The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Makurdi, Benue State yesterday dismissed the petition by the Action Congress of (ACN) governorship candidate in the April 16, 2011 poll, Prof. Steven Ugbah against the election of Governor Gabriel Suswam.
The development was sequel to the judgment delivered by the Court of Appeal in Makurdi on September 16, 2011, which nullified the pre- trial conference as directed by the tribunal.
Consequently, the tribunal had suspended its pre-trial hearing on the case between Governor Suswam and Ugbah.
In his ruling, the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Munir Ladan, held that the leave of the tribunal was not sought and obtained by the petitioners before the commencement of the pretrial session, saying that the development had rendered whatever that was done by the tribunal including proceedings from the June 29, 2011 a nullity.
The judge said, “If anybody perceive or have the believe that the judgment was contradictory, the proper thing to do is to seek the Court of Appeal for interpretation or wait for the notice of the hearing of appeal at the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Suswam has hailed the verdict of the tribunal, saying that the decision of the tribunal to dismiss the ACN petition was a sign that the judiciary could still be relied on in the country.
Speaking in a telephone interview with our New York Bureau Chief on Monday, Suswam, who is currently attending a workshop on Nigerian Investment Opportunities in Washington DC, said that he had always relied in the rule of law in the ongoing legal tussle that began shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared him the legitimate winner of the election
Also the Court of Appeal in Kaduna yesterday dismissed an appeal by the governorship candidate of the ACN in Katsina State, Dr. Usman Bugaji, contesting earlier ruling of the Election Petitions Tribunal which dismissed pre-hearing motion on notice against Governor Ibrahim Shema of the PDP.
The tribunal had on June 29, 2009 dismissed Bugaje’s application on the grounds of his failure to file a pre-hearing notice within the stipulated time frame as required by the Electoral Act, 2010.
In its verdict read yesterday by Justice Amina Adamu-Augie, the Court of Appeal dismissed the CPC appeal on the grounds that section 285, sub-section 7 of the Electoral Act 2010 provided that the court must give judgement in a matter within 60 days of the judgement of lower tribunal.