source: saharareporters.tumblr.com
Lagos State Local Government Election Petitions
Appeal Tribunal has upturned the judgment of
the lower election petition tribunal, which
declared the Peoples Democratic Party candidate,
Babajide Obanikoro, as the winner of the 2011
chairmanship election in Obalende/Ikoyi Local
Council Development Authority.
The Justice Opeyemi Oke-led five-man tribunal,
in its judgment on Thursday, unanimously
declared that the state’s Independent Electoral
Commission had rightly returned the Action
Congress of Nigeria and its candidate, Mr.
Adewale Adeniji, as the winner of the election.
Obanikoro had on November 14, 2011 filed his
petition at the LG Election Petitions Tribunal
challenging the declaration of Adeniji as the
winner of the election which was held on October
22, 2011.
The lower tribunal on October 4, 2012 in its
judgment nullified Adeniji’s election and declared
Obanikoro as the elected chairman.
However, the appellate tribunal held in its
judgment that the failure of the lower tribunal to
hear and determine Obanikoro’s petition within
30 days of filling it and not giving a specific order
for extension of time had robbed it of its
requisite jurisdiction.
In the lead judgment delivered by Justice
Babajide Candide-Johnson, the tribunal
dismissed Obanikoro’s petition, describing it as
“incurably bad”.
It held that the failure of the lower tribunal to
hear and determine the petition within 30 days
contrary to provisions of Section 14 of the State’s
Local Government Election Tribunal Law, had
rendered the entire proceedings “a nullity”.
The appeal panel blamed Obanikoro’s lawyers
led by Chief Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN) for their
decision to withdraw their application filed on
the strength of Section 54 of the LGETL, seeking
60 days extension of the petition’s life span.
Describing the lawyers’ decision as “an
unpardonable blunder”, Candide-Johnson said
the decision had no acceptable “explanation or
justification”.
He said the lawyers “did not first accord priority
to save the life of the election petition”.
A member of the panel, Justice Kazeem Alogba,
said in his supporting judgment, that the lawyers’
mistake was “a fatal somersault”.
On her part, Oke said it was “a grave error”,
adding that the provisions of Section 54 of the
law was not “a decorative ornament” in the law
book.
Candide-Johnson also blamed the lower tribunal
led by Justice Dolapo Akinsaya (retd.) for
refusing to look into its record and accord
priority to Obanikoro’s application for extension
of time but preferred to hear ACN’s preliminary
objection to the petition fi