Sokoto Guber Tussle: Tambuwal, APC Fail To Stop Court Process Filed Against Them

Attempts by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State to move a Federal High Court in Abuja to reject court processes filed against his nomination by the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the 2015 Governorship election, have been dismissed.

The processes filed by Senator Umaru Dahiru and barrister Aliyu Abubakar Sanyinna both governorship aspirants on the platform of APC were accepted by Justice Gabriel Kolawole as being competent and properly filed to challenge the nomination of the governor for the election of the 2015.

At the mention of the suit yesterday, the APC’s counsel, Mr. Jibrin Okutepa and Mr. Sunday Ibrahim Ameh (SAN) for Governor Tambuwal vehemently opposed the originating summons and the affidavit filed by Dahiru to challenge the propriety of the 2015 APC Sokoto Governorship Primary Election on the ground that the primary election was fraught with fraud, breach of Electoral Act and APC’s guidelines and also marred with violence.

The contention of APC and Tambuwal’s Lawyers was that a new counsel and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Roland Otaru was not properly changed to replace Professor Awa Kalu (SAN) who they said was the counsel for the plaintiffs on record. Okutepa and Ameh insisted that for the two plaintiffs to properly change their lawyer, the leave of the court must first be obtained and secured in line with provision of the Federal High Court Practice Direction.

They therefore urged the court to reject all the process filed by Otaru on the ground that they are incompetent and unlawful for the court to adjudicate upon. However, Otaru in his submissions informed Justice Kolawole that he announced his appearance as holding the brief of Awa Kalu, adding that his coming to the case was misconstrued as a change of lawyer by the counsel to the APC and Tambuwal. Otaru urged the judge to discountenance the objection of Tambuwal and APC on the ground that the objection was baseless, not competent, frivolous and vexatious.

The senior lawyer insisted that the objection raised against his appearance in the matter and the processes he filed are parts of deliberate plans by Governor Tambuwal and APC to delay the hearing of the case, adding that lawyers from Awa Kalu Chambers are with him and that there has been no objection to his appearance from Kalu’s chamber.

However, in his ruling, Justice Kolawole recalled that the Supreme Court had in December 2016 directed that the case be giving accelerated hearing in the interest of Justice to both parties. The judge held that since the originating summon filed by the two plaintiffs have not being heard, they did not need any leave of the court to file further affidavit process and therefore all processes filed in relation to the suit are properly and legally filed as required by law.

Justice Kolawole agreed with Otaru that he was holding the brief of Awa Kalu hence the objection of Governor Tambuwal and APC lacked merit and are baseless because the legal representation of the plaintiffs has not been changed.

The judge further said that it would be against the interest of justice to reject the processes including further affidavit filed by the two plaintiffs against governor Tambuwal because the process are properly filed and that the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have already replied to the originating summons and the further affidavit while only Governor Tambuwal chose not to file written address.

The Judge therefore ordered Tambuwal to file his written address within 14 days so as to properly join issues with the two plaintiffs who are challenging the legality of the primary election that produced him as governorship candidate of APC.

Justice Kolawole said that he is bound by the directive of the Supreme Court that the case must be heard expeditiously so as not to render the case of the two plaintiffs a mere academic and therefore ordered the plaintiffs to file their reaction on points of law to the written address of Governor Tambuwal within 7 days of being served. Meanwhile hearing on the suit has been fixed for May 23, 2017.