The Court of Appeal sitting in Benin,
Edo State, has affirmed the judgement of the state Election Petitions
Tribunal which declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress
for the Akoko Edo House of Representatives seat, Mr. Peter Akpatason, as
winner of the March 28, 2015, National Assembly election.
The Justice A.R.Ozoemena led tribunal
had, on June 18, dismissed the petition filled by the candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. Oladele Bankole-Balogun, against Akpatason
for lack of merit.
The tribunal had dismissed
Bankole-Balogun’s petition after it held that though the petitioner had
signed his column in the petition, his party did not append its
signature.
This, according to the tribunal, was a negation of the Electoral Act.
But the PDP and its candidate had approached the Appeal Court to contest the judgment.
However, the three-man panel, led by
Justice P. Ekpe, agreed with the judgment of the lower tribunal, adding
that it bothered on Section 4.1 schedule of the Electoral Act, which
stated that the petitioners must sign the petition in person or through
their lawyers.
Two other panellists, Justice I. M. Saulawu and Justice Barka, also agreed with the judgment of Justice Ekpe.
The court, while dismissing the argument
by the petitioner that the lower court did not provide fair hearing on
the appendage of signatures in the petition, noted that though the first
petitioner (Bankole-Balogun) signed his column, the PDP did not sign,
and “so it is assumed that the first petitioner signed the entire
petition which is not in agreement with the Electoral Act.”
Counsel for Akpatason, Mr. Ken Mozia
(SAN), described the judgment as a reflection of the rule of law, which
would be a reference point in all the election petitions tribunals.
“The issue of signing of petitions now are serious matters. It is no longer business as usual,” he added.
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