PRESS RELEASE
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION APPEAL
CASE OF INJUSTICE
AND TYRANNY AT THE APEX COURT USING AS COVER UNFOUNDED LEGAL TECHNICALITIES TO
PREVENT THE HEARING ON MERIT OF THE SUBSTANTIVE ELECTION APPEAL DULY FILED
BEFORE THEM
The
just celebrated 59th Independent Anniversary was violently blighted by No other
than the panel led by Hon. Justice Mary Odilli (JSC), as the Apex court which
is expected to be the epitome of Justice as the last Court in the land, as it
has enormous powers to amend and accommodate observed irregularities (if any)
and refuse any reliance on technicalities in the dispensation of justice and
also even adopt issues outside the briefs in the interest of substantive
Justice.
It
regrettable that what happed in the Hollowed Chambers of the Apex Court on
Thursday the 3rd of October 2019, will go down in legal History as unthinkable
injustice and sheer tyranny of the Justices, Clandestinely and literally
preventing the hearing of the HDP presidential election appeal, turning it into
a mere technical “trial of Notices” of Appeal, when filed briefs had already
been argued and exchanged by parties and fixed for hearing.
A
Court of law, talk less of Supreme Court, excerpt where there is compromise,
could have gone ahead to at least allow the formal adoption of all the brief
filed as already filed and exchanged by parties together with the Respondents
technical objection to give a considered decision. The court is not expected
to, on the first sitting, without allowing the parties to be heard on filed
appeal, dismiss a presidential Election Appeal on the flimsy excuse that they
filed to 2 Notices of Appeal which is not prohibited by law as long as they are
filed within the time allowed to appeal. Besides the Injustice done to HDP and
its Presidential candidate, the panel of the Apex court failed in its solemn
and onerous duty to hear the substantive appeal and treat the contentious and
vexed questioned of INEC powers to postpone the scheduled February 16th presidential
Election, to engage in the questioned substituted Election of February 23rd 2019
in violation of S.26(1) of the electoral Act and its strict proviso requiring
“cogent and verifiable reason” not so provided or existed and for which NAMA
debunked, as tendered and admitted in evidence unchallenged, and like many
other issues relating to the matters of Referendum Election as newly provided
and defined under S. 156 of the Electoral Act, to re-assure the voting
populace, the local and international observers and other stakeholders that
future Elections are safe and guaranteed in Nigeria.
We
want to thank Nigerians and press for their enormous support in our little
effort to advance the law of the land, inspite of obstacles and hostilities,
both from our opponent and from the bench, who want the maintenance of the status
quo and the continuous ridiculing of our dear country Nigeria as lawless. We
are comforted by the well wishes we get and the irrepressible spirit of our
founding National leader and presidential candidate who has sworn to leave
partisan politics if the court fails to define and affirm the true position of
the electoral laws.
We
have no doubt that Nigerians today are more confounded and confused by the
present state of our judiciary and now the Apex court, who inspite of
admonitions they make themselves concerning the unscrupulous use of legal
technicalities to wreck injustice, even in Election petition, as even the
ailing Prof. Ben Nwabueze in his wheelchair had to plead a few months ago. The
judges still fall back to same when it suits them, as they did on Thursday the
3rd of October to appease their benefactors and powers that be. Question then
is, where is the much touted independence of the judiciary and hope of the
common man, if all the judges now do is take-over cases and do them for their
favoured parties before them or sponsor evidence against their adversaries, as
happened on Thursday to terminate pre-maturedly a “troubling case” under the
guise of legal objection without hearing same on merit, even where such case is
well made out as the HDP and its presidential candidate have done, which is
still unchallenged and admitted by the Respondent.
Our
consolation and happiness is that the tribunal and now the court of Appeal
reliance on legal technicalities and refusal to hear and address the real issues
on merit, have confirmed the HDP unchallenged case of having emerged winners at
the February 16th 2019 presidential election, as the affirmed as acclaimed
winners freely elected by citizens popular majority votes in accordance with S.
14(2), 132,133 of the constitution and S. 2(c) 132 and 156 of the electoral Act
and the provisions of the African charter as against the substituted questioned
February 23rd 2019 Election as undertaken by the cabals (Cabal Presidency),
which had no force of law being invalid, null and void abinitio and the returns
thereof and for all times.
The
INEC claim of any such returns is invalid in law and which the court has not
pronounced otherwise on merit from the perspective of the HDP case under S. 26
(1) (4) (5) of the electoral Act. On the other hand, the HDP misunderstood
case, not having been cross - petitioned by the Respondent and issues thereof
not resolved by the tribunal and the Apex court after the unchallenged and
admitted case of the HDP, the citizens elected president remains the validly
elected, as the HDP petition was not a complaint against itself, but to protect
the already acquired right at the validly duly scheduled February 16th presidential
election
There
is no gain saying that the HDP Appeal, which the SAN’s were heard and recorded
in camera celebrating and thanking God for HDP premature ejection by the now
worried supreme court panel is clear evidence of the undercurrent and political
undertone of the gang up against the citizen elected president at the February
16th 2019 presidential election also defined under the electoral Act as same as
Referendum with common denominator of the people’s popular votes and will as
required, acknowledged and protected universally and which can be taken up and
adjudicated under any other law as provided under S. 2(c) of the electoral Act,
anywhere.
