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Tag: Supreme Court

  • Supreme Court rejects APC's suit to review Zamfara judgement

    Supreme Court rejects APC's suit to review Zamfara judgement

    The Supreme Court has rejected an application by the All Progressives Congress asking it to review its last judgment in which it voided the party’s participation in the last elections in Zamfara State.
    A five-man panel of the court, led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, in a ruling on Monday morning, struck out the application, argued by senior lawyer Robert Clarke (SAN).
    In an unprecedented judicial pronouncement last May, the Supreme Court awarded governorship, National Assembly and state Assembly elective posts to the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), by nullifying the participation of the candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2019 General Elections.
    It then declared the party with the second highest votes as winners of the elections, making the PDP candidates beneficiaries by default.
    The APC members had been locked in judicial dispute over the legality of the primaries conducted.
    Since the verdict, the APC had nursed hopes that its members could salvage something from the electoral ruins. On June 24, the state chairman, Alhaji Lawali Liman said the branch was trying to ensure that candidates who were selected unopposed were removed from Supreme Court list.
    “We held a meeting recently with the party’s National Chairman in Abuja who informed me that our party has a window to challenge the action of the INEC following the Supreme Court ruling that nullified our election in the state.
    “Since the matter taken to the court centred on irregularities of primaries, we had 13 candidates for the state House of Assembly, three for the Senate and two for the House of Representatives”
    “These were those who contested unopposed and the primaries did not affect them.
    “INEC was too hasty to declare the party with the second highest votes because the exact directive of the Supreme Court was that the next party with the ‘requisite spread should be declared and by these, our issues were not taken into consideration,” Liman said.

  • 2019 Election Petitions: Supreme Court excludes 10 Justices from annual vacation

    The Supreme Court has prevented 10 Justices from embarking on this year’s annual long vacation because of the high number of election-related cases.
    A statement by the court’s Director, Press and Information, Festus Akande, said the court had concluded arrangement to ensure that “two panels of the Supreme Court, comprising of five Justices each, will be sitting during the annual vacation, which marks the end of 2018/2019 legal year”.
    It added: “This development arose from the numerous appeals on election-related matters that have been streaming to the court since the conduct of the 2019 general elections.
    “The annual vacation will begin on Monday, July 22, but the court has constituted two panels that will be sitting during the holiday period in order to see that all election-related matters are dealt with.
    “In view of this development, all parties involved will be contacted through hearing notices.”

  • Supreme Court upholds Zulum's election as Borno governor

    Supreme Court upholds Zulum's election as Borno governor

    …upholds Kyari’s election as Borno North Senator
    The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by Alhaji Idris Mamman Gatumba, challenging the election of Professor Babagana Umara Zulum as Governor of Borno State.
    The apex court also dismissed an appeal filed by Hajja Fati Monguno challenging the election of Senator Abubakar Kyari representing Borno North.
    In a unanimous judgment, five justices of the Supreme Court, led by Hon justice John Iyang Okoro, dismissed both appeals for lack of merit.
    The appellants, Idris and Kaakenna, had separately challenged the September/October, 2018 APC primaries in Borno State and approached the apex court after losing ‎at both the Court of Appeal in Jos and the Federal High Court in Maiduguri.
    ‎At the Supreme Court, counsel to the appellants I K Bawa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, prayed the court to invoke its powers and set aside the concurrent judgments of the lower Courts to remove Governor Zulum and Senator Kyari from office as well as declare Idris and Kaakenna validly elected as Governor and Senator.
    In his counter argument, counsel to the two respondents, Yusuf Ali, SAN, represented in court by K K Eleja, also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria , argued the appeals were statute barred hence lacking in merit.
    He argued that the appeals be summarily dismissed.
    Consequently, the five Judges of the Supreme Court agreed with the argument of the respondents’ counsel and dismissed the two appeals in their favor.

