28th December, 2011
Ayorinde Oluokun & Nnamdi Felix / Abuja
The Supreme Court this morning in Abuja affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal and upheld the victory of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at last April’s Presidential Election.
In a unanimous decision, the apex court held that the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, failed to discharge the burden of proof placed upon it by the Electoral Act to prove its allegation that the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, did not conduct the election according to the provisions of the law.
The court held that the allegation of non compliance as alleged by the appellant, the CPC, was not proven and that the burden did not shift to the electoral body or any of the respondents, to prove that the alleged allegation of non compliance was enough to have affected the outcome of the election.
The lead judgment which was read by Justice Olufunmilayo Adekeye, the court held that mere allegation of substantial non compliance by the CPC, does not automatically shift the burden to the respondents to proof that the outcome of the election was not affected by such non compliance.
The court further held that the refusal by the trial court to allow the CPC swap witness deposition and which the party failed to appeal against took the wind out of their petition in that there was no evidence in the acceptable format to support the party’s allegation of substantial non compliance in the election.
Consequently, the court dismissed the appeal and affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeal which upheld the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo as winners of the last April’s Presidential election.
Reacting to the decision of the court, General Muhammadu Buhari, candidate of the CPC at the Presidential Election slammed the court for closing its eyes to the abuse of the electoral guidelines by INEC and decried the refusal of the electoral body to allow his party have access to materials used by INEC in the conduct of the election to enable them proof their allegation of malpractices during the election.
He blamed the violence which broke out in some states after the presidential election on such electoral malpractices and maintained that the Supreme Court which ought to use its powers to address such, had chosen to look the other way in returning a verdict upholding the results of such a marred election.
Minutes after the case was dismissed Mallam Nasir el Rufai, former minister of Federal Capital Territory took to twitter to deride the judgement.
El-Rufai who sat beside General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of CPC in the 2011 presidential election during the delivery of the judgement at the Supreme this morning said the party lost the appeal because it was not allowed access to biometric data and voters’ register to prove its case.
He added that it was baffling that the apex court did not note this in its judgement. “CPC appeal to Supreme Court dismissed unanimously. No mention of refusal to give us access to ballot papers and biometric register! What a country!†the former minister who was recently appointed as the head of a committee that will re-organise CPC said in his first twitter post.
In his second post, El-Rufai linked CPC inability to prove its case to the removal of Justice Isa Ayo Salami as President of Court of Appeal: “How can CPC prove its case when Salami PCA was removed to ensure that access to ballot papers and biometric register of voters are denied? Sad.â€
On his part, President Jonathan has welcomed the unanimous confirmation by the Supreme Court of Nigeria today of his victory in the April, 2011 Presidential elections.
The President applauds the ruling by seven justices of the court which puts a final seal of approval on his victory which was already acknowledged by the vast majority of ordinary Nigerians, political parties and the international community.
He also commends the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), General Muhammadu Buhari for availing himself of the country’s legal and judicial system in expressing his reservations about the conduct of the elections.
Now that that process has run its full course, President Jonathan hopes that General Buhari and his party will accept the ruling of the esteemed Judges of the Supreme Court in good faith and join hands with him and other well-meaning Nigerians to build a united, stronger and prosperous nation that present and future generations of Nigerians can be proud of.
He expects that General Buhari will continue to contribute positively to national development and also mobilize his supporters across the country to join in the process of national reconciliation and national renaissance.
President Jonathan thanks all Nigerians once again for their trust and confidence which gave the Jonathan/Sambo ticket an overwhelming victory in the elections.
He assures the nation that the federal government, under his leadership, will remain fully focused on its objectives and continue to work assiduously to implement its agenda for national transformation in fulfilment of his promise of better living conditions for all Nigerians.