OLALEKAN ADETAYO writes on the imminent judgment of the Court of Appeal over the governorship election petition in Osun State and the anxiety of major stakeholders in the state.



Expectations are currently high in the political circle in Osun State. All eyes are on Ibadan, the capital of neighbouring Oyo State. The anxiety has nothing to do with the current disagreement between the governments of the two South-West states over the joint ownership of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso. Far from it!



The cloudy political atmosphere has to do with the impending judgment of the Court of Appeal, Ibadan over the governorship tussle in the state of the living spring. Not satisfied with the decision of the state governorship election petition tribunal that upheld the election Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, in the April 14, 2007 election, the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, had approached the appellate court. Oyinlola was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the disputed election.



Aregbesola’s prayer is for the court to nullify the governor’s election and declare him (Aregbesola) as the duly elected governor, having scored the majority of the lawful votes cast. Specifically, he is calling for the nullification of the results of the governorship election in 10 local government areas of the state. The local governments in question are Ife Central, Odo Otin, Ayedaade, Isokan, Ife East, Ife South, Boripe, Atakumosa West, Boluwaduro and Ifedayo.



He based his argument on alleged substantial non-compliance with mandatory provisions of Electoral Act, 2006, violence and malpractices which he claimed substantially affected the validity of the said election. Aregbesola also argue that neither he nor Oyinlola or any other candidates in the election could be validly returned as having validly won in the affected local government areas.



In the 10 local government areas, the results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission showed that Aregbesola polled 41,923 while Oyinlola scored 253,789. Aregbesola is, therefore, of the view that once the results from the 10 local governments are nullified and the figure deducted from the aggregate result declared (240,722 and 426,669 for him and Oyinlola respectively), he would be left with 198,799 votes as against Oyinlola’s 172,880 votes.



The anxiety in the air has become more complicated with the recent not too good developments for the PDP coming from similar courts in neighbouring states. In Ekiti State, the Court of Appeal sitting in Ilorin had recently sacked the former occupant of the Government House, Mr. Segun Oni, and declared Dr. Kayode Fayemi as the state governor. Oni is a member of the PDP while Fayemi belongs to the ACN.



While still struggling to recover from the shock that characterised the loss of the state to opposition, another blow was dealt the PDP that prides itself as the biggest party in Africa on Tuesday when a Court of Appeal sitting in Benin, Edo State nullified the election of the former occupant of the Delta State Government House, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and ordered that fresh governorship election be conducted in the state within 90 days.



The fear in the land is, therefore, precipitated on the African adage that says when members of one’s age group are dying in droves, death is only sending warning signals to one.



For Aregbesola and Oyinlola, the Court of Appeal, Ibadan is a familiar terrain. The ACN candidate had earlier dragged the governor to the court over his dissatisfaction with the verdict of the first election petition tribunal set up in the state. The appellate court had at that time faulted the verdict of the tribunal which was headed by Justice T.D. Naron and has Justices S. Mohammed, J.N. Akpughunum, A.T. Bademasi and J.E. Ekanem as members. It, therefore, ordered a retrial of the petition.



As a fallout to the judgment, another tribunal was set up to hear the petition afresh. The retrial tribunal had Justice Ali Garba as its chairman and Justices Benedict Agbattah, Ismaila Bashir, Muhammad Aliyu and Abimbola Obaseki as members. The verdict of that fresh tribunal delivered on May 28, 2010 is currently the bone of contention before the appellate court.



Any moment from now, the court is expected to make a pronouncement on the appeal before it, having reserved judgment on November 1, 2010. This was after all parties in the case had argued and adopted their briefs that had earlier been frontloaded. The court is expected to communicate the judgment date to the lawyers any time soon.



A lot of legal fireworks have gone into the case that featured highly respected and experienced senior members of the bar on both sides, therefore making it practically impossible to predict which side the pendulum will swing, hence the anxiety.



