Victor Ezeja
As the judgement of the Kaduna State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in favour of Uba Sani continues to generate ripples in the political landscape, counsel to the All Progressives (APC), in the matter, Sani Musa, has come out to defend the rationality of the decision.
The three-man panel of judges headed by Justice Victor Oviawie on Thursday dismissed the petition filed by Isa Ashiru governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the emergence of Uba Sani of the APC in the March 18 polls.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe tribunal struck out the petition on technical grounds. It held that there was a procedural breach committed by the petitioner. The tribunal dismissed the petition by upholding the preliminary objections filed against it, holding that the petitioners failed to apply for the issuance of pre-hearing notice within the stipulated time. According to the tribunal, the breach implied that the petitioners had abandoned their case and it was, therefore, liable to be dismissed.
READ ALSO: Why Kaduna Tribunal Struck Out PDP’s Ashiru Petition Against Gov Uba Sani
The tribunal therefore upheld the election of Uba Sani on March 18.
The ruling was a contentious one, with one out of the three judges having a dissenting opinion.
Justice Oviawie while delivering the judgement, curiously revealed the merits of the petition, and what would have been the decision if there was no procedural breach. According to him, the tribunal would have ordered a supplementary election in 22 polling units within 90 days.
Speaking on the matter in an interview on Channels Television Sunrise Daily on Friday morning, the APC counsel, Sani Musa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said the position of the law currently is that whatever the merit of the case, the PDP’s petition remains dismissed.
Musa asserted that the petition was bound to be dismissed based on issues on the ground, adding that the ruling was not a matter of technicalities but a breach of provisions of the constitution.
On the purported merit of the petition, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria maintained that it is only if the order of dismissal of the petition is reversed that they might begin to talk about whether there would be a rerun or not.
He claimed that mischief makers went to town on Thursday with the news that the tribunal had declared the election inconclusive, hoping to mislead the public.
“The court dismissed the petition, that is the position of the law as of today,” Musa stated.
Continuing, he said “Ashiru agreed that the tribunal dismissed his petition, but he said that by the rules they are required to look at whether his petition has on merit, and that is just by the way, like an academic exercise. The petition has been dismissed. So, whatever is said by the tribunal after that, unless the order of dismissal is reversed, the issue of conducting a new election cannot be normalized.”
The APC legal representative in the matter further argued that even if an election is to be conducted in those polling units, it is practically impossible for the PDP to get the number of additional votes required to win the election.
Meanwhile, the PDP candidate in the election, Isa Ashiru, has rejected the judgement and vowed to challenge it in the Court of Appeal. He urged his supporters to remain calm and law-abiding.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
