How River-State's Governor Was Sacked

The three-man tribunal, headed by Justice Suleiman Ambrosa, upheld the petition filed against the election by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its gubernatorial candidate in the state, Hon Dakuku Peterside.

The Rivers State Elections Petition Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, yesterday, nullified the April 11 election that brought Governor Nyesom Wike (right in above pic) to power.

On its part, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it will decide what to do after receiving a copy of the judgment.

The tribunal maintained that the petitioners successfully proved that the governorship poll was characterised by violence and corrupt practices.

“We are satisfied with evidence of the petitioners to the effect that substantial number of the electorate in Rivers State were disenfranchised as a result of massive and widespread irregularities, ”it said.

“We are further convinced that the election was characterised by corrupt practices. Consequently, we hold that the second respondent (Wike) was not validly elected. We hereby order the first respondent (INEC) to conduct a fresh election in Rivers State”.

The tribunal contended that  the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, did not conduct the election in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act and its guidelines for the poll.

It noted that whereas the electoral body had, in a statement prior to the election, stressed that Card Reader Machines must be used to accredit voters, evidence adduced before it showed that INEC officials resorted to manual accreditation.

The tribunal observed that INEC’s directive, that election should be postponed in any polling unit where the Card Reader Machine malfunctioned, was not adhered to.

“Guidelines that were issued by INEC for the conduct of the election were clear and unambiguous to the effect that where Card Reader fails, poll should be postponed rather than resort to manual accreditation.  It was not for anybody to go outside the guidelines, ”it stated.

“We have also considered the potency of the evidence tendered by petitioners’ witnesses and we are satisfied that the petitioners succeeded in proving that the election was characterised by wide spread irregularities, violence and ballot snatching.

“We are satisfied that the petitioners were able to discharge the burden of proof placed upon them by the law. The petitioners were able to prove that electorates were disenfranchised”.

The tribunal held that witnesses brought by both INEC and Wike “were full of inconsistencies”.

It observed that most of the witnesses called by the electoral body, during cross-examination, admitted that where the Card Reader Machines failed, they resorted to manual accreditation.

The tribunal said that it found out that in some polling units, number of voters exceeded the number of those accredited with the Card Reader.

Similarly, the tribunal noted that witnesses called by Wike, despite their evidence that the election was peaceful, when they were shown INEC document containing the guideline that election should be postponed wherever the Card Reader failed, declined to read it.

“While some claimed that they could not see, others insisted that they would not read documents that were presented to them because they were not the author”, it said.

“We were not impressed by the conduct of the respondents’ witnesses upon cross examination by the petitioners’ counsel.

“We are in agreement with counsel to the petitioners that the evidence of respondents’ witnesses were unreliable and untenable.

“In view of this, the respondents have failed to convince this court on the credibility of their claim that election substantially took place in Rivers State on April 11, 2015”.

Peterside, yesterday, hailed the judgment, describing as a victory for the democracy in Nigeria, governor Wike and the PDP, have vowed to appeal against it.

The first petitioner in the case and APC candidate in the election said: “The tribunal has put a nail in the coffin of impunity and executive rascality in Rivers State. The judiciary has restored confidence of Rivers people as they will now    have the opportunity to cast their votes to determine who will rule them.