Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
A constitution lawyer, Emmanuel Anele, has described the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) case before the Supreme Court on Rivers election as merely academic.
He argued that the apex court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the matter, which it had earlier ruled upon.
Speaking during a television programme, yesterday, Anele said the Supreme Court cannot reverse itself, having voided the primaries and congresses conducted by APC in Rivers State.
He said: “The Supreme Court decided 14 cases, this year, on the basis that the time the appeals were filed had lapsed. The Supreme Court, I know, will not oblige what the APC is asking for. The Supreme Court can’t reverse itself in this instance, otherwise, there will be no certainty, unless there is a distinguishing factor, to say, let us depart from our past judgment.
“The APC is not raising any new issue. It amounts to abuse of court process. The Supreme Court even, yesterday, struck out the suit filed by Magnus Abe to amend processes. APC has never raised a new issue that would compel the Supreme Court to reverse its earlier decision.
“The crux of the matter is whether the primaries conducted by APC in Rivers State are valid or not, and the Supreme Court has repeatedly said it is invalid.
“It is not even asking the Supreme Court to compel INEC to add it in the Rivers State governorship election. The election has come and gone, the only way to challenge the declaration of Nyesom Wike as governor of Rivers State is the tribunal.
“The Supreme Court has no jurisdiction in the instant case before it. If you look at the prayer sought, the court is not a father Christmas. It cannot give you what you did not ask.”
The legal practitioner said the game APC wants to play is to approach Supreme Court and seek omnibus orders. He said APC wants to use such omnibus orders to approach the election tribunal.
“They’ll now use that trophy to approach the tribunal. That would have orchestrated constitutional crisis in Rivers State. As at the time the governorship election was conducted, there was no injunctive order stopping Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting election.
“The game will not favour anybody, but, would rather truncate the wish of Rivers people. They’ve voted and the results announced. Anybody going to the Supreme Court to get any relief, as a trophy to approach the election tribunal, will not achieve anything.
“The Supreme Court will not be blackmailed to give judgment to anybody because its integrity is at stake, democracy is also at stake.The Court of Appeal based its judgment on the earlier consolidated judgment of the Supreme Court.
“How will the Supreme Court, now, reverse itself? The Supreme Court justices should be firm and stand on their earlier judgments, so their will be certainty in the electoral processes.
“Nobody will blackmail the Supreme Court justices. Nobody will get anything out of this. It is an academic exercise.
“Elections have been conducted and winners emerged. Anybody who is dissatisfied with the conduct of that election should approach the election petition tribunal, if you participated in that election.”
Another lawyer on the programme, Ilemona Onoja, said there is absolutely nothing new in the APC’s applications before the Supreme Court.
He said: “Asking that it be determined on merit, what merit? The Court of Appeal was to determine the suit on its merit and the Supreme Court reached a decision. The judges of Court of Appeal said with the Supreme Court judgment, the APC in Rivers State can’t field candidates; it will be fruitless determining the matter.
“Going to the Supreme Court to say the Court of Appeal did not determine the matter on its merit, when in actual fact it based its decision on the Supreme Court, is curious. It is flogging a dead horse. At some point, there should be an end to litigation.”
He added that there is no basis for the Supreme Court to grant their prayers to invalidate a validly conducted election and order that they benefit from their wrong doing. He said: “If the Supreme Court makes an order to invalidate the election and order the inclusion of APC, the judiciary will be saying it is okay to disregard the court.
“If the APC in Rivers had refrained from conducting state congresses, pending the determination of the suit, they wouldn’t have had this problem and they wouldn’t have come to this impasse. Everything APC has done, thereafter, is to attempt to benefit from its own violation of court orders.”
Meanwhile, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has hailed Monday’s verdict of the Supreme Court on Rivers APC primaries.
The PDP, yesterday, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the decision of the apex court “in striking out APC’s mischievous attempts to reopen the issue of its already nullified primaries in Rivers State,” has reinforced the confidence of Nigerians in the judiciary to protect the country’s democracy.
The opposition party said: “The defeated attempt at abuse of court process has further exposed the APC as a purveyor of false claims and a party that has no respect for democratic process, the rule of law and the will of the people.
“The APC has been deploying all manner of shenanigans to subvert the will of the people of Rivers, for which they are willing to cause a constitutional crisis in the state, not minding the consequences. The PDP counsels the APC and its leaders to accept the will of the people of Rivers and end their desperation to take over control of the state.
“The APC leaders should also stop boasting as if they own the Supreme Court; they should stop their threats to judges, that anybody who fails to do their bidding would be given what they now call ‘the Onnoghen treatment.’