Bribery At Tribunals

In a season of scandals, the judiciary appears unwilling to be exempted from the rot that has hit the system. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi says there are allegations of corruption against some judges at the election tribunals. This again brings to the fore the apprehensions about the rulings of these tribunals, as well as their ability to serve their purpose - dispensation of justice.

These allegations are not new. The House of Representatives Committee on Justice gave vent to them following petitions it got, in which there were allegations that as much as N2.1 billion has been spent in bribing judges at tribunals.

Some things are new about the latest allegations.

They are capable of pitting the judiciary against the legislature. The House of Representatives Committee on Justice is asking for the rulings of the tribunals. Its intentions are not clear.

Read More...

This article typifies the constant allegations that are always present in Nigeria and the current popular trend of news about tribunals. Even long after the tribunals are over, people are still disputing the results with the most popular form of accusations in Nigeria: Bribery, because even if the allegations are false, the stink of it stays, forever tarnishing the accused party's reputation. 

Grade This Post.

U.S. report questions voting rights abuses in Nigeria

For the first time this year, the United States government is commenting openly about its disappointment with how certain 2007 election petitions are being settled in Nigeria without attention being paid to what it described as criminal activity during the polls.

In its current World Annual Report of Human Rights for 2007 released yesterday in Washington DC, the U.S. government submitted that in Nigeria "the government's human rights record remained poor, and government officials at all levels continued to commit serious abuses."

The greatest threat to liberty is "the abridgement of citizens' right to change their government, " according to the report presented to the press by Jonathan Farrar, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour at the State Department, the equivalent of Nigeria's Foreign Affairs Ministry.

According to the U.S. report: "Although it was widely accepted that the 2007 elections were fraudulent, most of the tribunals overturned elections based on technicalities such as not having the party logo on the ballot or not having the party name listed, rather than for criminal activity related to the elections."

The report noted that after the flawed 2007 polls, tribunals received over 1,250 legal motions filed across the country to overturn the results of individual elections for all levels of government posts, including the Presidency.

Read More...

Even over a week after the tribunals, people are still complaining over the results of the tribunal. The article, unlike some other ones, cites legitimate reasons for complaint, particularly in the full article. The elections were mainly overturned because of technicalies rather than large problems, denoting the desensitization of nigerian towards these large problems.

Grade This Post.

Nigeria's Buhari Renews Challenge

Muhammadu Buhari says the tribunal was wrong. A Nigerian opposition candidate is appealing to the Supreme Court over the election of President Umaru Yar'Adua.

Defeated All Nigeria People's Party candidate Muhammadu Buhari wants last year's widely criticised poll annulled.

Last week, the election tribunal said Mr Buhari had failed to prove the result of the election had been affected by rigging.

Mr Buhari's lawyers said the burden of proof should be on the government.

Read the full story...

Buhari was Yar'Adua's competition in the last presidential election. Last week there was a tribunal held to determine whether the presidential election should be annuled due to the recent evidence found that makes it appear that the election was rigged. Though Buhari lost the tribunal last week, he has not given up. He had plenty of evidence proving the Yar'Adua was not the fair winner, including ballots that did not have serial numbers. Buhari has not given up yet, even though Yar'Adua was declared innocent. Considering all of the evidence that Buhari presented, it is surprising that he did not win. Perhaps Yar'Adua had to resort to corrupt practices in order to hide how he won the presidential election.

Grade this Post

Dissent abroad over tribunal results

Shamsey Oloko

Nigerians abroad, many of who monitored the live delivery of the presidential tribunal's ruling yesterday via satellite television, the Internet and tele-conferencing, have expressed divergent opinions on it.

Former President of the U.S.-based Nigerian Lawyers Association and a New York-based lawyer, Shamsey Oloko, noted: "To accept this verdict as credible requires a willing suspension of disbelief.

Aluko added: "The Ogebe elevation saga, his absence from court, the unanimity of the ruling and all the rumours leading up to this judgment are all saddening. One would only hope that the Supreme Court would in some way redeem the newly battered image of the judiciary."

Similarly, Dr. Baba Adam, chairman, Pro-National Conference Organisations in the U.S. said it was a sad day for Nigeria, "rolling back the progress made by the judiciary over the last eight years."

Read more...

Although these are not the opinions of local Nigerians, this may be indicative of what those who do live in Nigeria think. Nigerians have been very patient to wait for this tribunal, hoping for a nullification of the election. Now that the election is final, will the people of Nigeria stay placated, or will they resort to violent or nonviolent protest?

Grade This Post.

Yar’Adua’s victory: Military warns troublemakers

The flag of the Nigerian Defence Forces

The Defence Headquarters on Wednesday warned anyone contemplating to protest the affirmation of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s election by the Presidential Election Tribunal to have a rethink.

It said the warning was necessitated by information that there were plots by some people to breach the peace in the country because of the Tuesday verdict by the tribunal.

The DHQ said in a statement by the Director of Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yusuf, that the military would do anything to defend the rule of law in the country.

