Tunde Omolehin, Sokoto
Finally, the uncertainty over the 2019 Sokoto State governorship election has been laid to rest. On Monday, January 20, the Supreme Court affirmed Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal’s re-election and ended the bumpy road of litigation over his mandate in the last general elections.
The verdict came after several seven months of post-electoral legal battle between the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and All Progressives Congress(APC). Analysts had described the 2019 governorship election as most contentious in the history of Sokoto politics.
Both Tambuwal and his arch rival from APC, Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto had locked horns over who should be the rightful holder of the electorates’ mandate for the governorship election conducted on march 23, 2019.
The outcome, however, left many traces of ‘inconclusive’ decisions on the part of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state which necessitated the legal battle among the contenders.
Issues in the election
Daily Sun recalls that the declaration by INEC Returning Officer for the State, Professor Fatima Batulu Mukthar, showed Governor Aminu Tambuwal, clearly in the lead with 489,558 votes ahead of Ahmed Aliyu Sokoto of the APC, who polled 486,145 votes in the first ballot exercise.
The election however, ended in a stalemate as the 3,413 votes margin is far less than the cancelled votes for various reasons, totaling 75,403 votes.
But before the first poll, not many political observers had contemplated that the poll results could produce a slim margin of votes that would later force the electoral umpire to call for such a rerun exercise between the two leading candidates.
They based their arguments on previous elections held in the state, where outcomes of presidential elections always made it easy for a landslide victory for any governorship’s candidate flying thesame party’s flag in the state.
In the last presidential election, the APC won majority of the votes for its presidential candidate, President Muhammadu Buhari who polled the highest votes just as the party’s National Assembly candidates coasted to victory on the majority scale.
Political observers were quick to submit that the rerun outcome would turn the table in favour of the APC which is controlling the centre.
But it appears there was a turn of event in the case of 2019 general elections as such calculations did not materialize in terms of patronage by the electorate. While odds only favoured the APC presidential candidate, the state governorship race became hard nuts for APC to crack.
The poll however saw the incumbent governor, Aminu Tambuwal emerging victorious with a little margin of 342 votes. Daily Sun learnt that the development caused an upset in the entire political settings in the state.
Post election Intrigues
As expected, the development however shocked both APC supporters and its leadership in the state. It also marked the beginning of political permutations, intimidation and legal intrigues that later engulfed the seat of the Caliphate.
The APC, through its spokesman, Sambo Bello Danchadi, outrightly rejected the result while addressing Journalists in the State. He cited that the margin of 342 votes was far-less in numbers than those of registered voters in polling units where elections were not held which according to him, contravenes the electoral law.
Danchadi also complained to INEC on outright rigging allegedly perpetrated by the PDP but it went ahead to make the declaration. They also alleged that potential voters were denied the opportunity to cast their votes in some polling units of some local government areas.
“We also laid complaints that elections were conducted twice in some polling units and the figures of the two elections were added up as one election,” he said.
“We have also drawn the attention of INEC to a number of polling units that were cancelled as a result of violent attacks while others were arbitrarily cancelled to please certain political party interests,” he alleged.
He averred that: “in view of the foregoing, we as a political party deem it necessary to express our disagreement with the action taken by INEC to declare a winner without giving us fair hearing.
The party however, vowed to explore all avenues within the law to protect and defend their votes as expressed in favour of our party in the Governorship election.
But, the governor’s Chief of Staff, Umar Mukhari Magori believes the governor’s victory at the poll was a divine intervention.
“It was a demonstration that you can win without a godfather. The people of the state were so eager and full of prayers to see that Governor Aminu Tambuwal wins this election.
“During his first tenure, there are a lot of misgivings where some people were saying he was not in charge of the government. That is public opinion by the way. But, with the governor winning his re-election, he showed that he is in charge of Sokoto politics.” Magori submitted.
Few weeks after Governor Tambuwal was administered oath of office, the political atmosphere in the seat of the caliphate was tense. Both political parties- APC, PDP were embroiled in self-defense and counter-accusations.
On several occasions, the APC, had accused the governor and his ruling party, PDP, of political vendetta against its supporters across the state.
One of the allegations was that the PDP-led government has continued to oppress and intimidate its supporters within the state’s civil service fold.
The party through its chairman, Isah Acida noted with deepest concern some recent obnoxious and dastardly developments, culminating in some untoward acts of aggression, repression and intimidation being perpetrated against the supporters of the APC, in various parts of the state, and affecting various sectors.
“The various categories of the victims of these acts of aggression being perpetrated by some deluded and ungodly supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), include traders, civil servants, religious and traditional leaders, as well as other categories of the law abiding citizens.
“The APC is perplexed and baffled, just as it is disturbed about these nefarious acts meted to our teaming supporters and other electorate who love, cherish and respect the sound and noble ideals of our party.
“This obnoxious development depicts that the state government does not attach the needed concern to the welfare, security and comfort of the citizens of the state.” Acida lamented.
The allegations among several others have since put the ruling party- PDP to be on the defensive position and ignited the party to respond to those accusations hereby increasing the political hypes at the moment.
