The Supreme Court on Monday in a split decisions of three to two justices of five man penal declared Senate President, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan as the Senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for Yobe North Senatorial District in February 25, 2023 general election.
A majority judgment delivered by Justice Centus Chima Nweze, the apex court set aside the concurrent decisions of the trial Federal High Court Damaturu,Yobe State and the Court of Appeal Abuja Division that affirmed Bashir Sheriff Machina the winner of May 28 primary election as the rightful candidate.
Bashiru had approached the Federal High Court Damaturu in an originating summons after APC summited Ahmad Lawan name to the Independent National Electoral Commission,INEC ,as it’s candidate for Yobe North Senatorial District.The party claimed that Bashiru had withdrawn from the race, but Bashiru vehemently denied the claim and went to Court.
The Federal High Court Damaturu in its judgment ordered APC to forward Bashiru to INEC as the rightful candidate.
Dissatisfied with the judgment, APC went on appeal . The Court of Appeal in a judgement delivered by it’s President Justice Monica Dagban-Mesah upheld the lower court decision and directed
APC to forward the name of Bashiru Sheriff Machina to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the authentic winner of the primary election held on May 28, 2022.
Court of appeal further declared the primary election conducted by the APC on June 9, 2022 as invalid and a gross violation of the electoral Act as it was not monitored by INEC.
Still dissatisfied, APC filed an appeal at the Supreme Court. Delivering the lead majority judgment Justice Nweze held that the suit which was commenced by originating summons was incompetent, adding would not invoke the jurisdiction of the court.
He said that the issues in contention were serious contradictions and that it was wrong for the plaintiff to have come the court through the originating summons . The plaintiff ought to come through Writ of summons in view of grievous allegations in his suit against the defendants.
Justice Nweze said that hostile issues were involved in the Machina’s matter that cannot be resolved through originating summons.
However, Justices Adamu Jauro and Emmanuel Akomaye Agim dissented from the majority judgment and held that both the Federal High Court and the Court of Appeal were right and correct in their findings.They were also right in declaring Bashiru as APC’S Senatorial candidate for the Yobe North Senatorial District.
The two justices held that Bashiru was lawfully nominated because the primary election of May 28, 2022 which produced him was lawfully conducted in line with the provisions of the law and monitored by INEC.
Justices Jauro and Agim said it was illegal for APC to later conducted an unlawful primary election on June 9, 2022 with out first cancelling the May 28 primary election.
Besides, they held that Lawan had in an undisputed letter to APC voluntarily withdrew his participation in the primary election for the Presidential election.
They contended that INEC was specific that it witnessed the May 28 primary election that produced Machina but did not witness that of June 9, 2022 because there was no notification from APC to that effect.
The two justices vehemently disagreed with the majority judgment that the matter was wrongly commenced. They said that the dispute didn’t raise serious contradictory issues that cannot be resolved through affidavit evidences.
Justice Agim said “with due respect I don’t agree with the majority judgment but agreed with my noble Justice Jauro that none of the issues raised in the affidavits need an oral evidence to resolve.
It was not in dispute that Lawan withdraw from the race in May 12,2022 in pursue of presidential ambition, Justice Agim said.
It was also not in dispute that there was no notice of primary election for June 9.2022 which purportedly produced Ahmad Lawan.
Both parties agreed that INEC did not monitor the June 9, 2022 primary election.
Besides,”the Supreme Court has no reason whatsoever to interfere with the concurrent findings of facts of the two lower courts,” This court has no power to review the concurrent decisions, justice Agim said.
The two justices also stated that the 17 grounds of appeal filed by APC are mixed law and fact . Therefore the appellant needed to obtained the leave of either the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court, but the party did not even apply for it. They said that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the appeal.
After the dissenting judgments was delivered,the presiding Justice Nweze said that the majority judgment is the Supreme Court’s judgment and court rose.