Election Petition Tribunals Begin Sitting this Week,Governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Bauchi State, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, is compiling video evidence to prove that last Thursday’s election was rigged,

President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami

The long, mostly tortuous journey to getting redress at the law courts over electoral matters will commence this week when the election petition tribunals across the country begin sitting.

An official of the Court of Appeal said that members of the tribunal had been dispatched to their respective states and would commence sitting once petitions were filed.

He said some petitions had already been filed and that hearing on them would commence by Friday.
When asked why the tribunals had not commenced sitting before now, the source said it could only mean that aggrieved politicians were yet to file petitions.

Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) in Bauchi State, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, is compiling video evidence to prove that last Thursday’s election was rigged, his camp has said.
Tuggar was credited with 238,462 votes to Governor Isa Yuguda’s 771,503 as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The CPC candidate said he had video evidence to prove that soldiers were used to rig the elections “in addition to massive thumb-printing and ballot stuffing”.

Some of the local government areas he listed where the electoral malpractices were perpetrated were Isawa Giade, Ganjuwa, and Darazo. The wards are Zara, Kofar Masu and Miya. He alleged that soldiers invaded Udubo Primary School, Gamawa Local Government and carted away electoral materials and “were strangely in possession of the sensitive INEC Form EC8A in which results are filled and presented for collation”.

Tuggar has vowed to pursue the case to a “logical conclusion” at the election petition tribunal.
President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami, had in March appointed 220 members of the tribunals and were inaugurated same month by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu.
The Electoral Act stipulates that the tribunals should be in place before the conduct of the general election with the President of the Court of Appeal empowered to set them up.

In order to ensure their independence, members of the election petition tribunals nationwide have also been barred from accepting logistics support from state governors during the hearing of petitions.
Tribunal members were specifically barred from accepting accommodation offers from the governors and have been warned of dire consequences if the order was flouted.

It was also gathered that N2 billion has been set aside for the financing of the election tribunals during the hearing and determination of petitions.
The Electoral Act has fixed a 90-day lifespan for each petition to be dispensed with by the tribunals, although no deadline was set for appeals.

Petitions had notoriously gone on for years, in many instances when the tenure of the incumbent is about to expire. Late disposal of petitions is also responsible for some governors getting extra years in office as the court-ordered rerun elections gave them fresh mandates.

While inaugurating the tribunal members, Katsina-Alu said facilities had been put in place to monitor them.
He also warned that once a complaint of impropriety was established against any of the tribunal members, they would pay dearly for it.
The CJN pointed out that allegations of corruption had in recent past placed the role of election tribunals in jeopardy.
The CJN had told them: “In Nigeria, allegations of corruption have in recent past placed the role of Election Tribunal in jeopardy. Election Petitions, just like the ordinary day-to-day civil cases are intended to be dealt with by tribunals consistently, fairly, without bias or impartiality.

“You must bear in mind that in most cases in this country, when Election Petition Tribunals fail in their duties, the consequences had been violence resulting in murder, arson and grievous bodily harm. Attempts will no doubt be made by unscrupulous persons to corrupt, influence and/or coerce you into taking wrong decisions. This you must resist at all cost.
“You must act in accordance with the dictates of the oath which you have just taken as well as your good conscience. I am confident that you will not fail the nation at this crucial moment of our nascent democracy and our effort to build a nation on the principle of the Rule of Law, justice and fair play.”

By Tobi Soniyi