Supreme Court Set To Rule on Presidential Election Dispute

Last View on Thu 11th December, 2008
Last Modified on Wed 10th December, 2008 10:45:29 am
Author: Posted by Admin Sahara
SaharaReporters, New York

Barring a last minute change of mind, the seven-man panel of the Supreme Court hearing the presidential elections petition appeal is likely to deliver its verdict on Friday December 12 2008, according to sources within the Nigerian apex court.

As Saharareporters had earlier reported, Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa slipped out of Nigeria on Sunday on a trip meant to leave the impression that he was not in town to influence the court’s judgment. Aondoakaa is reportedly visiting Rome via London. His return is planned to coincide with the date of the ruling if all goes as planned.

Since the Supreme Court heard the final submissions from all the parties in the appeal challenging Yar’adua’s “victory” in the flawed April 2007 presidential elections, SaharaReporters has reported the covert twists and manipulations by Aondoakaa and other Yar’adua handlers to influence the court’s decision. Operating with a budget of more than $30 million, Aondoakaa has coordinated efforts to bribe or blackmail the justices in order to subvert the course of justice.

Our revelations, which include publications of the memos of the Supreme Court conferences on the matter, have led to sharp disagreements amongst the justices.

Our latest information is that Aondoakaa and other officials of the Yar’adua regime have been telling the justices that the media was out “to de-stool a sitting president by blackmailing the court.”

Our sources said the Yar’adua camp has been in a state of “controlled panic” following Chief Justice Legbo Kutigi’s reported refusal to disclose his stand on the appeal.

Another source told SaharaReporters that some justices were “shocked to learn that Michael Aondoakaa has so far reportedly blown $30 million to influence the judgment.” One justice told the our source “Aondoakaa must have pocketed the money for himself.”

Another source at the Supreme Court told SaharaReporters that each justice on the panel has written a separate judgment to be submitted to the Chief Justice on Thursday night – after which the justices will be sequestered in a secret location before the ruling earlier scheduled for Friday.

OUR LAST STORY ON THE SUPREME COURT:

Aondoakaa Harasses Top Civil Servant to Please Chief Justice Kutigi

Last View on Wed 10th December, 2008
Last Modified on Sat 29th November, 2008 7:10:30 pm
Author: Posted by Admin Sahara
SaharaReporters, New York

Sources within the Nigerian judiciary as well as the Petroleum Equalization Fund have revealed to Saharareporters that Attorney General and Minister for Justice Michael Aondoakaa has launched a war against the Fund’s female executive secretary for “having the effrontery to suspend the son of Chief Justice Legbo Kutigi of the Supreme Court.”

Aondoakaa has launched a barrage of verbal threats against PEF executive secretary Adefunke Sharon Kasali for recently suspending Ibrahim Kutigi, an operation officer 2 on Salary Scale 6 representing the PEF at the ASCON Depot in Lagos. Ibrahim Kutigi was suspended on October 20, 2008 when Mrs. Kasali paid an unscheduled visit to his office only to find out that he was absent from work. Instead of being at his post in Lagos, Mr. Kutigi was in Abuja attending to his personal business interests. His absence earned him a suspension alongside two other workers, one of them being Sanusi Tsafe.

Ibrahim Kutigi’s suspension was supposed to last three months, but the Chief Justice reportedly asked Aondoakaa to intervene on his son’s behalf.

An irate Aondoakaa, who has been spending millions of dollars to coax Supreme Court justices to uphold Umaru Yar’adua’s “election,” then ordered the permanent secretary of the Petroleum Resources Ministry to direct Mrs. Kasali to recall Ibrahim Kutigi without further delay. When the Permanent Secretary seemed too slow in getting Mrs. Kasali to reverse her decision, Aondoakaa called the executive secretary directly and threatened to have sacked, according to sources familiar with the drama.

