By George Etakibuebu
There is perhaps no better way to describe what unfolded on Wednesday, April 2, at the Edo Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja than to call it judicial abracadabra. And it was foretold, in a way, too.
Five days after the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State, renowned columnist and veteran journalist, Ikechukwu Amaechi, in a piece titled “If I were Asue Ighodalo” published on 26/09/24 in TheNiche, an online newspaper, argued that given the magnitude of the brazen rigging and unconscionable manipulation of figures perpetrated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in favour of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Senator Monday Okpebholo, going to court in search of remedy was unnecessary.
Referencing conversations he had with eminent Nigerians, including a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, SAN, he wrote: “The Edo election has confirmed what every discerning Nigerian knows: the Mahmoud Yakubu-led INEC is a fraud with no moral fibre to conduct free, fair and credible elections. If I were Asue Ighodalo, the latest victim of Nigeria’s soulless electoral mafia, I will not go to court. The matter will be settled on the streets of Edo. If that is what those inclined to being politically correct call anarchy, so be it. Truth be told, unless and until Nigerians show the capacity to resist the malfeasance of INEC and their enablers on the streets, not in courts, this impunity will not stop.”
He argued that following due process would mean going to court. And, “That will be foolhardy because it is another layer of the fraud. As Mr. Jibrin Samuel Okutepa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), noted recently, ‘No matter the volumes of evidence, the judiciary appears to have taken stand and seems to be siding with the people who have no regard and respect for the sovereignty of the people’.”
As an encore, he wrote: “And I make bold to say that the APC candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo, didn’t win last Saturday’s Edo governorship election. He lost woefully to the PDP candidate, Asue Ighodalo, no matter what the fraudulent INEC says. And this is not a speculation. Results announced at the polling booths confirm Ighodalo’s victory to the eternal shame of those who toy with the sovereign will of the people. What INEC did was a perpetuation of the electoral fraud that has made Nigeria a laughing stock in the comity of democratic nations.”
But Dr Asue Ighodalo, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election, opted for the path of due process. And so to the tribunal he headed, armed with solid evidence to prove his case.
About two weeks ago, precisely on Saturday March 22, at the Haske Satumari Foundation Colloquium in Abuja, former President Goodluck Jonathan lamented what has become of the judiciary in the country. A particular line stuck out like a leprous finger.
Hear him: “No businessman will bring his money to invest in a country where the judiciary is compromised, where a government functionary can dictate to judges what judgment they should give. No one will invest in such an economy because it is a big risk,” he stated.
The judicial abracadabra packaged as judgment by the Justice Wilfred Kpochi led three-man panel on Wednesday left many people wondering if indeed, the judiciary is still the last hope of the common man. How the judgment made a 360 degree turn-around and failed to align with its earlier review by Justice Wilfred Kpochi himself remains a mystery.
Everybody has expressed surprise at the so-called judgment in which the panel of judges displayed uncanny partisanship. In the opinion of Dr Tony Aziegbemi, the Edo State Caretaker Committee Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), “The simply panel constituted itself into the 4th respondent in the case.” How does one explain what the tribunal meant by “the petitioner just dumped documents on the court”? What happens to Section 137 of the Electoral Act 2022? Was the Tanko vs INEC case which the tribunal relied on properly applied? Why should the petitioner be asked to call witnesses from Polling Units to speak on Form EC25B, an INEC document to be filled at the RAC Centre by INEC staff? The tribunal confirmed that INEC is the maker of the document. How then can the tribunal turn around and ask the petitioner to produce polling unit witnesses on the non-filling of the forms after the petitioners have produced the certified documents that clearly showed that the forms were not filled? Is that not judicial abracadabra?
Almost throughout the proceedings in the court, the APC was always parroting the word “dump” as if it was going out of fashion even when the final addresses were yet to be taken.
For example on the day the APC closed its case after just four witnesses, Jarett Tenebe, the Acting Chairman of the party in the state has this to tell journalists outside the court: “You know they brought BVAS to court and they dumped BVAS, they brought documents to court and dumped them, about one thousand documents. And like I said earlier on before, I said what PDP did was to bring documents to court and dump. They subpoenaed INEC to bring BVAS and dump in court. So, that amount to dumping.” That was on February 13.
Students of Discourse Analysis will tell you that the word “dump” and its variants occurring six times in a discourse featuring 55 words has more to it than meet the ordinary eye. It was little surprising, therefore, that the word parroted to no end by Jarret Tenebe is the same word the tribunal used to justify its so-called judgment.
But what the tribunal delivered on Wednesday was no judgment. Or at best, judgement without justice. And, Dr Asue Ighodalo succinctly labeled it what it should be called – huge travesty of justice. And because he is the type who would not do anything outside due process, he has asked his team of lawyers to file an appeal immediately. Of course, cases abound where the tribunal, like the instant case, will display open partisanship and appellate courts will kick out the nonsense. This is what many Nigerians are looking forward to. And like the Kogi State born amazon, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, declared in the face of arrogant injustice on the floor of the Senate, “This injustice will not be sustained.”
…. Etakibuebu, a public affairs analyst, writes from Benin City.
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