Tribunals sack Kashamu, seven PDP lawmakers, uphold Ekwunife, Gbajabiamila’s elections

Four months after he was sworn in as a member of the Upper Chamber, the Justice Tobi Ebiowei-led National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Friday, sacked the member representing Ogun East Senatorial District, Senator Buruji Kashamu.
Kashamu is not the only lawmaker who got the hammer of the tribunal.
A member of the House of Representatives, Adesegun Adekoya (Ijebu North/Ijebu East/Ogun Waterside Federal Constituency), and five members of the House of Assembly – Wale Alausa, Bowale Solaja, Adejuwon Oyenuga, Adebowale Vinwanu Ojo and Razaq Oduntan representing Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu North I, Ijebu East, Ipokia and Egbado North II constituencies respectively – were also sacked.
They are all members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
But four PDP members of the House of Assembly – Julianah Akintayo (Yewa South) Olujimi Otukoya (Ijebu North East‎), Jemili Akingbade (Imeko-Afon) and Mojeed Olusesan (Sagamu II‎) – were lucky as the tribunal upheld their elections.
While nullifying Kashamu’s victory, the tribunal relied on Section 140 (2) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), saying the results of the election were marred with substantial irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The chairman of the tribunal ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct fresh elections in 110 polling units of Ogun East Senatorial District within 90 days.
Justice Ebiowei, who cancelled 37,008 votes cast during the March 28 National Assembly election, ordered ‎the commission to take into cognisance during the conduct of the rerun the 146,533 valid votes cast in the poll.
The tribunal ruled that out of the 146,533 votes cast, Kashamu polled 75,856 votes while the petitioner, Dapo Abiodun of the All Progressives Congress (APC), scored 70,677 votes.
“We do not feel comfortable to nullify elections in Ogun East when 146,533 votes are valid because of 37,008 unlawful votes,” the tribunal chairman added.
While annulling the election of Adekoya, the tribunal ordered INEC to conduct a fresh election in 222 polling units of the constituency in 90 days.
APC candidates in Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu North I, Ijebu East, Ipokia and Egbado North II had dragged their PDP counterparts to the tribunal, saying their victories in the April 11 election were marred by widespread irregularities and non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
The tribunal ‎ordered rerun in 14 polling units in Wards 6 and 7 of Ijebu-Ode State Constituency where a former Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly, Tola Banjo, had challenged the victory of PDP’s Wale Alausa.
The tribunal also ordered fresh elections in 67 polling units in Ijebu North I Constituency; rerun in seven units in Ijebu East Constituency, and 38 units in Ipokia Constituency.
It also ordered fresh elections in 10 polling units in Egbado North II where APC House of Assembly candidate‎ dragged the winner to court.
In a related development, the Justice Nayai Agabana-led three-man National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Awka on Friday upheld the election of Uche Ekwunife of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Anambra Central senator.
Agabana, who read the judgement unanimously adopted by the panel, dismissed all the reliefs sought by the petitioner, Chief Victor Umeh of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Umeh had challenged Ekwunife’s election on the grounds that the winner was not an authentic member of the PDP when she contested the March 28 election.
In the ruling, the chairman declared that Umeh failed to prove his case, including the claim that the respondent was not an authentic member of the PDP before the election.
In her reactions, Ekwunife commended the tribunal for a thorough job.
“It is a proof that we still have judges with integrity in the country. I defeated Umeh black and white; today’s judgement attested to that,” she said.
But the tribunal nullified the declaration of Dr Okey Eze of the PDP as the winner of the Dunukofia, Anaocha and Njikoka federal constituency election.
The tribunal held that it was the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Mr Dozie Nwakpnkwo, who won the election.
The panelists also held that it was the APGA candidate who scored the highest number of lawful votes cast in the election, contrary to the figure credited to the PDP candidate by INEC upon which it based its declaration of the PDP candidate the winner.
The tribunal emphasised that the results from the polling units were the bases upon which any other figures in any other result sheets concerning any election must be recorded.
Agabana held that from the polling unit result sheets presented in the tribunal, it was clear that Nwankwo scored the highest number of lawful votes cast in the election.
The tribunal, therefore, nullified the return of Eze as the winner of the election and directed INEC to issue Nwankwo with the certificate of return as the authentic winner of the federal constituency poll.
Shortly before the judgement, the tribunal had upheld the election of the PDP candidate, Mr Anayo Nebe, a former speaker of the Anambra House of Assembly, as the winner of the Awka-North and Awka-South federal constituency election of March 28.
The tribunal dismissed the petition of the APGA candidate, Chief Godson Ezenagu, who had alleged that the poll was marred by irregularities, and urged the tribunal to declare him as the winner.
In Lagos, the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Ikeja upheld the victory of the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila.
The tribunal held that Gbajabiamila of the All Progressives Congress (APC) validly won the March 28 election for Surulere Federal Constituency I in Lagos State.
The three-man tribunal led by Justice C.U. Anwuka resolved all issues raised in favour of the respondent.
The tribunal consequently dismissed the petition filed by the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Mr Tony Ashikodi, for failing to prove the allegations of electoral fraud.
Ashikodi had petitioned the tribunal, challenging the outcome of the election.
Ashikodi had alleged that he observed some irregularities during the election which contravened the provisions of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s approved guidelines.
He urged the court to void the election and order a fresh election to be conducted by INEC.
The petitioner had alleged that “the final figures in Form EC 8 C (i) were cancelled and altered with a view to declaring Gbajabiamila the winner of the election.”
He claimed that the 14,351 received by the APC candidate was “whimsically changed’’ to 21,715 while 16,079 earlier recorded for petitioner was changed to 14,550.
However in the judgement, the tribunal said Ashikodi failed to substantiate his allegations that ballot boxes were snatched and result sheets falsified by INEC.
The judges noted that the petitioner failed to call a single witness to substantiate his claims.
They said Ashikodi, in his evidence-in-chief, admitted that he was not present at the collation centre and did not tender any document to back his allegations of multiple irregularities.
The tribunal also faulted the claim of the petitioner’s counsel, Mr Kalu Onuah, that the election did not comply with Section 139 of the Electoral Act and, therefore, dismissed the petition.