The surface-scrathing or better put, shadow-chasing judgement handed down by the Kogi 2015 Governorship Election Petition Tribunal headed by Justice Halima Mohammad, on Monday, June 6, 2016 in Abuja will go down in the history of the Nigerian judiciary as one that has not only failed to address but has also glaringly remained silent over the main issue at stake in an election petition before any tribunal since the return of Nigeria to full-blown democracy in 1999.
The million dollar question remains: Can this kind of judgment stand the test of time at both the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court?
It would be recalled that the main challenge and bone of contention before Justice Halima Mohammed’s court of tribunal was the unjust, indefensible and the circumstances under which the November 21, 2015 Kogi Governorship election was declared an ‘inconclusive’ one by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This is in addition to the glaring flagrant non -addressing of almost, if not all the prayers sought by the plaintiff, which in this case is Hon. James Abiodun Faleke.
A close appraisal of ridiculous and laughable judgments given in the past by some election petition tribunals under suspicious circumstances ended up being upturned either at the Appeal Court level or Supreme Court. Will this judgement not go the way of other upturned judgements given by election petition tribunals in the past? Time will surely tell!
– Odunayo Joseph
