SpicyTricks

The current Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike and his Peoples Democratic Party PDP may not be ready for the trial at the ongoing Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja on the aftermath of the highly controversial general elections that took place in the state.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC had declared Nyesom Wike of the PDP the winner of the governorship election with a total vote of 1.2 million votes while Dakuku Peterside of the APC was allocated a paltry 196,000 votes.

The APC immediately went to the tribunals to challenge the results of INEC both in the federal and state Assembly elections as well as that of the governorship.

With a mandatory period of 180 days for the tribunal to wrap up its sittings in all the cases, the PDP rather than have INEC prove its results, has opted to collude with the electoral body to frustrate the petitions at the tribunals. Expectedly, INEC which happens to be a defendant in all the matters is trying hard to prove that the elections in Rivers state were free and fair and the results declared to be a true reflection of the wishes of the electorates.

While it is expected that all issues arising from the conduct of the elections are to be handled by the tribunals, confirmed reports say some of the tribunal members are desperate to impress their pay masters who have surreptitiously paid them a visit in the night through their surrogates.

Our investigations revealed that there has been a massive flow of cash in foreign exchange to ensure that the petitions of the PDP do not see the light of the day.

On Tuesday, surprisingly, the tribunal hearing the matter brought before it by two candidates of the APC in Rivers state, Hon. Dawari George and Lucky Odili challenging the victory of Boma Goodhead and Uche Nnam Obi both of the PDP and representing Asari Toru/ Akuku Toru and Ogba/Egema/Ndoni Federal constituencies respectively struck at the petitions on grounds that the APC did not comply with section 85(1) of the Electoral Act which states that a political party shall give notice of their primary elections to the Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, within 21 days.

According to the tribunal Judges, for failing to comply with that section of the law, the petitioners were not candidates for the election for which they are challenging.

Though it was not clear why counsel for the petitioners, BEI Nwofor did not present the relevant letters by the National Secretariat of the APC which was the notice sent to the INEC headquarters in Abuja and was received by the office of the Director of Legal Services, Mr Ibrahim K. Bawa.

In a letter dated, 19th September 2015, addressed to the Secretary of the Commission and signed by the National Secretary of the Party, Hon. Mal Mala Buni, the APC had informed the Commission of its dates for the party's scheduled congresses in all the states and the FCT. And in another letter dated 18th November 2015, the party informed the Commission of its rescheduled dates for the primaries. From the first letter, it is clear that for all the primaries to choose its candidates, the APC complied with the law with over 30 days notice.

But the ruling of the tribunal has raised a lot of dust leading to a call for the probe of the tribunal members over allegations of bribe.

Several legal luminaries and election analysts have condemned the position of the tribunal Judges in the matter.

While the ruling PDP in the state had claimed in the wake of the controversial ruling that it affects all the candidates of the APC including Gov. Wike's main challenger, Dakuku Peterside, many lawyers say the ruling will be dismissed by the Appeal Court.

The grounds for this argument are many one of which states that the relevant section of the Electoral Act, Section 85(1) did not provide any punishment for non compliance.

According to Barrister Benn Awuse, "the non compliance is a mere irregularity and not a nullify. Irregularities without stipulated punitive measures can be regularized, and in this case, only a regular court is empowered to try such a matter as election tribunals are only charged with the responsibility of entertaining fallouts from elections. The issue of non compliance and the qualification of a candidate is a pre election matter which PDP and INEC ought to have gone to court before now to challenge their eligibility for the election. Since the PDP and INEC failed to go to court in order to arm themselves with a judgment before the tribunal on the issue and the required time frame has elapsed, then the tribunal cannot assume the position of a regular court to mete out any punishment".

Another public analyst, Victor Dagogo-Jack wondered why the electoral body would go ahead to put the APC on the ballot if truly they had no candidates for the said election.

 He opined that INEC erred by accepting the necessary forms and list from the APC if they knew that the party had no candidates. Dagogo-Jack described the action of INEC as deceptive and hopes that electoral offenders will be brought to book.

In a Press statement signed by the Publicity Secretary of the Rivers APC, Chris Finebone, and made available to the press, the party dismissed claims by the State PDP that all the candidates of the APC will be meted out with the same ruling. Finebone also urged party members and supporters alike to remain calm as the ruling of the tribunal will be dismissed at the Appeal Court.

Meanwhile, a group known as Society for Good Governance, SGG, led by its Chairman, Emenike George has dismissed attempts by some members of the judiciary and INEC to thwart the cause of justice for those challenging the election results at the tribunals.

In his statement, Emenike George called on the security agencies and the EFCC to rise up to the challenge with a view to fish out and prosecute all electoral offenders as well as their accomplices. He warned that no amount of blackmail by the PDP through its spokesman, Olisa Metuh will deter the Federal Government under President Buhari from sanitising the country which has been embedded in corruption.

The Chairman of SGG urged the tribunals to stick to their duty of dealing with election petitions on their merits and not to employ the already obsolete reason of technicality to deny petitioners from seeking justice.

The PDP had in a press release from the press unit of the Rivers State Government House declared that since Dawari George and Henry Odili lost at the tribunal pre trial ruling, then the same fate awaits the governorship candidate of the PDP, Dakuku Peterside who is poised to be served justice at the tribunals considering the inflated figures allocated to his rival, Nyesom Wike at the April 11 election.

Though INEC declared Wike as the winner with a total of 1.2million votes, the central server of INEC in Abuja indicates that only 292,000 accredited voters by the Card Readers were eligible to have voted on the said elections.

While Dakuku and the APC are at the tribunal to challenge the victory of Wike, there are fears that the PDP may be in collusion with INEC to frustrate the petition. There have been allegations of attempted bribery of the judiciary in this regard and the Department of Security Services, DSS, are already investigating those suspected to be involved.

The plot to kill the petitions at the pre trial stage by the PDP and INEC seems to be the only escape route for Wike and his party. The Appeal court is yet to hear the appeal on the ruling of the tribunal.