The
HDP presidential candidate having made out an unchallenged case at the
tribunal, as having been elected by affirmative majority at the YES votes,
unopposed at the INEC abandoned February 16th, 2019 presidential
election/Referendum directly concluded by the citizens, following INEC false
claim of postponement in violation of S. 26(1) on same Election day, after its
world press conference of 15th February assuring the world, it was fully ready
for the February 16th presidential election. The same INEC few hours into the
very Election Day claimed weather sabotage and logistic failure which was
debunked by NAMA, another government Agencies confirming its falsity. The
documentary evidence exhibits of accredited citizens observers and tendered and
admitted Exhibits P1 – P10, and following which the respondents, unable to
produce credible evidence after joining issues, rested their case on the HDP
and its candidate’s case, admitting to same unchallenged.
The
tribunal in search of Evidence to sponsor on behalf of the Respondents to
re-invert their lost case misinterpreted all the relevant extant laws,
including S. 285(14) of the constitution and S. 26 (1) of the electoral Act, to
divest itself of the jurisdiction to hear the petition before it, calling a
duly commenced and concluded election, in which even sensitive materials,
voters and observers had travelled to locations nationwide, as a “pre-election
matter” so as to accommodate the questioned substituted February 23rd 2019
election, without force of law, and deemed Under S.26(4) & (5) of the
election Act as “suspended” on being challenged as did the HDP petition to
preserve the already won presidential election of February 16th 2019.
The
HDP case is that INEC having abandoned the duly scheduled February 16th underway,
as citizen observers concluded same day, without due postponed of same and
without any “cogent and verifiable reason” and having conceded and admitted
same at the tribunal, HDP and its candidate case has been made out as admitted
to by the Respondents, and being the first substantive election in time, the
tribunal claim to lack of jurisdiction does not change that facts of the
earlier emergence as elected president of the HDP candidate as the HDP petition
was not questioning the HDP as winner of the elections, but the return of the
APC candidate at the questioned, unduly postponed substituted February 23rd election.
Again
the reliance of the appeal court on technicalities to pre-empting the hearing
of the substitutive appeal and in hustling citing order 8 of the Supreme Court
rules and which no part prevents the filing and hearing two or more Notices,
within the time allowed to file the Notice as the Appellants did, and was
forced on it, by the tribunal refusal to release its judgment delivered on
22/08/2019, which it later released over 9 days after knowing HDP had only
14days from the date of delivery of the judgment to file its Notice of Appeal
or additional grounds of appeal and which mistaken heading the appeal court
capitalized on and refuse to accept any adjustment of such technical
misplacement of title as it as enormous powers in the interest of justice to
allow necessary adjustment as any irregularity (if any) can be regularized to
allow the hearing of the substantive appeal as required by law.
Presently
in Nigeria, the duly elected and yet unsworn in, which the reliefs as sworn in
the appeal at the Supreme Court was to achieve and sought to be scuttled by the
resort to technicalities as unduly applied by the Supreme Court panel outside
the provision of the law, is the HDP’s candidate, Chief Ambrose Albert Owuru.
We
will take our case to the public court to protect the enshrined and guaranteed
rights of affected citizens freely elected and choice of president by popular
votes leaders of their choices, as oppose to the one by a few cabals as Edozie
JSC in Ojukwu vs Obansanjo (2004) (Supra) aptly referred to in that case
especially now our electoral Act has defined election to include and same as
Referendum and which common feature is the popular votes of free citizens in a
democratic system, especially at this time the citizens perceive INEC as
representing the states and the cabals.
What
is important under the new laws, which the Respondents want to see suppressed,
is that this case seeks to expose the limitation of INEC powers to postpone and
conduct election (especially the ones seeks to sabotage on scheduled election
day) at its wimps and caprices without recourse to the limiting provision in S.
26(1) of the Electoral Act requiring cogent and verifiable reason to so
exercise such powers to postpone a duly scheduled election so as to curtail and
checked observed rascalities and impunities of the cabals in the system who
often hijack the people’s will.
It
is our strong believe that the salvation and hope of millions of the poor
masses and the voting public and the down trodden who supported the silent
ballot revolution of 16th February 2019, and the HDP’s ideologues of new
economic welfare state (welfarism) and wealth redistribution for instant
changes and upliftment of our people’s development economically and industrially
as we look forward to history remembering this time of our national life and
acknowledging the acclaimed winner of the February 16th presidential election
under the peculiar situation and invocation of their sovereign powers as
enshrined under S.14(2) of the constitution and African charter in exercise and
demonstration of the superiority of sovereign powers, to check INEC periodic
abuses of their electoral rights in affirmative referendum election.
It
is our firm believe that henceforth INEC will not take for granted their
donated powers on behalf of the people and that this new ideas to protect the
people’s will at elections and the new economic ideology of welfare state
(welfarism) and wealth redistribution should grow from strength to strength and
from Nigeria to across Africa in line with our culture of African communalism
for a prosperous and happy people.
Long
live Nigeria!
God
bless Nigeria!!
Signed
Comrade
Usman Sanni
National
Publicity Secretary
HDP
4th October, 2019
