The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday invalidated the certificates of return issued to two senators and eight other members of the Federal House of Representatives by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and declared their purported inauguration by the leaderships of the National Assembly as members representing federal constituencies in Katsina State null and void.
The court held that the certificates of return issued to Senators Abdu Umar Yandoma, Ahmed Sani Stories and eight Honourable members of the House of Representatives from Katsina State — Musa saliu, Aminu Ashiru, Murtala Isah, Muntari Dandutse, Tasiu Doguru, Umar K, Umar Dankama and Mohammed Tukur — are subsisting and that they were the authentic representatives of the federal constituencies from the State.
Senators Abdu Umar Yandoma, Ahmed Sani Stories and the eight House members who were candidates of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in the 9th April 2011 general election had approached the federal court last year after INEC withdrew their certificates of return and caused Senator Abubakar Saddiq Yardua, Abubakar Hadi Sirika and another set of eight members of the party to be sworn in.
“The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had no power to cancel or withdraw the certificates of return issued on April 15, 20011 to the candidates who won the election conducted on April 9, 2011 without explicit court order,” Justice Gladys Olotu held while Delivering the judgment. “Likewise, INEC does not have power to issue another certificate with court order.”
Earlier in the judgment, Justice Olotu dismissed the defendant’s preliminary objection as lacking in merit, saying the plaintiffs who besieged the court seeking interpretation of Sections 68 (1) and 75 (1) of the Electoral ACT 2010 had locus standi to institute the suit.
She also held that Federal High Court has the jurisdiction to entertain the suit, considering that it is not a post-election matter and that it has nothing to do with the Lado vs CPC case, which the Supreme Court had pronounced upon.
She further said that those members of the CPC who were sworn in as members of the National Assembly following the judgment in Lado case were not parties to that suit and therefore it could not be branded an abuse of court processes.