But, a Senior Special Assistant to Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal of Sokoto State, Malam Yusuf Dingyadi while speaking with Daily Sun bemoaned the way and manner APC leadership is spreading hatred and intimidating people after elections have been concluded in the state.
Dingyadi reminded the opposition how the incumbent governor has been tolerating their “behaviour and antecedents” in the state. He, however cautioned the APC leaders not to be carried away by the peaceful co-existence and tolerance of the people and continued spreading of lies against the government of the day.
Dingyadi also asked the party to remember that the office of the governor is an institution and not a personal affair that anybody can threaten or cause mischief to, and advised against propaganda against the personality of Governor Tambuwal and other PDP elders in the state.
His words: “Nothing is like peace, living in peace is much more important to the development of our dear state, better than threat and political attacks on the office of the governor or government, because government is an institution; you cannot threaten the institution because of your failure; even after you, know that people rejected your offer to serve.
“There is no wisdom as a leader to hide under your party or position to lie and unleash mischief and intimidation because you are thinking that you have the central government or security agencies under your control.
“Such statements of threats are reckless and will destroy political cohesion and unity among the people.” Dingyadi had charged. He further challenged the APC to go to court if they have evidence against the PDP, rather than constituting a nuisance to the peaceful atmosphere of the state.
Arguments and counter-arguments
Not satisfied with INEC declaration, the APC ranks in the state felt an injustice meted to them by the electoral body. The leaders who had teamed up in APC during pre-electioneering period had vowed to work against the incumbent governor.
The APC gladiators include Senator Aliyu Wamakko, who handed over power to Tambuwal and widely acclaimed as the governor’s political benefactor and the current Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Maigari Muhammadu Dingyadi.
Others are Bello Suleiman, a former Minister of Power, Yusuf Suleiman, a former Minister of Transportation, and later Sports and Youth Development under President Goodluck Jonathan, and Faruk Malami Yabo, an influential politician in the state, among others.
With these gladiators backing both the party and its governorship candidate, Ahmed Aliyu approached the tribunal alleging that Tambuwal’s election was invalid by reason of non-compliance with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines for elections.
He cited that the margin of 342 votes was far-less in numbers than those of registered voters in polling units where elections were not held which according to him contravenes the electoral law.
They complained to INEC an outright rigging allegedly perpetrated by the PDP but it went ahead to make the declaration. They also alleged that potential voters were denied the opportunity to cast their votes in some polling units within the number of local government areas.
They went further to tender exhibits to show over-voting and other irregularities in the March 9 and 23, 2019 elections.
The Verdict
After all submissions and counter arguments were laid before the judges, both the Tribunal and Appeal Courts dismissed APC and its candidate’s petition, for lacking in merit on October 2 and November 22, 2019, respectively.
Justice Abbas Bawale who led the tribunal held that the application by the respondent lacks merit and constituted waste of judicial time.
The panel declared the petition as ‘proper in law.’ On the objections raised by the petitioner urging it to dismiss the petition for lacking in merit, unanimously, the tribunal dismissed the objections and held that the petition was properly filed.
It equally ruled that the petitioners, Aliyu and his party, APC duly paid the filling fees. It held that against the argument of the respondents that the petition disclosed the substantial cause of action and was properly signed by the petitioners.
The court held that the non-joinder of the running mate to the petitioners is not enough to render the petition incompetent.
In the same vein, the four-member Panel on Appeal led by Justice, Husseini Mukhtar unanimously allied with the judgement of the tribunal panel. The Presiding Justice, Hussein agreed that the petition filed by APC and its governorship candidate, challenging the victory of Governor Tambuwal, as upheld by the tribunal, was lacking in merit.
The case was further dragged to the apex Court where the judgment was read by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji; the court equally upheld the judgements of the two lower courts and affirmed the election.
Justice Abba-Aji said Aliyu and APC failed to link the exhibits to the foundation of their case, adding that, the court “is not to go on a voyage of discovery.”
However, rather than judgments delivered by the Tribunal, the Appellate and Supreme panels doused the intrigues that arose from the governorship election; it further raised dusts and political tensions among political gladiators in the seat of the Caliphate.
Last line
It is stating the obvious that the the struggle for the Sokoto governorship seat became tough right from the first gubernatorial election, as well as supplementary exercise that followed.
The battle, in the views of analysts heated the politics of the state to its foundation. The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar in a remark described the struggles between Tambuwal and his rival, Aliyu Sokoto as the ‘most contentious politics’ that has ever been witnessed in the politics of the state.
He admitted that there has never been a time in the history of the state that contentious politics almost crippled it like the one recently decided by the Supreme Court.
The Monarch however admonished all leaders in the state that whatever the situation, they remained servants of the people. He also appealed to all political gladiators in Sokoto State to set aside their differences and work together to achieve maximum benefits for the people of the state.
“All the people of the state are one for eternity. Power belongs to Allah. Anyone who gets it should be magnanimous and he who loses must not drag unnecessarily.