CJN Asks Judge to Reverse Order on Cross River Poll

Written by This Day Wednesday, 22 February 2012

Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher, yesterday directed Justice Abdul Kafarati of the Federal High Court, Abuja, to reverse the order he issued on Monday restraining the Independent National Electoral Commis-sion (INEC) from going ahead with Saturday’s governorship election in Cross River State.

Following the administrative order, Justice Kafarati refused to release the order to the plaintiffs - All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and its governorship candidate, Dr. Obol Patrick Okomiso - in whose favour the order was granted.

The defendant, INEC, also sent a lawyer to the court to collect a copy of the order but could not get it as the trial judge did not make it available.

INEC last night said there was no such order restraining it from conducting election, obviously following the CJN order.
However, a source at the CJN's office told THISDAY that Musdapher was shocked when he learnt about the order by Justice Kafarati and had ordered him to vacate it and put the parties in the matter on notice.

“The order was given without jurisdiction and cannot be allowed to stand. The judge is expected to vacate the said order. The elections are expected to go on as scheduled. The CJN has always cautioned judges against the indiscriminate granting of ex-parte orders. So he has been directed to reverse himself,” the source said.

The plaintiffs had argued that INEC did not have the power to reschedule the election to less than 48 days to the initial date fixed for the election.

According to them, the election had earlier been scheduled by INEC to hold on April 14, 2012, in view of the mandatory timetable set by the Electoral Act for submission of names and addresses of party candidates for that election.

They argued that INEC had no legal justification, whatsoever, to bring forward the date of the said election.
They said: “Apart from the inconvenience, to the parties, of suddenly shortening the period they had already taken for granted as available for their preparations for the election, the abridgment of time is ultra vires, null and void and would be a ground for nullifying the election, if conducted.”

The plaintiffs had asked the court for an order of interim injunction restraining INEC from proceeding with the conduct of the election into the office of governor of Cross River State on February 25, 2012 pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice filed in these proceedings.

Meanwhile, the commission in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Kayode Idowu, said: “Contrary to a widely circulated report that a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has stopped the Cross River State Governorship Election scheduled for Saturday, February 25, 2012, from going ahead, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) hereby affirms that there is no such order.

“This clarification becomes necessary against the background of the report that the court restrained INEC from going ahead with the governorship election through an order issued in Abuja on Monday, February 20, 2012.

“For avoidance of doubt, INEC has not been served with the purported court order. The commission indeed took the pain to check with the court today (yesterday) February 21, 2012, whether there was such an order. The court categorically denied issuing the said order. Actually, neither has the court summoned INEC for defence on any date, as was widely reported.

“The commission hereby calls on the public to be wary of interests that may want to stall the ongoing electoral processes through sensational reports of phantom court orders.”

Idowu also said: “INEC commends Nigerians for keeping faith with the national quest for a credible and durable democracy, and hereby urges Cross River State residents to turn out en masse and exercise their franchise in the governorship election holding on Saturday.”

Comments (0)

Show/hide comments

Show/hide comment form