– Jonathan Hails Judgment; Courts Opposition Support
– Buhari Issues Bristling Statement to Condemn Judgment
EIGHT long months after the April 16, 2011 presidential elections in Nigeria, the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the
case brought before it by the Congress for Progressive Change, in which the party sought to disprove the validity of the election results as declared by Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Justice Olufunlola Adekeye read the unanimous decision of the seven-man panel of the nation’s apex court, stating that the CPC was unable to prove to the court how the claim of non-compliance with the Electoral Act by INEC altered the results of the election.
In a statement released by his presidential spokesman Reuben Abati, President Goodluck Jonathan hailed the judgment, saying it “put a final seal of approval on his victory which was already acknowledged by the vast majority of ordinary Nigerians, political parties and the international community.”
The statement further stated that Mr. Jonathan also commended the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari, for availing himself of the country’s legal and judicial system in expressing his reservations about the conduct of the elections.
“Now that that process has run its full course, President Jonathan hopes that General Buhari and his party will accept the ruling of the esteemed Judges of the Supreme Court in good faith and join hands with him and other well-meaning Nigerians to build a united, stronger and prosperous nation that present and future generations of Nigerians can be proud of.
“He expects that General Buhari will continue to contribute positively to national development and also mobilize his supporters across the country to join in the process of national reconciliation and national renaissance.”
“President Jonathan thanks all Nigerians once again for their trust and confidence which gave the Jonathan/Sambo ticket an overwhelming victoryin the elections.
“He assures the nation that the federal government, under his leadership, will remain fully focused on its objectives and continue to work assiduously to implement its agenda for national transformation in fulfillment of his promise of better living conditions for all Nigerians.”
Although General Muhammadu Buhari, the opposition CPC candidate, gave an impression that he won’t get involved with his party in contesting the result of the April results, he nevertheless reacted in strident tones unusual for a statesman and presidential candidate to the Supreme Court judgment, saying on Wednesday that the judgment is no different from the court’s previous verdicts in 2003 and 2007.
”As in 2003 and 2007, the Supreme Court this morning rejected CPC’s appeal against the Lower Court verdict that the rigged Presidential election of 16th, April 2011 was properly conducted. All who witnessed the conduct of the 2011 elections would know that this decision of the Supreme Court is politically motivated and has little judicial content.
“This Supreme Court has proved no better than the Supreme Courts of 2003 and 2007. For the records, let me refresh the public memory about what happened in the litigations after the 2003 and 2007 rigged elections. In 2003 we presented a cast iron case before the Court of Appeal citing several major infringements of the Electoral Act 2002. In particular we subpoenaed INEC to furnish the Court with proof of the “result” they declared. They did not, because they could not. The Court still declared the result as valid. Worse still, the Supreme Court upheld this dubious ruling of a dubious election.
“In 2007 I and my Party the ANPP produced copious proof that the presidential election was rigged in the most blatant fashion. For one, ballot papers were distributed to polling stations on blank sheets of paper, making it impossible to carry out an audit trail.
“Secondly, during the process of tallying the result, the egregious Professor Maurice Iwu, then Chairman of INEC excused himself from the collation venue (after only 11 states and Abuja of the 36 states were tabulated) and announced the “result”. At the time he made this announcement voting materials had not even fully arrived in some states. Only in Nigeria and only under a government like PDP’s would these criminalities pass the sanction of the Judiciary. Yet on appeal, the Justice Idris Kutigi Supreme court after a long adjournment, declared the election valid, with three justices dissenting. In both elections, local and international observers condemned the elections in no uncertain terms.
“What happened in this year’s 2011 elections eclipsed all the other elections in the depth and scope of forgery and rigging. Initially there were high hopes that after 2003 and 2007 a semblance of electoral propriety would be witnessed.
The former military ruler went on to describe the chief umpire of the exercise as incompetent and lacking in integrity, saying that Mr. Jega presided over a botched process after securing over N1bn for running the entire process. He criticized the refusal of INEC to make forensic material needed to prove his party’s case before the Supreme Court available. Mr. Buhari wondered what sort of biometric data was captured to prevent rigging when multiple voting occured across the country.
Mr. Buhari blamed what he described as “spontaneous violence” on the aftermath of the elections as direct reaction to what he sees as a fraudulent exercise, citing the report of the Lemu Panel as proof of his innocence in response to charges that he had something to do with the riots.
The losses recorded by General Buhari’s CPC in verdicts issued by election tribunals in many parts of his northern base were hardly mentioned, even while he issued a vociferous condemnation of “snatching and stuffing of ballot boxes (and) violence unleashed on opposition supporters.”
The president’s party, the People’s Democratic Party, also reacted to the apex court ruling on Wednesday, saying that “the Supreme Court judgment on CPC`s petition against President Goodluck Jonathan`s electoral victory vindicates the position of most Nigerians on the sanctity of the April general elections”
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Prof Rufai Alkali, said in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday that the judgment had brought to a close a process of litigation, which was unnecessary, in the first place.
The party congratulated Jonathan and Vice- President Namadi Sambo on the confirmation of their mandate by the court, saying, it was “ historic and an endorsement and validation of their election into office by the highest court in the land’’.
It also congratulated the jurists for giving a thorough verdict, which, would no doubt, strengthen the faith of the common man in the judiciary.
It congratulated the party`s witnesses in the petition for painstakingly ensuring that the will of the people, freely expressed in the April elections, was sustained.
The statement, however, appealed to those who lost out to now join hands with Jonathan as he focused on the enormous task of national transformation.
“The time for elections and litigation is now over. What should now be our collective goal is the stability and growth of our dear country.
“We, therefore, call on all Nigerians to set aside political, social, religious and ethnic differences and unite for the sake of the current and future generations,’’ the statement said
The CPC had petitioned against INEC, PDP and Jonathan and his deputy over their victory at the April Presidential Election and the conduct of the election at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
The party had alleged that the election was marred by irregularities in some states and called for fresh elections in those areas.
It took its petition to the Supreme Court after the tribunal decided in favour of the president.
In a similar development, Mr Adebamigbe Omole, Chairman of the Ikeja branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said in Lagos that the judgment has finally put to rest litigation on the presidential election.
“The Supreme Court has given its verdict and it is the final. The CPC should accept the outcome and start preparing for 2015 when there will be another presidential election.
“I urge President Jonathan to be magnanimous in victory by extending a hand of fellowship to CPC and also focus on the business of governance,” Omole said.
Also in their reactions, lawyers which included Prof. Itse Sagay, Messers Bamidele Aturu and Wale Ogunade, blamed the appellate court for the Supreme Court decision.
Sagay said: “the Court of Appeal denied the petitioner the right to forensic and other electoral materials.
“Therefore, the Supreme Court did not have any material to work on and I think that this denial by the Appeal Court made the case difficult for the CPC”.
Expressing a similar view, Aturu observed that, “the Supreme Court cannot manufacture evidence but the seven-man panel should have re-visited the decision of the Appeal Court which denied the CPC the right to examine the electoral materials.
“For the CPC to be denied access to the materials based on technicalities, is a great injustice and I think we need to review our laws to ensure that people are given the right to electoral justice”, he added.
Also speaking, Ogunade alleged that the judgment was the climax of the intrigues and politics that have been rocking the judiciary, which culminated in the reconstitution of the Appeal Court judges.
He said: “the case was lost immediately Appeal Court denied the CPC the right to examine the electoral materials.
“Once the evidence is not allowed in a matter, then you cannot expect to get a favourable result because you will be operating from a disadvantageous position.”