The court of appeal sitting in Benin has reserved judgment sine dine in the appeal before it, filed by the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and its candidate in the Sept. 28 governorship election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu.

The appeal is over the Edo election petition tribunal’s stoppage last month of the recounting of ballot papers used in the said governorship election in the on-going trial.

The appellants in their petitions before the Election tribunal, are challenging the declaration by Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) of Mr Godwin Obaseki of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner of the election and listed INEC, Obaseki and the APC as first, second and third respondents respectively in the petition.

The appellants in their pleadings before the tribunal said they would request a recounting in the open court of ballot papers used in four local government areas namely Egor, Akoko-Edo, Estako West and Estako East to prove their case of electoral irregularity.

However, the Justice Ahmed Badamasi-led three man tribunal ordered the stoppage of the recounting , when only three of the four LGAs had been counted.

The tribunal claimed that it made the order becuase the petitioners’ statutory 14-day period to prove their case had lapsed.

The report signed by the Assistant Secretary to the tribunal, Buhari Sani, showed that the recounting was only concluded in Wards 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in Etsako West Local Government Area, Wards 1 and 2 in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area and Ward 1 of Egor Local Government Area.

But the petitioners, who claimed that the stoppage of the recounting would be fatal to their case, approached the court of appeal, seeking for an order for the conclusion of te recounting.

INEC, Obaseki and APC opposed the appellants’ application and urged the court to dismiss it.

Meanwhile, APC filed a cross appeal to the appellants’ application and argued that the tribunal ought not to have granted the request for a recount albinio.

Mr Yusuf Ali, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN), in adopting his address to substantiate his case, argued that several decided supreme court cases supported his claim that thhe tribunal erred in stopping the recounting.

Ali submitted that “we are not asking for an extension of time, but merely asking that the result of an already commenced process be completed’’ saying that stopping the process amounted to the tribunal rendering its own order futile.

But Onyinye Anumoye, INEC counsel, Mr Wole Olanipeku, SAN, representing Obaseki and Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, for APC, in their adopted addresses, opposed the appellants’ application and asked the appeal court to dismiss it.

They argued that since the apellants knew they had 14 days to prove their case but decided to wait till te last minute to ask for a recounting, they could not try to arm twist the tribunal for an extension of time.

In the cross appeal, Fagbami urged the court of appeal to hold that the tribunal ougt not to have granted the appellants’ request for recounting since they never brought a formal application before the tribunal in that regard.

But Ali, who said APC’s application was lacking in merit, laced his argument with decided supreme court cases to justify that parties could also orally apply before the tribunal to make such request.

The Chairman of the appeal court, Justice Olukayode Bada, reserved judgment in both cases indefintely.

www.businessdayonline.com/edo-guber-appeal-court-reserves-judgment-pdp-apc-appeals-indefinitely/

Why would Inec be scared about vote recounts if it's hands were clean

Ize-iyamu will never be Edo governor. He should go home and rest. He lost that election fair and square!

INEC is now officially the mouthpiece of APC. See troubles GEJ had saved this country from, is now staring at us.
Electoral malpractice.