The election petition tribunal sitting in Enugu on Friday removed Governor Sullivan Chime of the Peoples Democratic Party.
It also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct a fresh election within three months starting from the day of the ruling. It said that the election that brought in was not conducted in accordance with the Electoral Act, 2006, and that majority of the electorate in the state were disenfranchised as they were not allowed to vote and exercise their constitutional right.
The tribunal chairman, Justice Samuel Ottah, delivered the judgment separately in the election petitions brought by the governorship candidates of the Democratic Peoples Party, Rev. Oscar Egwuonwu; Labour Party, Chief Okey Ezea; and Action Congress, Chief Dubem Onyia challenging the declaration of Chime as the winner of the April 14 and 28, 2007 governorship election in Enugu State by INEC.
In the consolidated suit brought by the DPP and Egwonwu, the tribunal said that the petitioners were able to prove that majority of the electorate were not allowed to vote during the election. Ottah stated that the 17 witnesses – one from each of the 17 local government areas in the state – were able to prove that the election was �not substantially in compliance with the Electoral Act,� describing the witnesses as �witness of truth.�
While discountenancing the allegation that government officials perpetrated electoral fraud because it was not proved, the tribunal stated that the respondents failed to �frontload� their documentary evidence, especially the election result forms in accordance with the Practice Direction. The chairman said that the petitioners were able to adduce the evidential burden on it, adding that the onus was on the respondents to rebut the case against them, which they failed to do.
The respondents, he noted, proved substantially the issue of irregularities in the polls and non-compliance with the Electoral Act. He said, �The electorate cannot be said to have exercised their mandate during the election. We have no doubt that majority of electorate were not allowed to exercise their civic rights.
�What we have was a fairy tale. The election was not conducted substantially in accordance with the Electoral Act and it has affected the principle of election. The suit is resolved in favour of the petitioners. The prayers are granted, and the governorship election held on 14 and 28 April, 2007 is hereby declared a nullity and void.�
The court awarded N20,000 in favour of the petitioners against each of the respondents. The same judgment was also entered against Chime in the suit brought by Ezea in which he alleged that the poll was marred by fraud, missing result sheets, late arrival of voting materials and abandonment of ballot materials. Ezea had specifically prayed the tribunal to nullify the election and order a fresh one on the ground that it was not conducted in accordance with the Electoral Act as it was characterised by malpractices.
Ottah in his verdict said that the allegation of electoral malpractice was corroborated by the petitioner�s witnesses, adding that the respondents failed to give evidence or rebut it. He said that the documentary evidence of the petitioner proved his case of non-voting by majority of the electorate, which he said goes to the �root of the edifice as they cannot be said to have exercise their constitutional right.�
The tribunal said the petitioner�s evidence tilted the scale in his favour on irregularities observed during the election. It declared Chime�s election invalid and ordered INEC to conduct another one within three months. It also awarded N20,000 in favour of the petitioner against each of the respondents, which include INEC, the deputy governor, Sunday Onyebuchi, the PDP and others. In the petition filed by Onyia, which alleged that Chime and his deputy, were not properly nominated, the tribunal declined to rule on this, saying it was a pre-election issue. It stated that it had no power to order INEC to disallow Chime and Onyebuchi from contesting future elections.
The tribunal, which said it had only the evidence of the petitioner and no contradiction, stated it believed the allegations of non-voting, electoral malpractices and late arrival of materials �drove home the monumental irregularities� that took place during the poll.
It said that INEC disobeyed the order of elections laid down in the election manual and �shot itself in the foot,� stressing that the election was not conducted in accordance with the principle of the Electoral Act. However, it was not all bad news for the governor as the petitions of the Progressive Peoples Alliance and Accord Party against him were dismissed.
The PPA�s petition, which wanted the election nullified on the ground that its candidate, Nnamdi Anigbo, was �unlawfully and illegally excluded from the election by INEC,� was also dismissed. Ottah ruled that here was no evidence that the PPA wrote INEC about the substitution of another candidate with Anigbo, describing the petition as stillborn because it failed to make any case against the respondents.
He said that the petitioner was not unlawfully excluded and awarded N20,000 in favour of the respondents. The governorship candidate of Accord Party, Chief Ugochukwu Agballa, had sought for an order declaring him as the duly elected governor. He also claimed that Chime was elected by minority votes and that he (Agballa) received the highest votes cast in the election.He had alleged that unlawful voters voted, and that registered ones were excluded from voting, relying on the carbon copies of results sheets obtained at the polling booths.
But the tribunal in its ruling said the exhibits pleaded did not emanate from INEC, noting that the respondents� witness, the INEC logistics officer, had proved that the documents were no carbon copies of the original INEC documents. It said the petitioner presented one set of results and was in possession of the certified true copies of the result, but refused to tender it, noting that it would have been of benefit to his case if he had produced two sets of results – one original and the other fake. The tribunal said Agballa failed to prove his case and could thus not rely on the weaknesses in the respondent�s case to win, stating that his case was bound to collapse. It therefore dismissed his petition for lack of merit and awarded N20,000 against him in favour of the respondents.
Reacting to the development, the governor said in a one-page statement he personally signed that his opponents had explored their constitutional right to legal redress. Chime also said he would appeal against the judgment. He said, �While we have numerous issues with this judgment and the process that produced it, we nevertheless acknowledge and respect the guiding principles of due process and the rule of law that it aspires to meet. In the same vein, such principles also guarantee us the expression of our own rights because there is room for appeal. We shall, in consultation with our lawyers, explore all possible avenues because we are confident that ultimately, history will vindicate the just.
�Let me also make it explicitly clear that even though we pursue this option, we are prepared at all times to take this matter to you, the good people of Enugu State for a final resolution. Therefore, I urge you to remain law-abiding and to accept this verdict calmly and in total obedience to the rule of law. I ask all citizens and residents of Enugu State to carry on with their lives as usual.
�Let this judgment unite and not divide us. If we are all propelled by the burning desire to better the lives of our people, we must do nothing to harm or spill the blood of the same people we desire to prosper. Let me also reassure you that we will not return to the dark and low times of the past. We have moved on and there is no looking back.�
Agballa in his reaction said he would appeal the judgment, saying there were issues the tribunal overlooked in its verdict. Counsel to the Labour Party, Sunday Ajogwu, said the ruling justified the petition he filed that the election did not meet the minimum standard for democratic practice.
The five members of the panel that handed down the ruling left the Court of Appeal premises, where the tribunal had been sitting They were driven away immediately, perhaps to protect them from any possible backlash.
Some sympathisers burst into songs outside the court premises upon hearing the decision of the tribunal. Earlier in the day, the police and State Security Service agents had cordoned off all entrance points to the court to prevent party supporters from crowding the area.