{"id":312318,"date":"2011-03-15T23:30:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-15T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/"},"modified":"2011-03-15T23:30:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-15T23:30:00","slug":"court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Court: Uduaghan to face election next month"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

THERE will be a governorship election in Delta State next month, a court has ruled.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday\u2019s ruling by a Federal High Court in Asaba has dashed Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan\u2019s hope of remaining in office till 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

Uduaghan went to court, seeking to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting a governorship election in the state next month.<\/span><\/p>\n

Uduaghan\u2019s counsel, Mr. Alex Izinyon (SAN), argued that by the provisions of Section 180 of the 1999 Constitution, the plaintiff\u2019s tenure began on January 10, the date he was sworn in again after the January 6 rerun election. He said by virtue of this, Uduaghan ought to remain in office till 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

Uduaghan\u2019s victory in the 2007 elections was nullified, following a case instituted by the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) candidate, Chief Great Ogboru.<\/span><\/p>\n

Justice Ibrahim Buba in a two-hour judgment, ruled that Uduaghan\u2019s case failed, having regard to the amendment to Section 180 subsection 2A of the 1999 Constitution.<\/span><\/p>\n

Justice Buba ruled that the \u201cdeclarative reliefs sought and the injunctions sought cannot be granted\u201d. \u201cThe case of the plaintiff fails and the case is hereby dismissed,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Justice Buba said Uduaghan\u2019s case was not similar to the case of the governors of Adamawa, Kogi, Cross River, Bayelsa and Sokoto states who were granted extension till next year by another court, which the Independent National Electoral COmmission (INEC) has challenged.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Judge said Uduaghan\u2019S rerun election victory and the subsequent oath of office he took occurred after the amended 1999 Constitution was passed by the National Assembly and assented to by President Goodluck Jonathan.<\/span><\/p>\n

He said: \u201cA literal and purposeful interpretation will be that section 180 sub section 2A in respect of the instant case does not match, having regards to the commencement date that is July 15, 2010 of the amendment Act and the notification of November 19, 2010.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Justice Buba added: \u201cI am more than inclined to agree with the submissions of Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) that the constitution did not contemplate a situation where a governor will serve for seven years in office in the place of four years.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am of the considered opinion that the mandate of the governor lies with the electorate and not in the court under the thin disguise of judicial interpretation of cases \u00a0not on all fours with and which facts are not the same and the circumstances are also not the same stet.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Counsel to Democratic People\u2019s Party (DPP) Mr. Robert Emukpueruo hailed the judgment. \u201cI cannot but commend what is clearly a scholarly judgment. You have stood on the side of history,\u201d he told the court.<\/span><\/p>\n

Delta State officials in court left dejected after the ruling which was initially fixed for Monday but deferred because there was no power supply to the court. Commissioners Dr. Joseph Otumara (Health), Rev. Sola Williams (Environment) and Oma Djebah (Information) and some members of the House of Assembly, who attended the session, filed out of court in disappointment. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Commissioner for Communication Chief Palinus Akpeki and State Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chief Solomon Ogba said the party would have to decide on the next course of action.<\/span><\/p>\n

The campaign organisation of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate in the state, Mr. Obarisi Omo-Agege, hailed the judgment as \u201cbold, courageous and inspiring\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement, Omo-Agege said: \u201cDr. Emmanuel Uduaghan cannot by any stroke of imagination benefit from a process he was not part of. He is busy deploying the resources of the state to pay lawyers and his legal team on a case that is as clear and unambiguous as the one in question.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Delta State electorate must be given the right to choose their governor and other representatives at the April elections. The law cannot apply retroactively and the decision of the Federal High Court to so rule is commendable, bold, courageous and inspiring. It has put to rest the suspicion that had enveloped the state about the status of the election.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

View post:
\nCourt: Uduaghan to face election next month<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THERE will be a governorship election in Delta State next month, a court has ruled. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-312318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nCourt: Uduaghan to face election next month - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Court: Uduaghan to face election next month - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"THERE will be a governorship election in Delta State next month, a court has ruled.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/e2ab082athumbnail.php_12.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Court: Uduaghan to face election next month\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-15T23:30:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/\"},\"wordCount\":676,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/e2ab082athumbnail.php_12.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/\",\"name\":\"Court: Uduaghan to face election next month - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/e2ab082athumbnail.php_12.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-15T23:30:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/e2ab082athumbnail.php_12.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/e2ab082athumbnail.php_12.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Court: Uduaghan to face election next month - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Court: Uduaghan to face election next month - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"THERE will be a governorship election in Delta State next month, a court has ruled.","twitter_image":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/e2ab082athumbnail.php_12.jpg","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Court: Uduaghan to face election next month","datePublished":"2011-03-15T23:30:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/"},"wordCount":676,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/e2ab082athumbnail.php_12.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/","name":"Court: Uduaghan to face election next month - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/e2ab082athumbnail.php_12.jpg","datePublished":"2011-03-15T23:30:00+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/03\/15\/court-uduaghan-to-face-election-next-month\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/e2ab082athumbnail.php_12.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/e2ab082athumbnail.php_12.jpg"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312318\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}