- by Lanre Adewole, with agency reports -
Controversy and uncertainty as the Supreme Court, on Thursday ruled that it could not declare Captain Idris Wada as the Kogi State governor-in-waiting. A full panel of the apex court headed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher declared on Thursday that the governorship election of December 3, 2011 which produced Wada was unknown to it.
The seven-man panel made the pronouncement while delivering ruling in an application brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seeking a declaration that Wada was governor-in-waiting, having won the governorship election in the state.
The application brought by Chris Uche SAN on behalf of the ruling party also requested for a consequential order foreclosing any primary or gubernatorial election in the state, since they had been conducted with Wada as winner.
Asking that the consequential order should flow from the panel’s judgment sacking five governors, including former Kogi State governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, Uche argued that Kogi’s case was peculiar considering that Wada had emerged as governor-elect before the judgment.
Justice Musdapher ruled that the court was constrained to give such consequential order, because the issues raised were not known to the panel during the handling of the appeal on the tenure of the five sacked governors.
He noted that the issue before them was whether the tenure of the sacked governors had ended, adding that there was nothing relating to governorship election and governor-in-waiting in the appeal from which the judgment in question arose.
Dismissing the application unanimously, the apex court held that there was no connection between the January 27 judgment and the consequential order sought for.
The Chief Justice of Nigeria noted in his ruling that what the court sat on was the reliefs which the plaintiffs (sacked governors) sought at the lower court which had been dismissed.
According to him, “we think a consequential order must give effect to the judgment of the court. It must follow an influence flowing from the judgment earlier delivered but in this case, the subject matter which this order targets did not flow from the judgment.
“I have looked at the reliefs before us, the appellant is asking us to give an order over an order which does not flow from the judgment we earlier made.
“In view of public interest, jurisdiction is not averted to re-argue the case already considered by this court. No doubt the court has a wide jurisdiction to give relief and consequential order where justice is to be done.
“The motion is accordingly dismissed. All application for joinder is also dismissed.”
Moving his application on Thursday, Uche had told the apex court that, “we want the court to give a consequential order giving direction in respect of the judgment of January 27 as it pertains to Kogi State where election had taken place and a governor was in waiting as of the date of the said judgment.”
Counsel for Isah Echocho, Chief Wole Olanipekun, countered that the application brought by the PDP was an abuse of court process and it should be dismissed, adding that at no time was the court informed that an election was held in Kogi State neither was there a governor in waiting.
Counsel for Oyebode Makinde, another governorship aspirant in the state, Alex Izinyon SAN aligned himself with the submission of Olanipekun thereby praying the court to dismiss the application.
The apex court concurred with the dissenting duo.
Uche told the court he was withdrawing the application with the court insisting that it would rule on it for record purpose.