  • Oyo guber primary: Supreme Court dismisses Shittu’s suit against APC

    The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a suit filed by Adebayo Shittu, former Minister of Communications, against his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenging the exclusion of his name from the list of gubernatorial aspirants in the primary for the 2019 general elections.
    In the Judgment, the Supreme Court five-man panel of Justices lead by Justice John Okoro, dismissed the for being statute barred.
    “This appeal is dismissed haven been withdrawn by the appellant and no objection and there is no order as at cost,’’ Okoro held.
    The Oyo State chapter of the ruling party prevented Shittu from participating in its primary election because he skipped the mandatory one-year NYSC after his graduation from the Obafemi Awolowo University in 1978.
    The minister, a member of the APC, had sued the party, seeking redress for allegedly being denied participation in the governorship primary election in Oyo State.
    He claimed that APC’s national leadership omitted his name in the list of its governorship aspirants for the primaries in Oyo State because he did not participate in the National Youth Service Corps scheme.
    His Counsel, had, among other things, urged the court to determine whether the ground for disqualifying his client was lawful or a contravention of the constitution.
    He argued that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria required anyone seeking to be a state governor to possess a maximum of Senior Secondary School Certificate and not necessarily an NYSC certificate.
    Mr Adebayo Ojo, the defence counsel, in his opposition to the plaintiff’s prayer, said that the matter was already a dead issue, and therefore, academic.
    NAN reports that Shittu appealed a Federal High Court on April 12, struck out the suit on grounds that Shittu filed the case after the expiration of the 14 days stipulated by the law.
    He argued that the APC constitution prescribes that aggrieved members must fully explore all internal crisis resolution mechanism before going to court which accounted for why he could not challenge the party’s decision in court within the stipulated time.

  • BREAKING: Supreme Court rejects suit seeking Bulkachuwa’s sack

    BREAKING: Supreme Court rejects suit seeking Bulkachuwa’s sack

    …dismisses appeal by Tugaar
    The Supreme Court has rejected a suit seeking to sack Adamu Bulkachuwa, husband of the Court of Appeal’s President, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa.
    In a judgment on Monday, a five-man panel of the apex court dismissed the appeal by Usman Tuggar, challenging the election of Bulkachuwa as Senator for Bauchi North senatorial district on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
    Justice John Okoro, in the lead judgement, dismissed the appeal by Tuggar against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Abuja delivered on June 11, 2019, which upheld an earlier judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to the effect that the suit was statute barred, having been filed outside the 14 days allows by the Constitution.
    Details shortly…

  • Osun: Presidency blasts Atiku over consolation message to Adeleke, PDP on Supreme Court ruling

    Osun: Presidency blasts Atiku over consolation message to Adeleke, PDP on Supreme Court ruling

    The Presidency on Friday tackled former Vice President and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, over his comments on the Supreme Court ruling affirming the election of Mr Gboyega Oyetola as governor of Osun State.
    Atiku, in a statement on the ruling, had stated: “I urge the nation’s judiciary to take a pulse of the nation and reflect it. In their hands, God has placed a great responsibility.
    “The duty to ensure that justice is done, irrespective of the pressure to do otherwise, by the powers that be,” he said
    But the Presidency, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said that it finds Atiku’s reaction very ridiculous, and comical.
    The statement reads “Many things fly in the face of logic, reason, and legality in this portion of the statement. Alhaji Abubakar urged the judiciary to reflect the pulse of the nation in their judgments. Learned people know that the judiciary comes to conclusions drawing from matters of law placed before it, and not sentiments, or so-called “pulse of the nation.”
    “A pertinent question is: how does the judiciary gauge the pulse of the nation? Is it even positioned to do such? Is the judiciary established for that purpose, or to dispense justice, even if the Heavens fall?
    “Again, there is insinuation of inducement in the statement, when the PDP candidate said the judiciary should ensure justice is done, “irrespective of the pressure to do otherwise, by the powers that be.”
    “We see this as an attempt to browbeat the judiciary, thus causing it to entertain sentiment in the ongoing petition on the presidential election before the tribunal. If anybody has the tendency or proclivity to put pressure on the judiciary, Nigerians know where the finger points, and it is definitely not at President Muhammadu Buhari.
    “This was a man who had thrice taken his electoral challenges to the judiciary, up to the Supreme Court. And not once was he accused of trying to influence the process or put pressure on the courts.
    “When the All Progressives Congress (APC) lost Zamfara and Rivers States, arising from judicial proclamations, then, there was no “pressure to do otherwise, by the powers that be.”
    “But now that the victory of the party in Osun was upheld, there is insinuation of pressure from those who have never learnt to play straight,” he added
    According to him, President Buhari has always been committed to fair play, which he noted was clearly evident in the last general elections.
    Buhari, he said, remains committed to even-handedness and justice always.

