Yusuf Sule V. Badamasi Kabir & Ors. (2010)

LawGlobal-Hub Lead Judgment Report – COURT OF APPEAL

MOHAMMED LAWAL GARBA, J.C.A (Delivering the Leading Judgment)

This appeal is from the decision of National Assembly/Governorship Election Tribunal, Katsina State delivered on 9/11/07 in election petition No. NA/HR/EPT/KTS/32/07. The Appellant had presented the said petition as a candidate sponsored by the All Nigeria Peoples’ Party (ANPP) at the election for a seat in the House of Representatives Federal Republic of Nigeria conducted by the 2nd – 5th Respondents in the Katsina Central Constituency on the 21/4/07.

After the election, the 1st Respondent who was a candidate sponsored by the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) was declared and returned as the winner and the Appellant being aggrieved by the return filed the petition on the sole ground that the 1st Respondent was at the time of the election, not qualified to contest the election.

The Respondents filed their respective Replies to the petition and after the pre-trial formalities, it proceeded to trial at the end of which the Tribunal dismissed the petition in the aforementioned decision.

The Notice of Appeal filed on 27/11/07 for the Appellant contained seven (7) grounds on which the appeal is premised.

For the 1st Respondent, who was also dissatisfied with some of the findings in the decision of the Tribunal, a Notice of Cross Appeal was filed on the 29/11/07 containing two (2) grounds.

With the leave of the court, the Appellants’ brief filed on 17/2/09 was deemed filed on the 21/4/09, the 1st Respondent’s brief filed on the 5/10/09 was deemed filed on the 6/10/09 and the 2nd – 5th Respondents’ brief filed on the 20/5/09 was deemed filed on the 6/10/09. The 1st Respondent had also filed a Notice of Preliminary Objection on the 5/10/09 to which the Appellant filed an Appellants’ Reply brief on the 9/10/09 as well as a Reply to the 2nd – 5th Respondents’ brief on the same day.

At paragraph 3.0 on page 8 of the Appellants’ brief, the learned counsel for the Appellant, J. Abbas Ibrahim, distilled the following three (3) issues for determination in the appeal from the seven (7) grounds of appeal:-

“(i) Whether failure of the trial Tribunal to advert to the essential element under Section 66(1)(i) of the 1999 Constitution which is that of “presentation of forged documents” had not led it to the erroneous conclusions that the Petitioners/Appellants had not proved their case beyond reasonable doubt? (See Grounds 2, 3, 5 and 6).

(ii) Whether the trial tribunal was right in holding that the forgery on the face of Primary School Certificate KT No. 0002441 was not at the instance of the 1st Respondent or not? (See Ground 1).

(iii) Whether the findings of the trial tribunal that the 1st Respondent was qualified to contest the National Assembly Elections held on 21/4/2007 is not perverse in the light of the evidence before it? (See Grounds 6 and 7).”

These issues were argued together by the learned counsel in the brief.

On his part, Mr. Uyi Igunma, learned counsel for the 1st Respondent submitted a single issue which he said arises for determination in the appeal. It is as follows:-

“Whether the Tribunal was right to hold that the Appellant failed to establish beyond all reasonable doubt that the 1st Respondent’s educational certificates/results stated in his INEC form CF001 were forged.”