August 12, (THEWILL) – Just before the Supreme Court presided over the Kogi Governorship Election appeal by the Social Democratic Party’s candidate, Muritala Ajaka, the respective political parties and a civil society organisation took the battle to the public court, literally tearing at each other on the assumption of a perceived verdict.
While the SDP accused the governing All Progressives Congress, APC, of an attempt to second-guess the apex court, the ACP threw back the charge as indicative of frustration of the accuser. Wading in on the part of the SDP, the CSO, Electoral Integrity and Good Governance Initiative, urged the final court to disregard the preceding rulings by the Tribunal and appellate courts.
Earlier, the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja had upheld the tribunal’s judgement that declared Usman Ododo of the APC the valid winner of the Kogi November 11, 2023 governorship election.
A three-man panel of the appellate court in a unanimous judgment, dismissed the SDP’s appeal and its governorship candidate, Ajaka.
Shortly after the ruling, Ajaka rejected the Appeal Court’s verdict and vowed to reclaim what he described as his stolen mandate at the Supreme Court.
In a new twist last Thursday, the above-mentioned combatants tackled each other savagely.
The Kogi State APC Campaign Council warned against attempts to discredit the judicial process in the ongoing governorship legal battle by the opposition Social Democratic Party (SDP).
In his reaction, the Director, Media and Publicity of the Council, Kingsley Fanwo, told Journalists in Lokoja on Thursday: “Some surreptitious and nefarious publications by the embattled Social Democratic Party (SDP), which has continued to hide behind one finger to push out fake news in the name of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
Fanwo said that the strategy has been to use the identity of the APC to claim judicial victory in order to compromise the course of justice by assuming APC is privy to future judicial decisions.
“This strategy was deployed during proceedings at the lower tribunal and it failed. They brought the same failed strategy to the appeal proceedings and it failed. Unfortunately, they have not learnt from their perennial failures. They are at their lying and propaganda best again.
“Their puerile and grossly unintelligent blackmail has continued to give them the result that represents the identity of the embattled party. The SDP’s blatant disrespect for the Judiciary, logic and truth has continued to put them on the precipice of ignominy.
“It is our utmost belief that court cases are won in the law courts and not on the rough streets of propaganda. Only those who know they have bad cases resort to propaganda. Our party and its candidate have put their defence before the Supreme Court and will allow the Honourable Justices to do their job. We are not going to prejudge the likely decision of the Supreme Court.
“We urge the SDP and its propaganda amoeba to stop their attack on every institution of government. Our party is not interested in their macabre dance on the grave of lies, blackmail, propaganda, sensationalism and celebration of falsehood.
“The woeful attempts of the SDP and its candidate to prove their allegations at the lower tribunal and at the Court of Appeal must have gotten the better of them. Their frustration is understandable but not enough reason to tarnish the image of our Honourable Justices. Those who come to equity must come with clean hands.
“We urge our supporters to remain undaunted. We believe in the rule of law while our opponents believe in the reign of falsehood and propaganda. Only a failure continues to adopt a strategy that has always brought failure”
Reacting swiftly, the Murtala Yakubu Ajaka Campaign Council of the SDP urged the National Judicial Council to ensure a thorough and transparent process in selecting judges for the case.
Spokesperson of the campaign organisation, David Ijele, said that from experiences at the Tribunal and Appeal court, the party has to speak out to prevent a similar miscarriage of justice at the Supreme Court.
He said, “It has come to our attention that senior appointees of the Kogi State Government and supporters of the All Progressives Congress took to social media on Tuesday, August 6, 2024, to celebrate a purported victory in the case. This celebration included the dissemination of placards and graphics congratulating Ahmed Usman Ododo of the All Progressives Congress.
“Similar occurrences have been observed before the tribunal judgment and the Court of Appeal proceedings, where the judgments were leaked to the public and reported by mainstream media before the court even resumed sitting on the Day of judgment. For example, the Sahara Reporters news platform published a copy of the judgment, several hours before the court commenced sitting.
“As a campaign council and an interested party in this case, we have every right to call out these irregularities. We shall not tolerate any further attempts to influence the judiciary through the misuse of state treasury funds.
“We are calling on the Supreme Court judges to uphold justice and maintain public confidence in the Judiciary’s ability to deliver impartial and well-reasoned judgments. As the process is about to begin, we categorically reject the current panel setup and urge the relevant legal authorities, particularly the National Judicial Council, to closely monitor and ensure a thorough process in selecting judges for the Kogi State case”, he said.
A civil society group on its part has appealed to the Supreme Court Judges handling the Kogi State governorship election appeal to look into the case properly in a bid to correct what they described as “the mistake of the lower courts.”
Spokesman of the group, Dr. Kolawole Abiodun, said there are observed inconsistencies that have arisen in the Kogi State governorship case when compared to that of Bayelsa State.
In his estimation, the Election Petitions Tribunal had ignored compelling BVAS evidence displayed openly on the order of the court in the Kogi state SDP and APC case. He contended that despite the fact that these evidences exposed alleged clear discrepancies between the number of accredited voters and the final results in all the polling units in contention, the tribunal went ahead to dismiss the case on the ground that it was proved beyond reasonable doubt.
In sharp comparison, Abiodun noted, the reverse happened in the Bayelsa APC Vs PDP case, though with similar evidence. There the tribunal and the Appeal Court affirmed the judgement in favour of the PDP, on the basis of missing BVAS evidence the APC governorship candidate did not produce to prove the allegation of over-voting.
He asserted that the Bayelsa judgement appeared to set a precedent for the importance of BVAS in the electoral process as introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a means to ensure transparency and accountability in the voting process.
The CSO, therefore, expressed confidence in the Supreme Court to thoroughly examine the 2023 Kogi governorship case and stand by justice, and maintain public confidence in its ability to deliver impartial and well-reasoned judgement.
Amos Okioma is a Correspondent at THEWILL
