Dear PUO REPORTS Readers,on behalf of my other Editorial board,i sincerely apologise over the delays in bringing up the Live Proceedings of the Akwa Ibom State Governorship Election Tribunal Judgement Day sitting.
But here we are Follows Us Now
Security is tight and atmosphere tensed, only lawyers have been allowed into the court room
Inside the court room lawyers are waiting earnestly for the judgment. Stand by!!
The Press are now allowed into the court room
Other persons are being allowed into the court room now. The Nigeria Police Force are fully on ground at the court
The Nigeria Police Force are fully on ground at the court premises for security purposes.
10:41am: THE Tribunal resumes sitting.
10:44am: Case mentioned; 1st petitioner and 2nd respondent in court.
Appearances for the parties:
Solomon Umoh,SAN and 9 others for the
Petitioners;
Paul Usoro,SAN and 15 others for..
Tribunal informs that it has 5 outstanding rulings which is starting now and after that, the judgment will folloW
First ruling challenging the petition on alleged incompetence of the petitioners,witness statements on oath is being read
Tribunal holds that the Practice direction does not exclude the use of initials; the use is for security purposes
here is no merit in PDP’s Application and it is therefore dismissed
Second ruling is going on.This also bothers on the competence of the petition which was brought forward by 1st respondent(Udom)
The contention here is,petitioners’witness statements on oath was taken b4 d secretary of d tribunal & not a commissioner for oath
Tribunal holds that the secretary is competent in law to administer the oath.Application by 1st respondent is therefore dismissed
Third reading is being read…Challenging the competence of the petition and jurisdiction of the tribunal
.on the ground that Pre-hearing Notice was not properly issued
The 3rd,4th & 5th rulings are being taken together;3rd & 4th are alike while the 5th is challenging the
competence of the 1st petitioner to stand in for the election on the ground that he was not validly nominated by his party.
Tribunal holds that the 1st and 2nd respondents established extreme circumstances to warrant the
..grant of prayer one (i.e, that the application be heard outside prehearing conference)
Tribunal holds that the respondents knew that the pre-hearing notice was not paid for yet they participated in the section
They are estopped from complaining that payment was not made. The respondents having taken steps & participated in the pre-hearing
.conference and the trial are therefore estopped from complaining of any irregularities and therefore the Applications fail.
On the 5th ruling,Tribunal holds that the 1st respondent establishes circumstances for the relief 1 of the.
Application to be granted (i.e, to be heard outside the prehearing conference).
Tribunal further holds dat it has jurisdiction to entertain an applicatn on whether a candidate was duly nominated in it’s primary
It is an aspirant not a candidate who can complain of non-compliance in a party’s primary
A party who neither participated as an aspirant nor as a candidate under a party cannot challenge the outcome of the primary
Tribunal further holds that,1st petitioner is a duly nominated & valid candidate of APC in April 11,2015 governorship election in
since they complied with the notice given by INEC. The three Applications therefore fail for lacking in merit
There is yet a 6th ruling which is challenging the jurisdiction of tribunal on the ground that the running mate of Chief Umana..
is not qualified to stand as such being a staff of FCTA at the time of the election and therefore invalidated Umana’s candidacy
So far; of 5 Rulings, Umana wins the whole 5, 1 Ruling Pending before Judgement
Remaing Ruling:
… which is challenging the jurisdiction of tribunal on the ground that the running mate of.
On the 6th,Tribunal holds that it is clear that the relief sought by 1st respondent challenges the jurisdiction…
Tribunal also holds that the fortunes of a governor are tied to that of the deputy
The 1st petitioner’s running mate was given an opportunity to be heard and was actually heard through the 1st petitioner
The requirement that a public servant who intends to stand for election must resign 30 days before the election is mandatory
from the evidence before the tribunal, the running mate duly resigned his employment 30 days before the election
Tribunal continues & holds that the documents tendered by d 1st respondent were not certified true copies as required by the law
but a mere computer generated document. The 1st respondent therefore has failed to establish that the running mate
Mr. Effiong did not resign before the election and therefore the application fails
Mr. Effiong was duly nominated as a running mate of APC governorship candidate
The judgment is now being read by the tribunal
Tribunal is reviewing the case of the parties
Tribunal is still reviewing the evidence of the petitioners’ witnesses.
Tribunal is still reviewing the evidence of the petitioners’ witnesses
Serious tension in court as people await judgement.
These are faces of PDP people
Serious tension in court as people await judgement
POINT 1: Tribunal Reasons
“We have been able to prove beyond every reasonable doubt that even the few places election took place, PDP hijacked it and also so many LGA didn’t even get materials.
Cases still being reviewed with some comments made by the Tribunal Judge.
Tribunal is now reviewing the case of the respondents.
Tribunal is still reviewing the evidence of the respondents’ witnesses in the judgment.
Tribunal is done with the review of the parties’ cases and is now moving on to review their submissions
Tribunal continues to review the submissions of counsel to the parties.
Tribunal is done with the review of submissions and has now raised two issues for determination which it now moves to determine
Tribunal moves to determine whether the 1st respondent scored the majority of valid votes cast
It determines that simple arithmetic resolves that over 685, 000 votes did not pass through..
.the narrow gate of accreditation that would give rise to voting
Tribunal determines that the petitioners were unable to demonstrate that card reader alone can be relied upon for accreditation
…throughout the state. The use of card reader cannot be used contrary to the express provision of the law as conferred on INEC
That INEC press release cannot override section 41 of the Electoral Act on accreditation
The card reader was not contemplated by section 49 of the Act on accreditation
The card reader was not contemplated by section 49 of the Act on accreditation
Tribunal holds that it was not satisfied that election held in all the polling units in the state,however,it further holds that
..the election substantially complied with the provisions of the law and
.therefore resolves that the 1st respondent scored the highest number of valid votes cast.
THE TRIBUNAL ORDERED A RERUN IN 18 LGA’S