The statement which was signed by Yusuf for the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Owoye Azazi, said the disruption of the public peace would not be the best way to react to Tuesday’s judgment by the tribunal.

Read More...

Apparently, the military believes that there is some chance of violent protest in response to the recent tribunal. The article makes it seem that the chance is relatively high. It is good that the military at least claims it will stick with the president, given the history of military rule in Nigeria.

Grade This Post.

Tribunal Sacks Orji, Orders Ugochukwu In

THE Abia State Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Umuahia yesterday nullified the election of Governor Theodore Orji of the Progressive People's Alliance (PPA) and declared Chief Onyema Ugochukwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), winner of the April 14, 2007 governorship election in the state.

The tribunal based its decision on what it called Orji’s membership of the Ogwugwuakpu Secret Cult in Okija and his failure to resign his appointment as a public officer of Abia State before contesting the election. His deputy, Chief Chris Akomo, according to the tribunal also did not resign from public office before contesting the election. The tribunal said consequently, Orji did not qualify to contest the election.

The tribunal in the two judgement which lasted two hours, 45 minutes and read by the Chairman of the panel, Justice Abdullahi Yusuf, held that Orji did not come before the tribunal to refute the claims of the petitioner, the consequences of which were that the election of the first and second defendants ought to be nullified.

Read the full story here.

This article addresses the recent overturning of the decision of who would be governor of the Abia state. According to the article, Governor Theodore Orji was not "qualified to contest the election;" therefore, his winning was overturned, and Onyema Ugochukwu was declared the rightful winner. This decision shows the power that the government has to completely overturn the decision of who would be governor of a particular state. Also, this shows the corruption of Nigeria because the leaders are not always properly qualified but will still manage to do whatever it takes to win the election if that is what they want.

GRADE THIS POST

Nigerian Tribunal Upholds Yar'Adua's Victory

Ibadan, Nigeria -- A Nigerian tribunal Tuesday upheld the victory of President Umaru Yar'Adua in last year's presidential election, declaring him duly elected.

The tribunal, in a three-and-a-half hour judgment carried live on national radio and television, nullified all grounds brought against the election by Messrs. Buhari and Atiku and said Mr. Yar'Adua remained the elected president of Nigeria.

In their separate petitions, Messrs. Buhari and Abubakar had asked the tribunal to annul the result, alleging widespread fraud. They said the election wasn't conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2006 and urged the tribunal to nullify the results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC.

Local and international observers said the election was marred by vote-rigging, ballot stuffing, ballot-snatching and other irregularities.

Read More...

Inspite of many claims of illegitamacy, this nigerian tribunal has stated that the elections were valid, although there is much evidence of less than legal techniques used to obtain votes. From previous events, it seems that the Nigerian people will probably accept this decision without violence.

Grade this post

'Super Tuesday': Verdict on Yar' Adua's Fate Today

After several months of legal battle over the legitimacy or otherwise of the April 21, 2007 presidential elections, the presidential election petition tribunal will today deliver its verdict on whether the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and his running mate, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, validly emerged winners or not. The Appeal Court President, Justice Umaru Abdulahi, has meanwhile okayed live coverage of the event by the media.

The election was widely described by national and international observers as marred by rigging and irregularities across the nation.

Specifically, the tribunal will give its verdict in two separate, but consolidated petitions filed by the presidential candidates of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and his counterpart from the Action Congress (AC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

In their separate petitions, the two candidates have urged the tribunal to void the election on the claim that the elections were a ruse as, according to them, votes were
merely allotted to candidates by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

They also argued that since the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2006, the tribunal had a duty to nullify the results so declared by INEC.

Read the full story...

The decision concerning whether or not the 2007 election was flawed or not will be given later on today. Yar'Adua's opponents filed both petitions. Their main arguments were that the votes were alloted solely to the canidates running on behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission and the the election was not compliant with the rules set by the Electoral Act of 2006. They think that the election should be declared null and void. This shows that theNigerian government is finally dealing with the corrupt government. They are taking a step to no longer allow cheating, bribery, theft, and blackmail within the government.

GRADE THIS POST

D-Day for Yar'Adua: Judge Dismisses Muhammadu Buhari's Petition

A Nigerian judge has dismissed one of two opposition petitions asking that President Umaru Yar'Adua's election in April last year be annulled.

Opposition candidate Gen Muhammadu Buhari had said the ballot did not take place in 29 of the 31 states.

A judge is still to rule on former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar's claim that the incumbent People's Democratic Party rigged the vote.

Read the full story here.

This article addresses the claims that the recent election that elected Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua was flawed because of the corrupt practices it was run. There have been two petitions stating that the election should be annulled because Yar'Adua won through unfair means. The claims of flawed elections show the corruption that have filled the nation since its beginning, and if the elections were rigged it can cause the Nigerian people to lose their trust in the government which can lower the legitimacy of Nigeria.

GRADE THIS POST