Akwa Ibom: Akpabio Knows Fate Friday

Nigeria’s Supreme Court on Thursday adjourned till Friday, 1 June, to hear and deliver judgment in an appeal by the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, governorship candidate in Akwa-Ibom State, southsouth Nigeria, Senator James Akpanudoedehe.

At the proceedings on Thursday, the presiding Judge, Justice Maryam Aloma-Mukhtar took judicial notice that the stipulated time frame for the determination of the appeal will expire tomorrow (Friday) and decided to adjourn till tomorrow hoping a full panel will be constituted to determine the appeal as demanded by parties.

“The matter will be heard and decided tomorrow one way or the other, while reasons for the judgment will be given later,” the jurist declared.

The 5-member panel arrived at the decision after agreeing that a seven-member panel of the apex court is required to hear the appeal, considering its constitutional nature.

Akpanudeodehe is challenging the decision of the Court of Appeal, which affirmed the verdict of the Election Petition Tribunals that dismissed his petition on the ground that it was not heard within 180 days as stipulated in Section 285 (6) of the Constitution.

The apex court similarly shifted hearing of the appeal by the ACN Governorship candidate in Benue, Prof Steve Ugba to 4 June as it could not be heard today as scheduled.

The appeals could not be heard following a request by Ugba’s counsel, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, a senior advocate of Nigeria, for the appeal to be heard by a 7-man panel as the appeal is a constitutional matter.

Similar position was canvassed in the Akwa-Ibom case by Akpanudodehe’s lawyer, Mr. Kola Awodehin, also a senior advocate of Nigeria.

Akpanudoedehe is asking the court to overrule itself just as it did on its decision in the Borno governorship election appeal where it dismissed the petition of the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate, Alhaji Mohammed Goni because it was not heard within 180 days as stipulated in Section 285 (6) of the Constitution.

He contended that the decision was reached on a wrong premise because the court did not consider the effect of its interpretation of Section 285(6) of the constitution on some other basic and fundamental provisions of the Constitution.

He argued that the decision is inconsistent with Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) which guarantees the right to fair hearing within a reasonable time.

Furthermore, the ACN governorship candidate posited that the adopted interpretation of Section 285(6) of the 1999 Constitution in ANPP v Goni extinguished the constitutionally guaranteed right of appeal against the decision of an Election Tribunal and the right of a successful appellant to fair hearing on the merit of the petition.

By Nnamdi Felix/Abuja