Senior Advocates of Nigeria who held brief for Aregbesola included Chief Ebun Sofunde, Chief Akin Olujinmi, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, Chief Kola Awodein, Mr. Charles Uwensuyi-Edosomwan, Prof. ‘Yemi Osinbajo and Mr. Deji Sasegbon, among others. While men of the silk on Oyinlola’s side included Mallam Yusuf Ali, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, Mr. Lawal Rabana and others.



The case is before a five-man appeal panel led by Justice Clara Ogunbiyi. Other members of the panel are Justices M.L. Garba, P.A Galinge, C.C. Nweze and A. Jauro. At the last sitting, Aregbesola was present in court apparently to shore up support for his counsel.



Before the appellate court reserved his judgment, in adopting his brief, Olujinmi representing Aregbesola, his running mate, Mrs. Grace Laoye-Tomori, and the ACN, argued that if the deductions his clients are seeking were made from the lawful votes cast in the 10 local government areas being contested, the petitioners would have more votes than the respondents and would have fulfilled the constitutional requirements to be declared winners of the election.



Others issues raised by Olujinmi, a former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, were alleged discrepancies in the number of ballot papers produced by the INEC and results declared as well as the production of voters registers for only four wards out of 11 in Boripe Local Government Area despite the fact that such register is germane to a valid election.



He also called attention to one Alhaji S.O. Nofiu who was said to have served as agents of the PDP in nine out of 11 wards, saying that was impossible considering the facts that the exercise was done simultaneously in the different places. He also claimed that Exhibit 217 tendered by the appellants and Exhibit R18, tendered by respondents, although certified by INEC, were all blank with some not signed or stamped contrary to the provisions of the election manual.



He also faulted the lower tribunal for its verdict on his clients’ position on the alleged non-counting and non-release of results by INEC officials and their failure to produce voters registers used in the conduct of the election. Olujinmi said the tribunal claimed that it was mere allegation because his clients did not call evidence despite that they called 75 witnesses including supervisors whose evidence the court had in the case of Lasun and Awoyemi have been declared as competent and reliable.



Olujinmi urged the court to void the results of the elections in the 10 councils being contested and declare Aregbesola as the governor of the state. He said Aregbosola would have majority votes after the results of the 10 councils must have been deducted.



Adopting his brief, Ali representing Oyinlola, his deputy, Mrs. Olusola Obada and the PDP, faulted the testimony of the supervisors referred to by Olujinmi, saying that the court had in Amosun V. Daniel declared that supervisors have no roles in the Electoral Act. In the case of Boripe LG, Ali insisted that there was no place in the appellants’ petition where over-voting was pleaded and they could not be allowed at this stage to change the rule when the game is almost over.



He said that the totality of the evidence called were not enough to entitle the appellants to reliefs. The lawyer further stated that since the reliefs being sought are declaratory in nature, for a party to be granted such reliefs, evidence must be led and proved to the satisfaction of the court. “This appeal deserves only one thing: a dismissal and I pray your lordships to do so,” he concluded.



INEC’s lawyer, Mr. Ayodeji Bobaderin, said the commission elected not to call witnesses because the appellants did not prove their case.



“There is a difference between not calling witnesses and not adducing evidence. The burden of proof will only shift to us if the appellants have been able to prove their case,” he said. He also urged the court to dismiss the appeal.



Lead counsel to the Nigeria Police, Mr. Niyi Owolade, aligned with the submissions of Ali and Bobaderin. He said that rather confirming allegation of police’s connivance on alleged violence in the election, witnesses confirmed police presence in various polling stations.



The court also heard a cross-appeal filed by Oyinlola and a preliminary objection raised by Aregbesola’s counsel.



While all stakeholders are waiting patiently for the notice of judgment day with all eyes fixed on Ibadan, it is clear that the verdict of the appellate court, whichever way it goes, will go a long way in altering the political calculations of the state especially ahead of the 2011 general elections.



Where will the pendulum swing this time? Only time will tell!


http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201011111573323

May God in his infinity take control and turned our captivity in OsunState like he did for Ekiti people, so that our mouth will fill with laughter and our tongue with singing of joy. Because, The Lord hath done great things for us in OSUN SRATE by free us from the hands of pdp CAPTORS. AMen