Cole Tonye Patrick v. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) & Ors (2024)

LAWGLOBAL HUB Lead Judgment Report – SUPREME COURT

IBRAHIM MOHAMMED MUSA SAULAWA, JSC: (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

The present appeal is consequent upon the judgment of the Court of Appeal Lagos Judicial Division, delivered on November 28, 2023 in appeal No. CA/ABJ/EP/GEN/RV/121/2023.

By the said judgment, the court below, coram: Honourable Justices RM Abdullahi, O. A Adebehingbe and I. B. Gafai, JJCA dismissed the appellant’s appeal for lacking in merits.

Background facts

It’s trite, that Governorship elections were held nationwide by the 1st respondent on March 18, 2023. Both the appellant and the 2nd Respondent had keenly contested the said election in Rivers State under the platforms of their respective political parties, the All People’s Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

At the end of that election, the 2nd respondent was declared and returned as the winner with accredited 302,614 votes. The appellant took a distant seco position with 95,274 votes.

Not unnaturally, both the appellant and the party (APC) that sponsored him opted to file a petition at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, thereby challenging the declaration and return of the 2nd respondent by the 1st respondent as the winner of the said election.

By virtue of paragraph 127 of the Petition thereof, the appellant had sought against the Respondents the following reliefs:

1. That it may be determined and thus declared that the 2nd respondent, whose election is questioned, was at the time of the election for the office of Governor of Rivers State on 18th March 2023, not qualified to contest the election.
2. That it may determined and thus declared that having regard to the ineligibility and or disqualification of the 2nd respondent to have contested in the election of 18th March, 2023 for the office of Governor of Rivers State, the votes purportedly polled by or credited to the 2nd respondent are invalid and or wasted votes.
3. That it may determined and thus declared that the 1st petitioner having polled the majority of lawful votes cast and having fulfilled the requirements of section 179(2)(a) and (b) of the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as altered, in respect of the Rivers State Governorship Election held on the 18th March, 2023, is the winner of the election.
4. An order setting aside the certificate of return wrongly issued to the 2nd respondent by the 1st respondent.
5. An order directing, compelling or otherwise mandating the 1st respondent to issue a valid certificate of return to the 1st petitioner as duly elected Governor of Rivers State.

In the alternative to reliefs 1, 2, 5, 4 and 5 above,

6. An order directing, compelling or otherwise mandating the 1st Respondent to conduct fresh election for the office of Governor of Rivers State not later than 90 days from the date judgment is delivered in this petition.

In the alternative to relief 6, supra;

7. An order directing, compelling or otherwise mandating the 1st respondent to conduct a supplementary election in the polling units affected by the non-compliance and/or corrupt practices complained of in this petition, within a specified period, but not later than 90 days from the date judgment is delivered by the tribunal.
8. Any further consequential order(s)/relief(s) as this honourable tribunal may consider just, appropriate and expedient in the overall circumstances of this case.

The respondents filed their respective replies to the petition, thereby joining issues with the appellant. However, prior to the commencement of the hearing of the petition the appellant’s party, the APC dramatically withdrew from the proceeding and its name was accordingly struck out by the trial tribunal.

Consequent upon the conclusion of the pre-hearing proceedings, the petition proceeded to hearing. At the end of the trial, the Tribunal delivered its judgment on 02/10/2023, to the conclusive effect:

On the whole, it is beyond apparent from the above that the petitioner was unable to discharge the onerous burden placed on him by the law to establish the allegations of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2023. The evidence of PW1-PW40 have not been able to rebut the presumption of regularity which ensures the 1st Respondent under the law which can only be rebutted with cogent and credible evidence. See APC v. Sheriff & Ors. (2023) 50 WRN 1; (2023) LPELR-59953 (SC) at 145 paragraphs B-E, see also CPC v. INEC & Ors. (2012) 29 WRN 1; (2011) LPELR-8257 (SC) at 57 AC. I therefore hold that this ground has failed.

Accordingly, this petition is dismissed in its entirety, see pages 3854 – 3994 (especially at 3994) of volume 4 of the records of appeal.