The governorship election held in April in Taraba State. But the exercise is still inconclusive. Since Governor Dambaba Suntai, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) assumed the reins, he has not slept with the two eyes closed. His victory has been a subject of dispute at the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Jalingo, the state capital.
The ruling party has claimed that the poll was free and fair and Suitai was the choice of Tarabians. But the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Senator Joel Ikenya, disagreed, saying that it was grossly rigged by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in favour of PDP, which he described as the highest bidder.
In a suit filed by their counsel, F.K Idepefo, Senator Ikenya and his running mate, Hon. Isa Ajiya, claimed that the exercise violated the Electoral Act and the Constitution. Respondents include Suntai, his deputy, Abubakar Danladi, and INEC. The counsel prayed the tribunal chaired by Justice L.D. Abba to quash the victory of the governor. He canvassed three grounds. These are the lack of accreditation, discrepancy in the result sheets and falsification of figures.
However, counsel to the respondents; E.A. Aremo, Q.E.B Offiong (SAN) and A.J. Akanmode (SAN), countered the claims. They maintained that the PDP won the election, adding that the conduct of the exercise conformed substantially with the laid down laws.
In his petition, Ikenya insisted that "the poll was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the provision of the amended Electoral Act 2010. He said: "Considering the terrain and landmass of Taraba State, it was not possible for INEC to have conducted election on April 26 and declare a winner the next day". He pointed out that Forms EC8As had figures that were predicated, adding that the ballot papers were subjected to assault through multiple voting and multiple thumb-printing.
The ACN candidate called 12 witnesses. The respondent called nine. Aremo submitted that, on ground of violation of the component part of voting, especially accreditation, collation of results and declaration of results, Suitai's victory was null and void. Quoting the Court of Appeal verdict in the case between Kayode Fayemi and Segun Oni, he said: "The concept of election denotes a process constituting accreditation, voting, collation, recording on all relevant INEC forms and declaration of results. The collation of all results of the polling unit making up the wards and the declaration of results are the constituents elements of an election as known".
The counsel sited specific local governments, where he alleged that discrepancies existed in in figures recorded and ballot papers and boxes issues out. An example is Gassol Council, where it is alleged that the hard score of candidates were not recorded and presiding officers failed to stamp and sign them.
In fact, the counsel alleged that elections did not hold in some wards, due to the difficult terrain. Examples he cited were Sardauna local government, Gashaka Local government, Bali local government and Kurmi local government. According to him, in respect of multiple voting or thumb=printing, "the production of the voters' register showing that the number of votes cast is in excess of the number of voters accredited on the voters' register is a conclusive proof of the fact of multiple voting or multiple thumb-printing".
Outside the court. Suntai and Ikenya have been trading words. The camp of the governor believe that he won the votes of the people, based on his performance in office. But Ikenya objected to this view, saying that the state has been badly misgoverned. He said: "PDP has ruined Taraba State and that is why the ;party was rejected at the polls. The verdict of the tribunal will put an end to the battle of wits inside and outside the court.
The Nation