A scared Kasali immediately recalled Ibrahim Kutigi and ‘promoted’ him as head of a department in her office in Abuja effective from Monday, December 1, 2008. 

Despite this overture, Mrs. Kasali’s troubles were far from over. Aondoakaa, who accused her of trying to “sabotage the Yar’Adua government,” instigated unions at PEF against her, all in an attempt to prepare the ground for her removal from office.

As part of the moves against the woman, senior staff members of PEF refused to take promotion examinations scheduled to take place today. They claimed that they want all pending promotions of senior staff members cleared before they would participate in any further promotions examinations.

SaharaReporters contacted Mrs. Kasali through a text message, but she sent Goddy Nnadi, the PEF’s head of Public and Government Affairs, to speak with us. Mr. Nnadi confirmed that the senior staff exams did not take place as scheduled before his phone signals faded away. Our repeated calls to his number went unanswered.

Kutigi's son’s saga at PEF comes as SaharaReporters has received highly reliable information that Aondoakaa has told Yar'adua that five Supreme Court justices have agreed to validate Yar’adua’s fraudulent mandate in exchange for substantial inducement.

Investigations by SaharaReporters revealed that Aondoakaa, who is anchoring the bribery scheme, has so far spent $30 million to purchase Supreme Court judges. Our sources named Chief Justice Kutigi as one of the five lined up behind Yar’adua.

Our sources said part of the plan is for Aondoakaa to travel out of Nigeria for a few days before the judgment to give the impression that he had no input into or foreknowledge of the verdict. (Note: Aondoakaa is currently in Rome, he returns to London on Wednesday -tonight- and heads to Nigeria on Thursday and straight to the Supreme Court on Friday)

SaharaReporters had earlier reported that the Supreme Court justices had entered into a deal to sell electoral justice to the highest bidder. After our reports, which were not publicly contested, a member of the seven-member Supreme Court panel mentioned in our report, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, was nominated as a member of the Federal delegation to annual hajj in Saudi Arabia. Justice Musdapher recently withdrew from the hajj delegation after Baba Galadima of The Buhari Organization (TBO) raised questions about his inclusion in the delegation.

Despite Justice Musdapher’s withdrawal, investigations by SaharaReporters revealed that he did not return monies already paid to him by the hajj committee for sundry expenses. He claimed that the fees went into his single trip to a hajj camp in Gombe.

SaharaReporters has repeatedly reported that Justices Musdapher and Aloysius Iyorgher Katsina-Alu were Aondoakaa’s spearheads in the scheme to bribe members of the apex court.

If Aondoakaa’s “interim report” to Yar'adua holds, the following five justices are in the bag to vote to uphold Yar’adua’s “election:” Katsina-Alu, Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnonghen, Chief Justice Legbo Kutigi, Aloma Mariam Mukhtar and Dahiru Musdapher.

SaharaReporters learnt that Justice Walter Samuel Nkanu Onnoghen was leaning towards invalidation of the presidential polls until the Yar'adua team recruited Mr. Kanu Agabi, former President Olusegun Obasanjo's attorney general, to “work on him.” Agabi reportedly blackmailed Onnonghen “by reminding him of his sordid past,” said one of our sources.

Before his controversial elevation to the Supreme Court justice, Justice Onnoghen who is from Cross River State had worked at the Court of Appeal. He was indicted by a panel headed by Justice Kayode Eso that looked into the activities of the judiciary. Even so, Agabi, who was Obasanjo's AGF in 1999 and who had recommended him for elevation to the Appeal Court, had helped to get Justice Onnoghen off the hook. SaharaReporters reliably gathered that Onnoghen capitulated when Agabi approached him and warned that his troubled past might come into focus if he refused to rule in favor of Yar'adua.

Incidentally, Agabi is the lead attorney for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the final stage of the presidential elections appeal case before the Supreme Court.

