The Federal High Court in Abuja will on March 10 give ruling on whether to
allow or refuse an application seeking to amend an originating summon
pleading for the removal of the Sokoto State governor, Malam Aminu Waziri
Tambuwal, from office on the account that the primary election of the All
Progressive Congress (APC) that produced him for the 2015 governorship
election was not validly conducted.
The application filed by Senator Umaru Dahiru, an APC governorship
aspirant, and argued by his counsel, Mr. Ikoro I. Ikoro, sought to amend
the originating summon filed against the APC, Tambuwal and the Independent
National Electoral Commission as 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants respectively
before the April 11, 2015 governorship election.
In the amendment being sought, Senator Dahiru is now asking the Federal
High Court to remove Governor Tambuwal from office and declare him as the
winner of the December 2014 APC primary election. The applicant also asked
the court for an order compelling INEC to withdraw the certificate of
return issued to Governor Tambuwal and present it to him on the grounds
that he was the lawfully elected candidate of the APC at the primary
election.
The Senator also sought an order nullifying the nomination of Tambuwal by
APC for the 2015 governorship election and replaced him as the properly
nominated APC candidate to INEC for the 2015 governorship election.
However, in his vehement objection to the application, the APC asked the
court to dismiss the request for the amendment on the ground that it is
not in compliance with the Supreme Court Judgment of December 9, last year
which ordered a retrial of the plaintiff’s case.
The APC represented by Mr. Jubrin Okutepa SAN argued yesterday that the
applicant, Senator Dahiru had changed the character and direction of his
earlier originating summon. The party told the court that the applicant
sought to amend the originating summon because of his sudden discovery
that event had overtaken the initial originating summon and that any
attempt to allow the amendment will amount to an affront to the Supreme
Court Judgment of December last year.
Okutepa further argued that the applicant was not consistent in the
reliefs been sought in the proposed amendment, adding that in the
originating summon, the applicant had asked the court to nullify the APC
primary election on the grounds that it was unlawfully conducted and that
the same applicant cannot seek to be declared winner of the said
unlawfully conducted primary election.
The counsel therefore urged the court to refuse the proposed amendment and
allow hearing in the initial originating summon as directed by the Supreme
Court. Counsel to Tambuwal Mr. Sunday Ibrahim Ameh SAN aligned himself
with the submission of the APC and urged the court to hold that the
amendment being sought by the governorship aspirant is unmeritorious.
The counsel insisted that it is too late in the day for the applicant to
seek the relief after the governorship election had been conducted adding
that the proper place for the applicant to ventilate his anger is the
election petition tribunal. Ameh also submitted that the applicant cannot
even go to any Election Petition Tribunal because the 21 days required by
law under which a petition can be filed to challenge the election of any
declared winner had lapsed since 2015.
The senior counsel therefore urged the court to refuse the temptation of
turning itself to an election petition tribunal as there is no law for
such an action. Justice Gabriel Kolawole, after taken arguments from both
parties fixed March 10 to give ruling on whether to allow or refuse the
proposed amendment sought by the former governorship aspirant.