Tag: Supreme Court

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Supreme Court reserves judgment in Edo gov election appeal

The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved judgment in the appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Asue Ighodalo, over the outcome of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State.

The apex court made this decision after hearing arguments for and against the appeal.

The appeal challenges the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which announced Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the election.

The appeal was heard by a five-member panel of justices led by Justice Garba Lawal.

Ighodalo’s legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Ken Mozia, asked the court to overturn the judgments of the lower courts, which had upheld INEC’s declaration of Okpebholo as winner.

On May 29, 2025, the Court of Appeal in Abuja affirmed the ruling of the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal.

Both courts dismissed Ighodalo’s petition, describing it as lacking merit.

On April 2, 2025, a three-member panel of the tribunal, chaired by Justice Wilfred Kpochi, dismissed the petition filed by the PDP and Ighodalo, citing the petitioners’ failure to prove claims of over-voting and electoral irregularities.

The petition, marked EPT/ED/GOV/02/2024, alleged that Okpebholo did not win the highest number of lawful votes and that the election was marred by widespread irregularities, over-voting, and violations of the Electoral Act.

The PDP and Ighodalo alleged that the election involved incorrect collation of figures, errors in vote computation in 765 polling units, and a failure by INEC to serialise ballot papers or pre-record sensitive materials.

They claimed this enabled electoral malpractice in favour of the APC and its candidate.

During the trial, the petitioners called 19 witnesses and subpoenaed a Senior Technical Officer from INEC’s ICT department, who brought 154 BVAS machines from 133 polling units to support claims of over-voting.

INEC did not present any witnesses.

Okpebholo called one witness, while the APC presented four.

While the PDP asked the tribunal to nullify the election based on the evidence, the respondents countered that the case lacked merit.

They argued that Ighodalo failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he won the election or that there was significant non-compliance with the law.

Justice Kpochi, in the tribunal’s judgment, said, “We hold that the failure by the petitioners to call polling unit agents, presiding officers or other registered voters was fatal to the case.

“It still remains the law that documents do not speak for themselves. A petitioner must prove their evidence. The allegation of non-compliance must be proved.

“The BVAS machines were clearly dumped and remain dormant. None of the witnesses could speak to the BVAS machine. The machines were not demonstrated to prove the allegations of over-voting.

“All the evidence documents tendered by the petitioners to prove over-voting fall short of the requirements. The law requires that the petitioners shall call witnesses to link the evidence rendered.”

On the petitioners’ claims that INEC did not comply with electoral guidelines, Justice Kpochi ruled, “The petitioners failed to prove that the first defendant did not comply with the provisions of the electoral act or INEC rules of conduct as required by law.”

Regarding claims of missing serial numbers on ballots, the tribunal ruled, “There are figures here.”

The court also dismissed claims of a lack of prior recording of materials used in the poll.

In the final result announced by INEC, Okpebholo polled 291,667 votes while Ighodalo came second with 247,655 votes. (Punch)

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Supreme Court nullifies Jokolo’s reinstatement as Emir of Gwandu

The Supreme Court on Wednesday nullified the decision of the Kebbi State High Court that reinstated Al-Mustapha Jokolo as the 19th Emir of Gwandu, ruling that the case was filed without first exhausting the mandatory domestic resolution mechanisms prescribed by law.

In a split decision of three to two, the apex court held that the deposed Emir, Jokolo, failed to follow due legal process in instituting the suit.

Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Emmanuel Agim stated that while aggrieved persons may seek judicial intervention, they must first comply with Section 5(4) of the Kebbi State Chiefs (Appointment and Deposition) Law, which requires a formal complaint to be submitted to the governor before litigation can proceed.

Jokolo was deposed in 2005 under controversial circumstances and subsequently approached the Kebbi State High Court seeking reinstatement.

The trial court ruled in his favour in 2014, a decision upheld by the Court of Appeal, Sokoto Division, in 2016. Both courts ordered his reinstatement.

However, the Kebbi State Government and the current Emir, Alhaji Muhammadu Ilyasu-Bashar, challenged these rulings at the Supreme Court.

Originally scheduled for June 6, the Supreme Court brought forward the judgment to 4 June due to the Eid-el-Kabir holidays.

