The Supreme Court in a full judgment on Friday held that
President Muhammadu Buhari was “eminently qualified” to have contested
the February 23 presidential election that returned him for a second
term in office.
Meanwhile, the litany of lawyers representing the Peoples Democratic
Party and it’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, including the
over 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), led by Dr. Livy Uzougwu
(SAN), all boycotted the Supreme Court sitting on Friday.
On the other hand, lawyers representing the respondents were at the
apex court in their numbers including 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria
among whom were Dr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), O.A. Omonowa (SAN) and Oladipo
Okpeseyi (SAN).
The apex court had in a summary judgment on October 30, 2019 affirmed
the decision of the presidential election petition tribunal which
validated the declaration of President Buhari by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) as winner of the February 23 polls,
but had reserved its reasons.
But giving reasons for it’s judgment on Friday, the court in the lead
judgment prepared by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice
Ibrahim Muhammad, agreed with the findings of the tribunal. Justice John
Okoro who read the judgment, affirmed the decision of the Presidential
Election Petition Tribunal which held that Buhari possessed the
requisite educational qualification to contest the poll. It added that
by virtue of the provisions of the Constitution, a candidate who
possesses a primary school certificate and has worked in the public or
private service for a period not less than 10 years, and can read, write
and communicate in the English language to the satisfaction of INEC is
qualified to contest. Section 131 (d) of the 1999 Constitution (as
amended) has been cited in support of the contention by proponents of
that view to support their position.
The Section (Section 131) provides: ‘A person shall be qualified for
election to the Office of President if- (d) he has been educated up to
at least school certificate level or its equivalent.’
According to the court, in Section 318, “School Certificate or its
equivalent” means:(a) a Secondary School Certificate, or Grade II
Teacher’s Certificate, the City and Guilds Certificate; or (b) education
up to Secondary School Certificate level; or (c) Primary Six School
Leaving Certificate or its equivalent and –(i) service in the public or
private sector in the Federation in any capacity acceptable to the
Independent National Electoral Commission for a minimum of 10 years.
“Also (ii) attendance at courses and training in such institutions as
may be acceptable to the INEC for periods totaling up to a minimum of
one year, and (iii) the ability to read, write, understand and
communicate in the English language to the satisfaction of the electoral
commission, and (d) any other qualification acceptable by INEC. This
means INEC has also been empowered by the Constitution to accept any
piece of employment paper as School Certificate equivalent to be
President of Nigeria.”
The CJN noted “that in interpreting the constitution, care must be
taken to give it its clear and ordinary meanings. I am well guided by
the provisions of section 131(a) that the attendance of Secondary School
suffice for the 2nd respondent (Buhari) to contest the presidential
election without an actual possession of the certificate.”
Going further, Justice Muhammed held “ that the constitution is
liberal to the extent that by section 131 (d), any other qualification
accepted by INEC qualifies a person to contest for the position of the
president.
“What a liberal constitution. It does not require a person to have
all the qualifications listed. A possession of one of them will suffice.
The word “or” implies that any of the highlighted requirements suffice.
I also agree with counsel to Buhari that INEC has consistently cleared
him to contest presidential elections.” In addition, the court held that
Certified True Copies of Buhari’s academic qualifications he tendered
as exhibits were not challenged by the appellants by way of calling oral
evidence to prove that they are false.
“They ought to have lead oral evidence to prove that the documents
tendered by Buhari at the tribunal are false. The court noted that
evidence of the Secretary to the Military Board, Brig. Gen. Olajide
Olaleye as contained in his press statement “confirmed that the 2nd
respondent was educated up to Secondary School level and passed the
subjects listed in the statement.”
“I am satisfied that the court below was right to hold that the 2nd
respondent was emminently qualified to contest the presidential
election. The 2nd respondent possessed more than Secondary School
Certificate having attended military courses in the United States of
America (USA); the United Kingdom (UK) and India and rosed to the rank
of a General and became a Head of State.”
On the allegations that Buhari submitted an affidavit to INEC
containing false information about his educational qualifications, the
court held that the appellants failed to prove the allegations beyond
reasonable doubt.
It noted that the allegations are firmly rooted in acts of
criminality and the test of proof is beyond reasonable doubt, which the
appellants failed to do.
“They must adduce reasons and lead credible evidence to prove which
they failed to do. They should have called the Secretary of the Military
Board, Brig. Gen. Olajide Olaleye to testify and be cross examined by
the respondents on this issue. “The failure to have called him as a
witness was fatal to their case because the 2nd respondent does not need
to call him to prove allegations against him as doing so would amount
to standing the law on its head. This is because he who alleges has the
duty to prove the allegations.”
Besides, the court held that the appellants ought to have instituted a
suit against the 2nd respondent based on section 131 of the Electoral
Act. On the issue of INEC server, the court held that the appellants
failed to prove that the www.factsdontlie.ng from which the appellants
downloaded the results of the election which they relied on, belonged to
INEC.
“The issue in this appeal is not whether INEC has a website. It is
not whether INEC posted the results of the presidential election on its
website. It is whether the www.factsdontlieng.com from which the
appellants downloaded the results belonged to INEC.”
The CJN noted that the appellants’ witness 59 admitted that the
results which they claimed gave Atiku and PDP victory over Buhari was
obtained by an anonymous employee of INEC acting as a whistleblower and
uploaded to www.factsdontlieng.com website.
“The website, www.factsdontlieng.com, belonged to the whistleblower
and not INEC,” the CJN ruled. The CJN held that it was fatal to the case
of the appellants that they failed to appeal to the specific finding of
the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal that the said website did
not belong to INEC but the whistleblower. “It ought to have dawned on
the appellants that the game was up,” Justice Muhammad added.
