The Rivers state elections petitions tribunal has nullified the election of Governor Nyesom Wike and ordered fresh elections to take place in 90 days. The court on Saturday led by Justice Ambusa said the election conducted on April 11 2015 in the country's oil hub which brought Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to power was substantially flawed as it was marred by violence.
Details as follows;
11:02 The PDP argued that the Petitioners leveled allegations of crime against the military which was not joined as a party. The PDP also argued that non-usage of card reader cannot be grounds of nullification of election. PDP thus argued that the petitioners failed to prove their case and case should be struck out.
11:18 The petitioner, Mr. Peterside, argued that the card reader machine was made mandatory by INEC’s guideline and has the backing of the Electoral Act.
11:31 The tribunal adopts only one issue for determination – whether or not the petitioners have proved their case.
11:40 The Tribunal dismisses preliminary issues concerning the competence of the tribunal raised by the respondents. It is now dwelling on its sole issue for determination
11:49 The tribunal restates the petitioners’ allegations inculding poll being marred by intimidation of voters, non-availability of result sheets, snatching of electoral materials, non-collation of results at wards and LG levels etc.
11:50 The Tribunal states that the evidence of the petitioners’ witnesses is relevant and reliable.
11:54 The tribunal states that INEC has the power to insist on card readers. It is not open to anybody to act otherwise – tribunal
11:57 According to the tribunal, Exhibit A9 presented by the petitioners, which is a report by head of election monitoring team of INEC office in Rivers State, Charles Okoye, confirmed the allegations of the petitioners – Tribunal
11:58 The tribunal says card readers were introduced by INEC to ensure credibility and transparency
11:59 We don’t see any conflict between the introduction of card readers and the provisions of the Electoral Act, the tribunal states
11:59 A simple glance of the results (Exhibit A10) showed that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, the tribunal states
12:01 According to the tribunal, an INEC witness said he was not aware of directive by the Commission on the exclusive use of card readers for accreditation.
12:05 According to the tribunal, INEC had directed that if the card reader failed the election should be postponed to the next day.
12:09 According to the tribunal, presiding officers called by the respondents as witnesses said they resorted to manual accreditation because the card reader failed. They said the were not aware of INEC’s directive to postpone the poll under such circumstances.
12:10 The tribunal states that the characters of voters called by Mr. Wike were impugned under cross-examination.
12:15 The voters- Mr. Wike’s witnesses- dodged questions under cross-examination and refused to answer questions on documents the petitioners confronted them with, the tribunal states
12:15 We are in agreement that the evidence of the witnesses of Wike and INEC is incredible and unreliable, Tribunal states
12:17 We are satisfied that the petitioners have proved their case, Tribunal states
12:18 We hereby order INEC to conduct fresh elections.
12:23 Tribunal sacks Nyseom Wike as Rivers Governor.
Former militants in the southern region have said they might resume a fight for a greater share of oil revenues if President Muhammadu Buhari ends an amnesty due to expire in December.
In nullifying the election, the tribunal sitting in the federal capital Abuja declared void the April election of Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as state governor.
"The process of accreditation for the election was compromised," tribunal chairman Justice Suleiman Ambursa said. "It is the view of the tribunal that the election was held contrary to guidelines."
The PDP of former President Goodluck Jonathan, who lost the presidential polls to Buhari in March, rejected the ruling as "manipulation" by Buhari's All Progressives Congress (APC).
The ruling was "completely bizarre, unacceptable and part of the script by the APC to manipulate the will of the people," the PDP said in a statement.
Wike's lawyer Chris Uche said he would appeal the ruling. Buhari's APC had filed a complaint against the state governor vote.
Tensions have been building up in the Niger Delta, to which Rivers State belongs, which remains impoverished despite sitting on much of the West African nation's oil wealth.
Buhari has said he wants to overhaul a multi-million amnesty program for former militants giving them cash handouts and training to get jobs and stop them attacking oil pipelines, but has left details open.
Africa's biggest economy is in a policy vacuum as the Senate has not yet approved Buhari's cabinet, which the former military ruler took four months to nominate.
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