ACN appeals ruling on Akwa Ibom guber election

Written by – Wednesday, 20 July 2011 00:14

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described as very curious and perverse the ruling of the Akwa Ibom governorship election petition Tribunal, which dismissed the party’s petition and that of its candidates, Senator Akpan Udoedehe and Dr. Samson Umana, and also affirmed the election of Godswill Akpabio as Governor of Akwa Ibom State, even when the petition is yet to be determined on its merit.

A statement by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, issued in London yesterday said the ruling of the Tribunal flies in the face of existing law and jurisprudence on the issue of applying for pre-hearing session, hence the party has instructed its lawyers to immediately precede on appeal.

ACN appealed to its teeming supporters and Akwa Ibom State electorates to remain peaceful and steadfast, saying it believes that justice will definitely prevail and the usurpers will be shown the way out ultimately by the appropriate court.

Explaining its amazement at the ruling, the party noted that the only ground upon which the Tribunal came to its decision is that the petitioners did not seek leave to bring the application for the Tribunal to issue pre-hearing notice.

The statement read in part: ‘’In effect the Tribunal took the curious view that a motion to begin the pre-trial process, because such a motion is taken outside the pre-trial process (as it must be any way!), must be by leave!

“’While our party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, and its candidates who are co-petitioners hold and will continue to hold the judiciary in high esteem, we consider the ruling of this Tribunal to be strange and in total variance with existing law and jurisprudence on issuance of pre-hearing.

“’The provision of paragraph 47(1) of the first schedule to the Electoral Act pursuant to which the Tribunal set aside the order for pre-hearing session it had earlier issued has been part of the Nigerian law since 2007 by way of paragraph 6(1) of the practice direction number 1 of 2007.

“However, there is no legal or judicial authority in Nigeria that prescribes that leave must first be sought and obtained before an application for pre-hearing session can be made and granted. Indeed no tribunal or Court Of Appeal anywhere in the country since the practice directions were first issued in 2007 has ever held that a motion to begin pre-trial must be by leave of court because such a motion is taken outside the pre-trial session!

“The Ruling of the Akwa Ibom State Election Petition Tribunal is therefore not only new jurisprudence but also a very curious one indeed.’’

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