SaharaReporters also learnt that Chief Justice Kutigi, worried about the repercussions of an unpopular verdict validating Yar’adua’s “election,” is looking for ways not to be held singularly responsible for the judgment.

“Justice Kutigi feels his hands are tied,” said a source close to the CJ. “He knows their judgment is bound to displease the Nigerian people, so he doesn’t want to carry the can alone.” Our source said Kutigi was weighing asking the justices to write separate judgments based upon their understanding of the case.

“It’s his way of holding the justices individually responsible for their judgments,” said another source. “But Aondoakaa and Yar'adua’s other handlers are not comfortable with the arrangement. They had bargained for Musdapher and Katsina-Alu to write the judgment on behalf of the seven-man crew, with the possibility of Justices Oguntade and Nikki Tobi writing a dissenting judgment if they so wish.”

Source: http://www.saharareporters.com/www/news/detail/?id=787

Supreme Court Verdict: Where I Stand.-Abubakar Atiku

Last View on Thu 11th December, 2008
Last Modified on Wed 10th December, 2008 11:05:14 am
Author: Posted by Admin Sahara

Atiku Abubakar, AC Presidential Candidate, April 2007 Presidential Election.

Naturally, as stakeholders it is our desire that the apex court would redress the injustice done to us by the ruling party Peoples Democratic Party in the April 2007 Presidential election which was brazenly rigged by those who were bent on capturing power by hook or by crook. We would be most delighted if the verdict turns out in our favour because it is the right thing to do. We have devoted so much time and resources to prove our contention that the election was a sham.

If, however, the Supreme Court rules against us for whatever reason known to the Justices, I will have no hesitation but to abide by the verdict.

As a responsible and law-abiding politician, my commitment to the rule of law, peaceful quest for justice through our nation’s judicial institutions remain unshaken. Also, my commitment to the oneness of Nigeria is non-negotiable. But while reiterating my belief in the rule of law and peaceful avenues for legal redress, I am not losing sight of the repercussions of deodorizing the unprecedented fraud in the 2007 presidential election. Such a decision will deepen our sense of injustice over the electoral heist perpetuated by anti-democratic forces last year.

All eyes are on the Supreme Court Justices and whichever way they deliver their verdict on our appeal, will have far-reaching impact on the future of democracy in Nigeria. The hope of most Nigerians is that the judiciary has the ultimate responsibility to rescue our democracy from the throes of death. Nigerians look forward to the Judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, to save this wobbling country from the abyss.

Last week, hundreds of precious lives and property worth billions of naira were destroyed in a senseless, large-scale violence in Jos as a result of perceived injustice in a local government election. The resort to self-help comes when people feel that they cannot get justice using the due process of law. I hope and pray that the Supreme Court will not validate the fraudulent outcome of the April 2007 Presidential election and thus perpetuate injustice in Nigeria, as Othman Dan Fodio once said a nation can endure unbelief but it cannot endure injustice.

Source: http://www.saharareporters.com/www/report/detail/?id=674

I honestly hope and pray Buhari or Atiku wins. Yar Adua has failed us with his 7 point non-agenda for close to 2 years.

Gen. Buhari, my most preferred, because of his strong Anti-corruption stand which I believe will solve some many issues in Nigeria now.

Today is the deal day. Have a sad feeling the Judgement will go to useless PDP

[size=13pt]
Supreme Court upholds Yar'adua's election as President[/size]


Nigeria court upholds presidential election
Fri 12 Dec 2008, 8:57 GMT
[-] Text [+]

ABUJA (Reuters) - Nigeria's Supreme Court upheld the election of President Umaru Yar'Adua on Friday, rejecting challenges from his two closest rivals who alleged widespread vote-rigging.

The judgement ends nearly two years of legal wrangling, which has prevented Yar'Adua from exercising his full authority and unnerved foreign investors in Africa's most populous country.

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnJOE4BB00Q.html

Just as I thought. Well no long thing.

just as we all thought!

typically nigerian