The
Independent National Electoral Commission has urged the Appeal Court to
set aside the judgment of the Akwa Ibom state Governorship Elections
Tribunal and to confirm Governor Udom Emmamuel as the valid winner of
the April 11,2015 governorship elections having polled the majority of
votes cast by the electorates.
In a cross
appeal number EPT/AK/GOV/1/2015, the electoral umpire which faulted the
order for a rerun in 18 local Government areas by the Justice Abubakar
Sadiq Umar -chaired tribunal, prayed the appellate court to dismiss the
Petition of Mr Umana Umana and the All Progressives Congress.
This brief of argument by INEC in a joined
Appeal with the state resident electoral commissioner Austin Okogie was
adopted before the Appeal Court by counsel to the appellants Dr Onyech
Ikpeazu SAN.
The brief
of argument cited 13 grounds in which the lower court erred in its
judgement on October 21, 2015, and sued that the tribunal never provided
sufficient proof that the voters were disenfranchised during the
elections.
INEC
averred that the foundation of the entire petition was commission of
electoral offences of diversion of election materials, inflation and
forgery of election results, but that Mr Umana failed to prove the
allegations beyond doubts as required by law.
The INEC Counsel also posited that it was
not open to the Tribunal to nullify results in all the Polling Units 18
local government areas based on hearsay by witnesses of the defeated APC
candidate Mr Umana.
An instance, according to Ikpeazu, is the
statement by Obong Victor Attah that as he was “…driving back to his
house people were waiving hands [and] when he asked them, they said
there was no election” is not related to any polling Unit in Ibesikpo
Asutan Local Government Area of Akwa-Ibom State.
It would have been logical for the
petitioner at the tribunal to have presented the disenfranchised voters
with their voters cards, “rather than relying on the testimonies of
witnesses who claimed that they put phone calls across to their friends
who said there were o elections.”
The INEC
counsel also argued that the signing of the Local Government result
sheet and Ward result sheets by a single agent cannot nullify votes cast
at Polling Units and recorded in Forms EC8A, as occasioned by the
cancellation of some local government election results by the tribunal.
The electoral commission counsel
briefed the court that “the non-signing of the result by agents of other
political parties will not on its own render the results invalid,”
The INEC
counsel posited that the tribunal judges did not evaluate any evidence
of witnesses that testified in respect of nine of the 18 Local
Government Areas cancelled, namely, Ibeno, Ibiono-Ibom,Nsit Ibom, Nsit
Ubium, Ini, Oron, Nsit Atai, Etinan, and Udung Uko.
Ikpeazu added that no sufficient witnesses
were called from the Polling Units to testify that they were
disfranchised in nine (9) Local Government Areas namely, Etim Ekpo, Uyo,
Ikono, Ibesikpo Asutan, Onna, Ikot Abasi, Oruk Anam, Uruan, and Eket.
Joined as respondents in the appeal by
INEC and The Resident Electoral Commissioner, are Mr Umana Umana, the
All Progressives Congress, Mr Udom Emmanuel, The Peoples Democratic
Party,and the Police.
The Appeal Court has reserved ruling to a later date
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