ABUJA—The last may not have been heard about the controversial 2007 presidential election held nationwide which produced Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as the number one citizen in the country.

This is so because a full panel of the Supreme Court yesterday ordered the President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Abdullahi Umar, to immediately constitute a fresh panel of justices to hear, de novo (afresh), the election petition filed by the Hope Democratic Party [HDP].
The petition is challenging the emergence of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua as the winner of the April 21, 2007 presidential poll held nationwide.

A five-member Court of Appeal which sat as Presidential Election Petition Tribunal in Abuja had, on August 20, 2007, struck out the HDP’s petition for being incompetent.

The court had said that the petition was not only inelegantly drafted but that the political party joined parties unknown to law like the ‘Nigerian’ Police Force and the ‘People’ Democratic Party.

The court had said that the petition was not only inelegantly drafted but that the political party joined parties unknown to law like the ‘Nigerian’ Police Force and the ‘People’ Democratic Party.

The court had said that the constitution recognised Nigeria Police Force and not the Nigerian Police Force as spelt in the petition. .
The court had also said that the statute recognised the Peoples Democratic Party and not the People Democratic Party.

The court had also said that the petition was drafted outside the provision of section 145 of the Electoral Act 2006 as there was no ground of challenging Yar’Adua’s election therein.

In fact, the court presided over by Justice James Ogebe had said that there was no way it could consider the issues raised in the petition on their merit because it was fatally defective.

Five other petitions filed by different political parties alongside their presidential flag-bearer had suffered the same fate.
But most of the petitioners whose cases were not heard on merit took the decisions of the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court for review.
HDP whose appeal had been at the Supreme Court since last year succeeded yesterday in annulling the verdict of the Court of Appeal which held that its petition as filed was not triable.

The apex court ordered that the President of the Court of Appeal which has the statutory power to convoke panel of justices to hear election petition must not waste time to set up a new one to re-hear the HDP’s petition.

The order came three months after the apex court dismissed two major petitions that survived the pre-trial ordeals of the Justice James Ogebe-led Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

The said two major petitions which many had feared might unseat President Yar’Adua were instituted by Alhaji Muhamadu Buhari of ANPP and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Action Congress.

Justice Francis Tabai read the leading judment in the cas yesterday but it was prepared by Justice Walter Onnoghen
Reading the lead judgment yesterday as prepared by Justice Onnoghen, Justice Tabai said “I must confess that the petition is not well or elegantly drafted particularly as it did not separately state the grounds for presenting the petition under separate heads or subheads.

“But it is clear from the paragraphs of the petition that it contains a ground recognized by the relevant section of the Electoral Act 2006 particularly section 145(1) (b) which states “that the election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the provisions of this Act” he added

Justice Onnoghen maintained that “the fact on which the ground of non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2006 is based was also pleaded.

“In the circumstance, I am of the view that the lower court was in error when it held that the petition was not based on any ground known to law and did not disclose any cause of action.”

He further held that the omission of ‘National’ in the nomenclature of the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] by the petitioner was an error which ought not to have been used by the lower court as a reason for striking out the petition, because out of five documents filed at the registry of the lower court as required by statute the error occurred in only one document,

He said that the letter’ S ’ which was not added by the petitioner in his petition to make it Peoples Democratic Party and the letter ‘N; which was added to Nigeria in Nigeria Police Force is too trivial an error to be considered.

The apex court said that election petitions are ‘sui generis’ and they deal with political rights and obligations of the people, particularly those who consider their rights injured by the electoral process should be given avenue to ventilate their grievances,” he said.

Other justices who sat on the panel include Justice Dahiru Musdapher, Justice George Oguntade, Justice Ikechi Francis Ogbuagu, Justice Francis Tabai, Justice Christopher Chukwua-Eneh and Justice Muhammad Coomassie who all agreed with the lead judgment.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/32155/41/

Not so sure where that modify button is



With the recent space of overturned state elections, I wouldn't be surprised if 2007 presidential elections is overturned far before 2011 even arrives.

In that case things will get really fun.

strangleyo:

Not so sure where that modify button is



With the recent space of overturned state elections, I wouldn't be surprised if 2007 presidential elections is overturned far before 2011 even arrives.

In that case things will get really fun.

That button has been eluding me too!!

strangleyo:

Not so sure where that modify button is

Button wey I dey use just now, you no fit see? Na glaucoma we go call this one or wetin?

MrCrackles:

That button has been eluding me too!!

The button dey right there, yet, he can't see it. Very strange people full NL.

4 Play:

The button dey right there, yet, he can't see it. Very strange people full NL.

Comot there, i no see anytin!
No be only me now!!

No, no button for me.

Just like Naija power supply, my modify button disappears.

_Watching.