Court set to deliver judgment in Sokoto Gov battle

A Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday fixed June 23, 2017 to deter­mine the fate of Governor Aminu Waziri Tambu­wal of Sokoto State and another All Progressives Congress (APC) gover­norship aspirant in the 2015 general election, Mr Umaru Dahiru.

The presiding judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawole fixed the date for judg­ment in the disputes that arose from the conduct of the primary election of the APC held on Decem­ber 4, 2014, that produced Tambuwal, after counsel in the matter adopted their briefs and final argu­ments in the legal tussle over Sokoto State gover­norship seat.

Senator Dahiru had dragged the APC, Tambu­wal and the Independent National Electoral Com­mission (INEC) to the court praying for an order to nullify and set aside the Sokoto State APC prima­ry election that produced Tambuwal on the grounds that it was not in compli­ance with Electoral Act 2010, the APC guidelines and the party’s Constitu­tion.

Arguing the originating summons on behalf of the plaintiff, Chief Rowland Otaru (SAN) urged the court to nullify and set aside the primary election that produced Tambuwal for the 2015 governorship election in Sokoto State.

Dahiru’s grouse was that the constitution of the APC and party guidelines of the primary election as well as the Electoral Act were infringed upon in the conduct of the prima­ry election.

Dahiru’s lawyer claimed that in breach of the rules guiding the primary elec­tion, verification and ac­creditation of delegates were not done despite the fact they were mandatory.

He said the plaintiff had been able to show the court that there was no compliance to the Elec­toral Act, rules and con­stitution of the party, and said, ‘that shows that the purported primary elec­tion was a nullity”.

Otaru urged the court to take a judicial notice of the list containing the names of the delegates who participated in the primary and the report of the APC, adding that there was no evidence of verification and ac­creditation in compliance with the relevant laws and urged the court to set aside the purported primary election that pro­duced Tambuwal.

While urging the court to dismiss the suit as filed by the plaintiff, counsel to the APC, Jubril Okutekpa (SAN) drew the atten­tion of the court to the affidavit evidence of the plaintiff prepared in 2014, where he admitted that accreditation of delegates was conducted and fur­ther affidavit of the same plaintiff prepared in 2017 where the plaintiff made a U-turn that no accredita­tion was done.

Okutekpa said the plaintiff should not have commenced the proceed­ings by Originating Sum­mons, in view of Order 6 Rule 7 of the Federal High Court