  • Osun guber: We take Supreme Court judgement in good fate – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun says it has accepted the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed Gov. Gboyega Oyetola as the winner of the September 2018 governorship election in the state.
    Mr Soji Adagunodo, the State PDP Chairman, in a telephone interview said since the Supreme court is the apex court in the land, there was no where the party could appeal again.
    Te Supreme Court in a split judgment of five to two on Friday upheld the election of Oyetola.
    Adagunodo said the minority judgment dealt with the constitutional issue of the matter, which according to him, was the most important while the majority judgment dealt with the technical issues.
    “Since the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, we don’t have anything to say than to accept the verdict.
    “The judgment is a split judgment. The majority judgment dealt with technical matter and we expected the judges to have called for the file of the lower court.
    “Meanwhile, the minority udgment dealt with constitutional matter which is important to our democracy.
    “The court has ruled and we don’t have anything to say than to accept the verdict since there is nowhere to go again,’’ Adagunodo said.
    He, however, appealed to party members to be calm and peaceful.

  • Atiku reacts to Supreme Court judgment affirming Oyetola's election as Osun gov

    Atiku reacts to Supreme Court judgment affirming Oyetola's election as Osun gov

    Former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 general elections, Atiku Abubakar has consoled Ademola Adeleke of the PDP, following his loss at the Supreme Court’ ruling of the Osun State Governorship Election.
    The apex court in a split judgment on Friday agreed substantially with the Court of Appeal which ruled that a majority judgment delivered at the tribunal was a nullity, thereby validating Gboyega Oyetola as the governor of the State.
    Reacting to the judgment, Atiku who is also challenging President Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in court in a series of tweets said Supreme Court which ruled has the judicial finality, so the legal case is over.
    “Those who think this is the end of the road for Senator Adeleke and the PDP in Osun, are greatly mistaken. This is not the end. Not even the beginning of the end. No. Today marks the continued ascendancy of Senator Adeleke and his party in the hearts and minds of his people.”
    He added: ‘I join with people of goodwill all over Nigeria to say to Senator Ademola Adeleke, and the people of the great state of Osun, that we stand with them in good times and in difficult days.
    “The Supreme Court has ruled and because of its judicial finality, the legal case is over.
    “However, the love, acceptance and endorsement that the people of Osun bestowed on both Senator Adeleke and the @OfficialPDPNig is not over and cannot be overlooked.”

  • BREAKING: Supreme Court affirms Oyetola winner of Osun governorship election

    The Supreme Court has dismissed the appeal by candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last governorship election in Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke.
    The Supreme Court, in a majority decision of five-to-two, read by Justice Olabode Rodes-Vivour, held that the failure of a member of the election tribunal, Justice Peter Obiora to sit on February 6, 2019 rendered the entire proceedings and the judgment given by the tribunal a nullity.
    The court upheld the majority judgment of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the victory Adegboyega Oyetola of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the Governor of Osun State.
    Details shortly.

  • Oyetola vs Adeleke: Police beef up security as Supreme Court delivers judgement tomorrow

    The Osun State Police Command, on Thursday, said security has been beefed up in the state to prevent any breakdown of law and order ahead of Friday’s Supreme Court’s judgment on the 2018 Osun governorship election.
    The command’s spokesperson, DSP Folashade Odoro, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the police are fully prepared for the outcome.
    “Officers have been placed on red alert and are pro-active to prevent any kind of violence or demonstration in the state.
    “We will, however, want to urge people of the state to maintain law and order and go about their lawful businesses without fear or intimidation,” she said.
    NAN reports that the Peoples Democratic Party and its candidate, Senator Ademola Adeleke, had challenged the victory of the All Progressives Congress and its candidate, Governor Gboyega Oyetola at the Osun 2018 Governorship Election Tribunal.
    The tribunal on March 22 declared Adeleke as the winner of the election, but the judgment was later overturned by the Appeal Court on May 9.
    The case has, however, moved to the Supreme Court for final judgment and the court is set to rule on the matter on July 5.