while PDP was credited with two votes, and the total votes cast was put at 526, indicating two votes higher than the total number registered voters in the area.

“But in its judgment, the Supreme Court said that the votes from the disputed 388 polling units were wrongly excluded from the votes of Uzodinma.

“By relying on the tabulation made by Uzodinma, the Supreme Court arrived at a figure of 950,952 votes, which is more than the 823,743 votes cast at the election, thereby affirming 127,209 excess votes.”