Sadiq Ozovehe Umar V. Salihu Adinoyi Onikata & Ors (1999)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report

ODUYEMI, J.C.A. 

On 5th December, 1998, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted elections for Chairmanship and Counsellorship positions in Local Government Councils and Area Councils in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The appellant was a candidate on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the Chairmanship of the Ajaokuta Local Government Council while the 1st respondent was a candidate who contested the election for the same post on the platform of the All Peoples Party (APP).

The Ajaokuta Local Government Area consisted of 14 wards. On the day of election, elections commenced in all units and wards of the Local Government Area but in the course of the elections, disturbances occurred which disrupted elections in two wards of the Local Government which had five units. In the event, election results were received in only 12 wards of the Ajaokuta Local Government. These were collared and 9,378 of the votes cast were found to have been cast in favour of the 1st respondent while 9,318 of the votes cast were in favour of the appellant. The 1st respondent was declared winner of the chairmanship election while bye-elections were ordered to be held on 12th December, 1998 by INEC for Councillorship posts in the two wards in which voting was disrupted by disturbances on 5th December, 1998.

Appellant considered that declaration of results by officials of INEC in respect of the Chairmanship post of the Ajaokuta Local Government was premature and that bye-elections should also have been held in those two wards for the Chairmanship post as they were held for Councillorship posts on 12th December, 1998.

Not being satisfied with the determination of INEC in respect of the chairmanship election in which he contested, he lodged a petition before the Local Government Election Tribunal for Kogi State, the State in which Ajaokuta Local Government Area is situate.

Petitioner sought the following reliefs:-

That 1st respondent was not duly elected or returned by a majority of the lawful votes cast at the election of 5th December, 1998 and so election of 1st respondent should be nullified; that the petitioner polled a majority of the lawful votes cast and should be declared and returned as Chairman, Ajaokuta Local Government Council.

In the alternative, a bye-election should be conducted in the two wards in which elections were disrupted by disturbances and the votes cast be collated for the purpose of declaring the winner of the said chairmanship election.

The tribunal commenced hearing evidence on the petition.

The petitioner called five witnesses and himself gave evidence as the 6th witness.

When called upon to give evidence, 1st respondent applied by motion to the Tribunal that the petition be struck out, inter alia, on the ground that the petition is incompetent as INEC has not been joined as a respondent by the petitioner, the Commission being a necessary party who was acting by its servants or agents, the 2nd and 3rd respondents.

The Tribunal heard the application and ruled that as the petitioner did not in his petition join the INEC, and that the omission was fundamental. The Tribunal therefore struck out the petition.

It is against that decision that the petitioner has now appealed to this court acting as the Constitutional Court.