The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has formally filed an appeal against the judgment of the Rivers State Governorship Election Tribunal nullifying the election of Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike.

The Electoral Body filed her appeal dated 4th of November, 2015 at the Court of Appeal, Abuja Judicial Division on 5th November, 2015.

In a 12-ground appeal filed on behalf of INEC by her counsel, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu, SAN, the Electoral body challenged the entirety of the tribunal’s judgment.


The reliefs sought by INEC in her appeal include : "an order allowing the appeal, an order setting aside the decision of the tribunal and an order dismissing the petition as lacking in merit ".


According to INEC, the learned justices of the tribunal erred in law when it failed to evaluate the evidence of each of the witness called by the petitioners before reaching its decision.

INEC stated that: "The tribunal was obligated to making findings as to where elections were said to have held on the one part and where they were alleged not to have held on the other part".

The Electoral Body further stated that the tribunal erred when it resorted to generic declaration like "many instances", when the justices were obligated to specify where the evidence elicited under cross examination enhanced the case of the first and second respondents.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, further stated that the tribunal erred when it used the testimonies of witnesses who were not at polling stations to nullify the Rivers governorship election.

INEC in her appeal stated: "Evidence of reports at an election by persons who did not make them and who did not observe th the proceedings, the subject matter of the reports cannot be substitute for evidence of witnesses in the polling units of Rivers State.

"Exhibits A303-A305, A307 and A2 are documentary hearsay which ought not to be relied upon as proof of the allegations of non-conduct and improper conduct of election in the polling units in Rivers State ".

INEC stated that the tribunal disregarded Section 49 (1) and (2) of the Electoral Act 2010 as amended which is a statutory provision binding on it. The Electoral Body further stated that the decision of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal on the law were duly cited to the tribunal, but it ignored same.

According to INEC, there was no due evaluation of the 56 witnesses called by the petitioners pointing out that the witnesses who testified did not link their testimonies to the documents tendered.


INEC added that the tribunal erred in law when it failed to indicate that the petitioners failed to prove their case on a polling unit by polling unit basis as required by law.

The Electoral Body added that the tribunal erred when it failed to demonstrate the reasons why it rejected the evidences professed by witnesses of INEC, PDP and Governor Wike.


Simeon Nwakaudu,
Special Assistant ( Media ) to the Rivers State Governor.

http://www.metronaija.com/2015/11/inec-files-appeal-case-in-support-of.html

cc: lalasticlala

This is nonsense so appeal court will upturn supreme court judgement abi?
Na which kind weed these people dey smoke?

I do not sapport inec on this

Wike is the man

Ahmadie:
This is nonsense so appeal court will upturn supreme court judgement abi?
Na which kind weed these people dey smoke?

shine ur brain....supreme court judgment was on jurisdiction not Tribunal judgement....

After Wike na still Wike! Gbam

INEC giving Wike hope so that when they want to break his heart, it will be shattered beyond gluing.

This is Great. those who know the Law will see Wisdom in the motion filed as well as d Lacuna in d judgement earlier given by the Tribunal. But those Who r ignorant of d law & whose sense of Reasoning hs been Blinded by political interest will always call it Nonsense. But, ignorant of d law z no excuse.

Wike z entitled to exhaust all available Judicial processes & going to d Court of Appeal z a gud move.

ngeneukwenu

I have never heard of INEC appealing on behalf of a candidate. This is nonsense.

Appeal is allowed. Must it be INEC? INEC are bias officials.

All these shenanigans by a section of the judiciary and the ruling party will not do us any good. If we sincerely believe in the integrity of the man at the helm of affairs of the electoral umpire, we should also believe in the outcome of the electoral process.

Truth be told, there were lots of issues with the election in most states ..but what is special about Rivers state?

What happened in states like Kano, Bauchi, Katsina and co...where underage kids were caught on camera casting vote? He who comes to equity must come with clean hands.

The judiciary should not be dragged into politics.
God bless Nigeria.

Ahmadie:
This is nonsense so appeal court will upturn supreme court judgement abi?
Na which kind weed these people dey smoke?

You really don't understand the issues. Just blind following of party.

Maybe you are the one smoking weeds.

