The Supreme Court, yesterday, dashed the
hope of erstwhile Governor of Ekiti
State, Chief Segun Oni of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, to return to
power through the instrumentality of the
judiciary.
A five-man panel of the apex court in
their unanimous judgment yesterday,
struck out Oni’s appeal, thereby
affirming the election victory of
Governor Kayode Fayemi of the Action
Congress of Nigeria, ACN.
Oni had approached the Supreme Court,
challenging the nullification of his
election and the declaration of Governor
Fayemi as the validly elected Governor
in the 2007 and 2009 elections in
EkitiState.
He specifically sought for a review of
the Court of Appeal’s judgement in
Ilorin which ousted him from office on
October 15, 2010.
It was his contention that the suspended
President of the Court of Appeal, PCA,
Justice Isa Ayo Salami, was not fit to
preside over the Appeal Panel that sat
in Ilorin and nullified his election,
insisting that he had evidence that
Salami was engaged in an amourous
convivial romance with a top member of
the ACN.
He maintained that it was that
relationship that eventually culminated
to the favourable verdict that was
handed to Fayemi.
Besides, Oni, through his legal team
comprising four Senior Advocates of
Nigeria, SANs and 38 lawyers, applied
for a consequential order reinstating
him as the Governor of the state by
virtue of a judgment that was delivered
by the gubernatorial election petition
tribunal that sat in the state on May 5,
2010.
He further beseeched the apex court to
in the alternative, okayed the Speaker
of the Ekiti State House of Assembly to
take over the reins of governance in the
state pending the determination of the
controversy trailing the Appeal Court
verdict that brought Governor Fayemi to
power.
It will be recalled that the appellate
court dismissed Oni’s suit as lacking in
merit, stressing that the reliefs he
sought could not be granted.
Arguing through his lead counsel, Chief
J.K Gadzama, SAN, Oni told the apex
court that he only raised allegation of
judicial bias after the appellate court
delivered its judgment on October 15,
2010, saying it was then that he became
aware of the relationship between
Justice Salami and Senator Bola Ahmed
Tinubu who he described as “the alter-
ego and financier of the ACN.”
He prayed the apex court to determine
“whether denial of fair hearing to the
appellant and the issue of bias is not
enough ground to set aside the decision
of the lower court,” contending that
“bias or likelihood of it rendered the
decision of the appellate court a
nullity.”
According to him, “my lords, nobody
filed an appeal against the appellate
court judgment of October 15, 2010,
because we were not unaware of section
246(1) and 246(3) of the Constitution
which at that time provided that such
electoral dispute must terminate at the
Appeal Court.
“Our motion for setting aside the
judgment of the appeal court was not a
matter arising from the election but
from radical dimension of judicial bias.
The Appeal Court cannot claim to have
finality on the matter except where its
proceeding was validly conducted. There
is no finality when the proceeding is
seen as wishy-washy. The ordinary man
ought to see that justice has been done.
“I urge this court to allow this appeal,
set aside the ruling of the court of
appeal delivered on February 27, 2012,
and the judgment of October 15, 2010
which we had earlier sought to set aside
at the lower court .
“I pray for a consequential order of
this court reinstating the 1st appellant
as Governor of Ekiti State by virtue of
tribunal judgment delivered on May 5,
2010. In the alternative, the Speaker
can come in pending the determination of
the issues so as to overcome the problem
of vacuum in governance.
“If this is done, legal history will be
made by this court. More so, section 22
of the Supreme Court Act empowers this
court to assume jurisdiction of the
Appeal Court and do substantial justice
in this matter,” Oni argued.
Nevertheless, Fayemi, through his lead
counsel, Mr John Bayisha, SAN,
maintained that the apex court lacked
the jurisdiction by virtue of section
246(2) of the Constitution to entertain
the suit, stressing that as at the time
the cause of action arose, the appeal
court had final say of such
gubernatorial electoral dispute.
He told the court that sequel to a
petition that was written to the
National Judicial Council, NJC, by Oni,
the appeal court panel, on March 29,
2011, adjourned the proceeding before it
sine-die, noting that it was not until
February 27, 2012 that the matter
resumed after an investigative panel
that was set up by the Council to
investigate allegations raised by Oni,
exonerated both Justice Salami and other
members of his panel.
“NJC sat on the matter and cleared all
the justices. My Lords, even two
Justices who participated in the matter
have been elevated to this Court. This
case is an abnormality. I urge this
court to dismiss it as frivolous and
grossly lacking in merit.”
Likewise, counsel to the Independent
National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mr
Ibrahim K. Bawa, urged the apex court to
dismiss the suit for want of
jurisdiction, just as the Inspector
General Of Police who was also joined in
the suit, through his counsel Mr Femi
Atte, told the court that he
deliberately chose not to file any brief
in the matter, saying he would prefer to
take a neutral position.
While upholding Fayemi’s arguments, the
apex court panel, led by
Justice Sylvester Ngwuta held that the
issue at stake was not whether the Court
of Appeal violated Section 36 (1) of the
1999 Constitution as amended but whether
the apex court has jurisdiction to
entertain the appeal brought by Chief
Oni as raised by the 1st and 2nd
respondents in their preliminary
objection.
“This court has consistently refused to
violate a provision of the constitution
of the land; the Supreme Court does not
hunger for jurisdiction and therefore,
the appeal has been struck out and we
abide by the consequential orders
contained in the lead judgement of the
lower court”, Justice Ngwuta added.
More so, the court held that Section 246
(3) of the Constitution gave the Court
of Appeal the “toga of finality” in
election petition issues that have to do
with Governorship and Legislative
Houses.
“Section 246 (1) of the 1999
Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria as amended says the decisions of
the Court of Appeal in respect of
appeals arising from the National and
State House of Assembly election
petitions shall be final.”
Likewise, the apex court noted that from
the genesis of the matter, the ultimate
aim was to return Oni as the elected
governor of Ekiti state but “the Supreme
Court has no jurisdiction to entertain
the appeal because being an election
petition matter, it terminates at the
Court of Appeal.”
Meanwhile, Governor Fayemi who reacted
to the judgement at the Ekiti State
Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, yesterday,
said he welcomed the verdict with
“relief mixed with indifference because
I was not surprised. The judiciary is
the final arbiter in matters of dispute
and last hope of those who feel cheated
in one way or the other.
“I had no issue with Oni going on an
appeal but my problem is the deliberate
ploy to take the judiciary on a wild
goose chase knowing well that his appeal
was an abuse of court process, frivolous
and unwarranted, such case was right
from the onset doomed to be thrown into
the judicial dustbin of infamy.”
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