The Supreme Court held that Jokolo did not serve a pre-action notice on the Governor of Kebbi State, a mandatory step before initiating the suit.

Agreeing with the appellants, the Court ruled that failure to seek resolution through administrative channels rendered the suit incompetent.

This procedural lapse deprived the lower courts of jurisdiction, leading to the setting aside of the entire proceedings and judgments of both the trial court and the Court of Appeal.

Justice Agim remarked, “This suit was filed prematurely without first presenting a complaint to the governor as stipulated by law. The trial court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the matter, and its decision is therefore null and void.

“Section 4(3) of the law applies to both appointment and deposition matters. The governor must first be notified.”

He further stated that the High Court judge “deprived the court of jurisdiction” by proceeding without adherence to this requirement.

The Supreme Court set aside the rulings of both lower courts and made no order as to costs.

In a dissenting minority judgment, Justice Ibrahim Salami dismissed the cross-appeals and affirmed the decisions of the lower courts, arguing that the executive governor must act in accordance with the law and due process.

The Supreme Court consolidated four appeals and two cross-appeals into a single judgment, with all parties agreeing that the outcome of the principal appeal would bind the others. (Punch)

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Supreme Court reserves ruling on appeal seeking to nullify Rivers LG polls

The Supreme Court, yesterday, reserved judgment in the appeal the All Progressives Congress, APC, filed to nullify the outcome of the Local Government elections that held in Rivers State on October 5, 2024.

A five-member panel of the apex court, headed by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, okayed the matter for judgment, after parties adopted their final briefs of argument.

The court had earlier in the day dismissed an appeal Governor Siminialayi Fubara filed to challenge another judgment that sought to compel him to re-present the 2024 budget of the state before the Martin Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State Assembly, which he argued had been overtaken by event.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Coalition has clarified that no Supreme Court judgment was issued against Fubara, despite speculations to the contrary, adding that Oko Jumbo remains the legitimate Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

While the APC, through its team of lawyers, led by Mr. J. Daudu, urged the Supreme Court to set-aside the November 21, 2024, judgment of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which declined to invalidate the election, Mr. Yusuf Ali, who announced appearance for Fubara, as well as Chris Uche, who represented the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, sought the dismissal of the appeal.

Recall that the appellate court vacated the judgment that barred the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from releasing voters register to the RSIEC for the conduct of the LG polls.

The Justice Onyekachi Otisi-led panel, in a unanimous decision, held that the high court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain suit against the Rivers State LG elections.

According to the appellate court, section 28 of the Electoral Act does not cover elections conducted by states but only Federal elections, governorship and Area Council Elections in the Federal Capital Territory.

Meantime, the Supreme Court adjourned the case for judgment on a day it dismissed an appeal Fubara filed to challenge another judgment that sought to compel him to re-present the 2024 budget of the state before Martin Amaewhule-led faction of the Rivers State Assembly.

When the appeal was called up for hearing, yesterday, Fubara’s lawyer applied to withdraw it, saying it had been overtaken by events.

Neither Wole Olanipekun, who stood for the Amaewhule-led Rivers State lawmakers, nor Mr. Daudu, who represented the 3rd to 12th defendants, challenged the withdrawal, though they persuaded the apex court to award N2million cost to each of them.

The respondents further convinced the Justice Abba-Aji-led panel to dismiss the matter instead of striking it out, noting that they have already exchanged processes with the Appellant.

Maintaining that Fubara’s loss was “self-inflicted,” the appelate court held that since his counter-affidavit was withdrawn, “the appellant is deemed to have admitted the rather weighty facts that were presented by the respondents.”

The Supreme Court, yesterday, also reserved its verdict on seven consolidated appeals that are trailing the Appeal Court judgment that vacated the order that initially stopped the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, from releasing monthly statutory allocations to Rivers State.

Factional members of the Rivers State Assembly loyal to the immediate past governor of the state and current Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mr. Nyesom Wike, had insisted that all federal monthly allocations meant for Rivers state, should be withheld.

On his part, governor Fubara argued that the Amaewhule-led group had since ceased to be lawmakers in the state, having decamped from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which sponsored their election, to the All Progressives Congress, APC. (Vanguard)