Presidential polls tribunal adjourns indefinitely

[TGD]

 CPC gets nod to inspect polling materials

THE Presidential Election Petition Tribunal yesterday adjourned sine die (indefinitely) to enable it distil and rule on the propriety of an application brought by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, seeking to stall an attempt by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to ambush him in the course of full hearing of its petition, seeking to nullify the April 2011 presidential polls.

Last Monday, the Justice Ayo Isa Salami-led panel had adjourned till yesterday (Tuesday) to afford parties in the petition ample time to discuss and agree on a way out of the multiple applications, which was stalling the pre-hearing trial of the CPC petition.

But when the matter resumed yesterday, the hearing suffered another hitch as parties failed again to harmonise their positions and reach a compromise on some knotty legal issues.

Just before then, the panel had granted CPC's application, seeking to inspect election materials and conduct forensic test on any of the materials as it deemed necessary. But counsel for the CPC, Ebun Sofunde (SAN), was not satisfied and did not accept the ruling as he insisted that the document encapsulating the agreement between all parties to the petition failed to capture the specifics of its prayer to inspect the election materials from unit to unit and ward to ward.

However, Sofunde shifted grounds when he said that at any time necessary he could bring an application to cure whatever defect he saw in the said ruling.

Sofunde's position did not betray what was to befall the petition later as for the second time in two days, multiplicity of pending applications stalled the hearing again as parties were unable to agree on all the issues contained in the pending applications.

Yet, some of the issues were resolved leading to the withdrawal of some of the applications, while others where no compromise was arrived at were billed for hearing.

Meanwhile, the application filed by a team of lawyers, including Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), Dr. Alex Aigbe Izinyon (SAN) and Damian Dodo (SAN) representing President Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo was heard.

Olanipekun said the application was brought pursuant to paragraphs 5, 70 and 54 of the 1st Schedule of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended and Order 13, Rules 5 and 7 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rule 2009.

He said Jonathan and Sambo's application seek an order of the court directing the petitioner (CPC) to furnish them with further and better particulars of some itemized paragraphs in their petition.

Olanipekun submitted that the petition filed by the CPC is "generic and omnibus in nature", underscoring the need for the party to supply them better and further particulars needed to aid the expeditious hearing of the petition as the issues will then become very narrow.

He relied on a 2008 decision of an election petition tribunal between a former vice president and presidential standardbearer of the Action Congress (of Nigeria), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar versus President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, wherein the tribunal granted such order in favour of the late former President.

Olanipekun submitted that although Abubakar challenged that decision at the Supreme Court, but lost as the apex court held that the request for better and further particulars is for clarity and precision, to put respondents on notice as to what to expect at trial so as to limit the exercise on the narrow point of issues.

He specifically told the court that he does not understand what the petitioners are claiming.

Olanipekun further told the court that the CPC complained of denial of access to election materials and wondered what this has to do with his clients who are not members of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) even when the court had directed the commission to allow them access to the electoral materials.

The commission and PDP, represented by Chief Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) and Mr. Joe Kyari Gadzama (SAN) respectively, aligned themselves with the submissions of Olanipekun in urging the court to grant the application.

The lawyer to CPC, Mr. Ebun Sofunde (SAN), opposed the application made by Olanipekun, arguing that it amounts to a premature request for evidence, which the petitioner cannot avail the applicants with at this stage of the proceedings.

Sofunde submitted that the Abubakar versus Yar'Adua case cited by Olanipekun could not oust the discretion of the tribunal to decide whether or not to grant the application and urged the court to refuse same.

Justice Salami subsequently adjourned ruling on the application to a date to be communicated to the parties much against his and his co-panellists' wishes which was apparent when he granted Olanipekun and Sofunde 60 minutes for them to agree on the issue and avoid what he considered the needless hearing of an interlocutory application, which could be resolved by the parties.



Source: Presidential polls tribunal adjourns indefinitely