At exactly 12:17 pm on Saturday, the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja declared that it was satisfied that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its candidate in the April 2015 governorship election in the state, Dakuku Peterside, being the petitioners, have proven their case against the electoral victory of Nyesom Wike, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election.
This set the tone for what was to come next.
But before finally sacking Wike as governor of Rivers State at exactly 12.53 pm, the three-man tribunal headed by Justice Suleiman Ambursa, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election for the state within the next 90 days.
The tribunal verdict was based on its decision that his victory followed non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
In the judgment, read by Ambursa for about three hours, the tribunal held that the petitioners successfully proved their case that the election was conducted in total disregard to electoral guidelines.
For example, Justice Ambursa held that the process of accreditation for the election was compromised with the use of incident forms rather than adherence to card reader.
“While we agree with the second respondent’s (Wike) position that card reader was just introduced, but the usage of the card reader is to complement voter register. The election was in total disregard to guidelines, the issue of accreditation in election cannot be compromised.
“Even, some of the witnesses of the respondents said they were not aware of the use of card reader for the election,” Ambursa said stressing further that the tribunal hinged its decision to annul the election on contradictory position by the second and third respondents (Wike and PDP).
The tribunal held that some of the figures given by Wike’s witnesses contradicted the figures presented in the documents tendered by PDP while defending the case and that it was not impressed with the way the witnesses of the respondents presented themselves during cross examination by the petitioners.
According to Ambursa, some of the witnesses of Wike and the PDP, who had written their evidence and tendered them before the tribunal, later claimed that they could not read when they were confronted with INEC results sheets during cross examination.
“We are in agreement with the petitioners that the evidences presented by the respondents were unreliable. The respondents on their part were unable to defend the allegations in the petition.
“The petitioners have proved their case as required by the law that the second respondent was not validly elected,” the tribunal ruled.
BLOW-BY-BLOW DETAILS
11:02 PDP argued that the Petitioners levelled allegations of crime against the military which was not joined as a party. PDP also argued that non-usage of card reader cannot be grounds of nullification of election. PDP thus argued that the petitioners failed to prove their case and case should be struck out.
11:18 The petitioner, Mr. Peterside, argued that the card reader machine was made mandatory by INEC’s guideline and has the backing of the Electoral Act.
11:31 The tribunal adopted only one issue for determination – whether or not the petitioners have proved their case.
11:40 The Tribunal dismissed preliminary issues concerning the competence of the tribunal raised by the respondents. It is now dwelling on its sole issue for determination
11:49 The tribunal restated the petitioners’ allegations inculding poll being marred by intimidation of voters, non-availability of result sheets, snatching of electoral materials, non-collation of results at wards and LG levels etc.
11:50 The Tribunal stated that the evidence of the petitioners’ witnesses is relevant and reliable.
11:54 The tribunal stated that INEC has the power to insist on card readers. It is not open to anybody to act otherwise – tribunal
11:57 According to the tribunal, Exhibit A9 presented by the petitioners, which is a report by head of election monitoring team of INEC office in Rivers State, Charles Okoye, confirmed the allegations of the petitioners – Tribunal
11:58 The tribunal says card readers were introduced by INEC to ensure credibility and transparency
11:59 We don’t see any conflict between the introduction of card readers and the provisions of the Electoral Act, the tribunal states
11:59 A simple glance of the results (Exhibit A10) showed that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, the tribunal states
12:01 According to the tribunal, an INEC witness said he was not aware of directive by the Commission on the exclusive use of card readers for accreditation.
12:05 According to the tribunal, INEC had directed that if the card reader failed the election should be postponed to the next day.
12:09 According to the tribunal, presiding officers called by the respondents as witnesses said they resorted to manual accreditation because the card reader failed. They said the were not aware of INEC’s directive to postpone the poll under such circumstances.
12:10 The tribunal stated that the characters of voters called by Mr. Wike were impugned under cross-examination.
12:15 The voter- Mr. Wike’s witnesses- dodged questions under cross-examination and refused to answer questions on documents the petitioners confronted them with, the tribunal states.
12:15 We are in agreement that the evidence of the witnesses of Wike and INEC is incredible and unreliable, Tribunal states.
JUDGEMENT UNACCEPTABLE-UCHE
Counsel to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chris Uche (SAN), has described the decision of the tribunal as unacceptable.
Uche said his client would appeal the tribunal judgement.
Speaking just after the judgement, Uche said by the provision of the law, the remains in office pending the decision of the appeal court and the Supreme Court on the matter.
However, speaking on behalf of his clients, Barr. Sikiru Oke, who spoke for Chief Akinlolu Olujinmi (SAN), expressed satifaction with the judgement of the tribunal.
JUDGEMENT A DEADLY BLOW TO IMPUNITY – APC
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described Saturday’s judgement of the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal that overturned the election of Gov. Nyesom Wike of the PDP as a deadly body blow to impunity and hooliganism.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the judgement has shown clearly that the era of impunity and hooliganism is over, and that the only way for elections to have legitimacy is for them to be free, fair and credible.
“What has come across from this judgement is that there is no shortcut to free, fair and credible elections. This is part of the wind of change that is blowing across the land and touching all arms of government under the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari,” Mohammed said.
“Elections are about the expression of the will of the people, and they must always be free to express themselves, irrespective of what some desperate politicians may feel.”
He said politicians, especially those seeking or occupying elective office, must realize that they can only derive their legitimacy from the people, and that unless they respect the wishes of the people, they will not go far.
The party hailed its governorship candidate in Rivers, Mr. Dakuku Peterside, for his doggedness and strong conviction in the pursuit of his petition against the election of Wike that was not only marred by widespread violence and electoral malfeasance, but also acknowledged to be so by local and international observers – and now by the judiciary.
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Mohammed urged all APC members and supporters in the state to remain peaceful, even in the face of provocation by those who are now realizing, to their chagrin, that there is always a limit to everything, including impunity and hooliganism.