He ruled that Atiku and his party failed to link that the content of
the disputed website was obtained from the alleged INEC server.
“He did not rely on INEC server which is doubtful and unreliable
having emanated from an unascertainable domain. Whatever result that
came from a server not owned by INEC but by a whistleblower, anonymous
INEC staff cannot be relied upon. Therefore, all the data, analysis and
conclusions based on the content of the alleged server are of no value.”
The Supreme Court also said the appellants failed to prove the
alleged irregularities including over-voting. It added that the
appellants merely dumped documents on the lower court without calling
witnesses to demonstrate them. It held that: “no probative value would
be attached to the documents by the court until the makers are called to
speak on them and also be cross-examined by the respondents.”
It ruled that it was alarming that the appellants only called five
polling unit agents across the entire polling units in the country in
their attempt to prove the alleged non-compliance with the provisions of
the Electoral Act.
On the allegations on the variation in the names of Mohammed and
Muhammadu, the court held that they are same names belonging to Buhari
since the appellants failed to lead evidence to show that the names
belongs to another person.
Meanwhile, the over 10 Senior Advocates of Nigeria(SAN) representing
the Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on
Friday boycotted the sitting of the Supreme Court where the reasons for
the dismissal of their appeal challenging the outcome of the February
23 presidential election were given.
On the other hand, many of the SANs who led the legal teams of
President Muhammadu Buhari, the winner of the poll, the All Progressives
Congress and the Independent National Electoral Commission were already
seated ahead of the proceedings that began at 9.05am on Friday.
Commenting on the absence of the lawyers to Atiku and PDP, Dr. Alex
Izinyon (SAN), who appeared for President Buhari, stated that their
actions are against the rules of the court. He however apologized to the
court for the absence of the petitioners’ lawyers saying it was not a
normal practice. Regardless, Justice John Okoro who confirmed that
counsel to the petitioners were served with hearing notice on Wednesday,
said the court sitting cannot be postponed.
Popular News
-
Mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer affecting the membrane lining of the lungs and abdomen. Malignant mesothelioma is the most serious o...
-
Happy New Month Nigeria! Welcome to the month of June. As the world searches for a respite from all its troubles since 2020 began, one can ...
-
A US mayor of a small town in Illinois who sent Police officers on Sunday to break up parties amid coronavirus lockdown was left shocked ...
-
For the quarter, added 537,000 residential and small enterprise business internet customers versus 380,000 within the prior year quarter....
-
In the dynamic and fiercely competitive business landscape of today, one thing remains constant: the power of advertising. With the right ...
-
The Osun State Governor, Chief Ademola Adeleke, has escaped a horrific fate, according to a report by Leadership. By a stroke of luck, wh...
-
If issues are treated with the sense of urgency and importance they get in the court of public opinion compared to the conventional court...
-
The military has assured Nigerians that it will work in collaboration with other security agencies to ensure that the 2023 general electi...
-
The United Kingdom (UK) has announced new travel requirements. This is as it said Visa is not enough for people wishing to enter the c...
-
Senate President Ahmad Lawan has talked about the new naira note scarcity. He says there is no need for a time limit on the validity of t...
-
Italy have been crowned champions of the 2020 European Championship after defeating England 3-2 in penalties on Sunday night, July 11. ...
-
“Every improvement contributing to your outstanding experience is our daily motivation.” - Remitano Every product and feature on the Rem...
-
For the quarter, added 537,000 residential and small enterprise business internet customers versus 380,000 within the prior year quarter....
-
SMS marketing is a marketing channel which allows businesses to message customers with marketing messages through SMS, or more commonly kn...
-
Breaking news about iceland country incredible but true if you are interested read the full story iceland team was able to achieve an ...
-
Happy New Month Nigeria! Welcome to the month of June. As the world searches for a respite from all its troubles since 2020 began, one can ...
-
An Israeli professor has claimed that coronavirus will disappear after 70 days with or without intervention. The unproven claims were ma...
-
The Remitano founding team has always maintained the belief and vision that blockchain and cryptocurrencies are a big step forward for s...
-
Would you believe it if someone tells you that cayenne pepper has the power to stop a heart attack within a minute? Believe it or not, thi...
-
Apparently, ginger, a well-known spice we frequently add to different dishes to enhance the flavor, has the power to prevent cancer. But, i...
- bitcoin
- bitcoin mining
- Coronavirus
- dr anu nigeria
- coronavirus china
- Benefit Of Ginger Water
- Bobrisky
- Buhari
- coronavirus cure
- benefits of drinking milk
- Biafran War
- coronavirus death rate
- coronavirus outbreak
- dede one day mansion
- coronavirus update
- History of Biafra
- How To Make Ginger Water
- eri
- How to save your phone battery
- is 5g dangerous
- Kobe Bryant
- Jennifer Aniston
- kobe bryant family
- latest nigeria news paper
- kobe bryant wife
- latest on nigeria news
- naija news
- Malignant mesothelioma
- nigeria news
- Mesothelioma survival rates
- newspaper online in nigeria
- nigeria news breaking
- nigeria news headline today
- nigeria news of the day
- nigeria news paper online
- nigeria newspaper
- nigeria news paper today
- nigeria news today & breaking
- nigeria newspaper online
- nigerianewspaper
- nigeria newspapers
- Regina Daniels
- online dating scams
- Side Effects Of Eating Corn
- t mobile data usage
- online nigeria news
- what is tiger nut
- tiger nuts
- Tyson Fury
0 comments:
Post a Comment