Wike is the man for River state, it's obvious his people are solidly behind him.

Shame on Apc and their r*etarded supporters.

merry02:
shine ur brain....supreme court judgment was on jurisdiction not Tribunal judgement....

the thing pain me as you explained it for that guy... Some people don't reason

dustmalik:
I have never heard of INEC appealing on behalf of a candidate. This is nonsense.

INEC did not appeal for any candidate rather they are trying to protect their integrity. They made a decision by declaring Nyesom Wike the winner of the 2015 governorship election in Rivers State....and they are standing by their verdict in line with facts "on ground" at the time of the election....not just hearsay from people who were not on ground.

Defending one's actions and verdict is a strong sign of integrity. It means that you cannot be swayed to change your position under pressure

Generic conclusion. INEC has taken a step to prove it did its job on those two days but a blind judge wants it to go back to the trenches.

If only those justices know what it takes to conduct election in Rivers state, they would not attempt a rerun.

Ahmadie:
This is nonsense so appeal court will upturn supreme court judgement abi?
Na which kind weed these people dey smoke?

Abokii will always exhibit abokism.

Well d judgment delivered by d tribunal was questionable, especially on x grounds d election was nullified
However let justice b allowed to prevail

Dannyset:
INEC giving Wike hope so that when they want to break his heart, it will be shattered beyond gluing.

CHAI!!!

Wike should just save his money to support a riverine PDP candidate or he can as well waste it as the next Rivers Governor has to be from riverine area willy nilly..

dustmalik:
I have never heard of INEC appealing on behalf of a candidate. This is nonsense.

They have to. Because if not it means the inec staffs that signed the result sheets at the units are in trouble and should be jailed for puting the signature when there was no elections in the units.

INEC are just trying to hide all d mago mago they did during d election...I hope they are ready to defend dat child's play they called election when d time comes

Now it's getting interesting. I could remember vividly after the election, INEC came and declare rivers state election free and fair only for apc and their magomago tribunal to sit in Abuja and nullify it.

Am I dreaming?

Hypocrisy is when you Praise INEC/Jega as incorruptible after the Presidential elections, then condemn them after the Rivers Guber election.

mekaboy:


They have to. Because if not it means the inec staffs that signed the result sheets at the units are in trouble and should be jailed for puting the signature when there was no elections in the units.

Election tribunals judgements cant send anyone to prison dear

Exactly. But the truth is that,majority of Nigerians are idiots and as such,do not understand these things. Nobody is talking of the Kano elections,the 1.9m votes and the mystery wiping off from the surface of the earth,of the resident electoral officer and his entire family.

chesterlee:
Hypocrisy is when you Praise INEC/Jega as incorruptible after the Presidential elections, then condemn them after the Rivers Guber election.

Kennywills7:
Well d judgment delivered by d tribunal was questionable, especially on x grounds d election was nullified
However let justice b allowed to prevail

The tribunal's ruling on the card readers will surely be upturned.The worst scenario for Wike would be akin to that Akwa Ibom state where re-runs would only be held in some LGAs

If INEC is appealing on behalf of wike to defend their conduct of Rivers election, I think Democracy has come to stay in Nigeria in this government of change.

If it were the days of Maurice Iwu and Obasanjo ..... Na do or die affairs o

Warrisdis? You can see that this INEC under apc is different from the one under pdp.
The goodnews is that, there was no election ever nullified in this country where INEC accepted its fault. Infact, in situations where a sitting governor clearly lost his seat, INEC stood their ground and supported those that stole the mandate given to others. I'm not perturbed by this cos inec is joined in the case by wike.

abuchilag:



INEC did not appeal for any candidate rather they are trying to protect their integrity. They made a decision by declaring Nyesom Wike the winner of the 2015 governorship election in Rivers State....and they are standing by their verdict in line with facts "on ground" at the time of the election....not just hearsay from people who were not on ground.

Defending one's actions and verdict is a strong sign of integrity. It means that you cannot be swayed to change your position under pressure

just take a bow !
That was my point. INEC must always stand by it's decision until pushed by a highier authority like the court. INEC is doing what it is expected and usually done by them. Why are pdp guys celebrating as is if they won the case already.