As Kaduna Tribunal Judgement Affirms Uba Sani’s Election…

John Shiklam writes on how the recent judgement of Kaduna Elections Petitions tribunal which affirmed the election of Governor Uba Sani was misinterpreted by some individuals.

Confusion trailed last Thursday’s judgement of the Kaduna governorship election petition tribunal following the misinterpretation of an aspect of the judgment.

The misinterpretation of the judgement led to the embarrassing conflicting reports about the decision of the tribunal.

Both supporters of  the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the city were agog with celebration of victory.

By the time a clearer picture of things began to emerge, it dawned on the people especially supporters of the PDP that their candidate had lost.

The confusion arose when the tribunal said the PDP petition could have succeeded based on its merit, but it was dismissed because the pre-hearing trial was abandoned.

On the merit of the case, the tribunal held that if the petition had not been dismissed on technical grounds, it would have ordered a supplementary election in 22 polling units within 90 days.

This explanation is in accordance with previous Supreme Court judgments that tribunals must determine the merit of a case even if the case would be dismissed on technical grounds.

This is so as to avoid starting petition trial afresh in case the apex court eventually dismisses the technical grounds on appeal.

In the past, when tribunal had any reason to dismiss a case on technical ground, it did it without bothering itself to look into the content of the case, to see wether it had merit or not.

It was more like a case of throwing away the baby with the bath water.

Many people wrongly interpreted the explanation of the tribunal to mean that the tribunal declared the election inconclusive and ordered for a rerun.

The three-man panel, led by Justice Victor Oviawie, delivered the judgment via Zoom, affirming Uba Sani’s victory.

The PDP and its candidate, Isah Ashiru, had challenged  the declaration of Uba Sani, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had declared Sani as the winner of the election, having secured 730, 001 votes against  his closest rival  Ashiru  who garnered 719, 196 votes.

Mohammed  Lawal, one of the counsels of the PDP, admitted that the opposition party filed its pre-hearing suit late.

One of the PDP lawyers, Mohammed Lawal, while shedding more light on the judgment of the tribunal said, “What actually happened was that APC raised an objection about our pre-hearing petition that we filed out of time.

“But the position of the Electoral Act is that the tribunal must go into the nitty gritty.

“Now they found that there is the need for rerun in 22 polling units in four LGAs.

“We cannot activate that as inconclusive unless we appeal against that decision that declared our petition abandoned.

“The final decision of the court has two arms, that is what confused people.

“One declared our petition as abandoned, the second decision declared the election inconclusive but, that inconclusive decision cannot be activated unless the decision declaring the petition abandoned, is appealed against and set aside.

“So technically the tribunal declared the petition abandoned and dismissed it.”

The Kaduna governor, while reacting to the judgment affirming his election, said the judgment was an “unequivocal affirmation of the popular mandate given to him by the people”.

“I am extremely delighted and humbled by the ruling of the Election Petition Tribunal affirming my victory in the 2023 Kaduna State Governorship Elections. I commend the tribunal for their thoroughness and lucidity. “They have enriched our jurisprudence and practice of electoral democracy.”

He commended his opponent for approaching the court to ventilate his grievances.

“I also commend my dear brother, Hon. Isah Ashiru Kudan for approaching the Tribunal to ventilate his grievances. This is a clear demonstration of his belief in the principles of democracy and the imperative of civility in the conduct of political actors”, Sani said.

The governor called on Isah and members of the opposition parties in Kaduna State to join hands with his administration as it strive to move the state forward.

Also reacting to the Tribunal’s judgement, Ashiru, however, said the ruling would be appealed and urged his supporters to remain law-abiding.

In a statement, he assured the people of Kaduna that he would pursue the mandate they gave him to its logical conclusion.

“Given the ruling of the Kaduna state election tribunal, it has become necessary to share with our teaming supporters, the true position of the ruling,” the statement reads.

“On the preliminary objection, the tribunal, based on the majority of 2:1 judges upheld the preliminary objection of the respondent to the effect that the application for pre-hearing was done prematurely i.e. before the service of the last set of petitioners’ reply to the 2nd respondent’s reply to the petition was served.

“However, the law enjoins the tribunal, as a trial court, to proceed to pronounce on the merit of the substantive suit so that in the event the court of appeal finds that the trial tribunal was wrong in its decision on the preliminary objection, it would have the benefit of pronouncing on the decision of the tribunal in the substantive matter.

“Accordingly, the trial tribunal finds merit in the aspect of the petitioner’s case relative to the margin of win between the two leading candidates.

“The tribunal by a split decision of 2:1 accordingly, nullified the election of the governor of Kaduna state, ordered that the Certificate of Return be retrieved and fresh elections be conducted in some polling units in four LGAs and the outcome thereof be reckoned with before the declaration of the winner of the governorship election in Kaduna state.

“I want to again thank the people of the state while urging them all to remain law abiding while we pursue the appeal process.”

Now that the first legal battle has been settled, it is time for Sani  to focus on fulfilling its promises to the people.

Kaduna citizens expects much from him. They are in dire need of good roads, good hospitals as well as tackling the growing insecurity in the state.