CJN warns judges against scuttling 2015 polls

The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice
Mahmud Mohammed, is making
frantic efforts to ensure the current
democratic dispensation is not
truncated by a number of election-
related suits in various courts, The
PUNCH has learnt.
It was learnt that apart from
publicly warning judges against
any ruling capable of re-enacting
the June 12, 1993 presidential
election debacle, the CJN is also
making moves to ensure judges do
not put the nation’s democracy at
undue risk through their
pronouncements.
In one of such recent outing by
Justice Mohammed, while
inaugurating 242 election petitions
tribunal judges that are to handle
disputes emanating from the 2015
elections, said, “Let me use this
opportunity to sound a note of
warning to all judicial officers. Do
not allow any political party or
politician to compromise your
integrity or your future. We must
never again be used as tools to
truncate our nation’s democracy.”
Our correspondent learnt that the
CJN had not stopped at just making
public comments but had been
following it up with unofficial
interactions with particularly the
various heads of the various courts
handling the highly sensitive
election-related cases.
It was learnt that the CJN had
handed down a warning to the
affected heads of the various courts
to be ready to take responsibility
for any decisions of the judges
under them whose decision could
mar the electoral process.
A source close to a Chief Judge, said,
“Oga (the CJ) has told his judges to
be careful in the handling of some
of the cases because the CJN is
really interested in ensuring that
the election holds smoothly.
“As things are now, if any awful
thing happens, the head of court
and the particular judge linked to
it, will have to take responsibility.
So, care is also being taken about
who to assign some of these cases
to by the CJ.”
The Federal High Court in Abuja
plays host to many of the sensitive
political cases.
There are, at least, four suits
challenging the use of card readers
and exclusive use of the Permanent
Voter Cards for the conduct of the
forthcoming polls.
The plaintiffs in one of the suits
filed before Justice Ahmed
Mohammed of the Federal High
Court in Abuja on January 26, 2015,
are asking for, among other
prayers, the postponement of the
elections “until the Permanent
Voter Cards are made available to
the plaintiffs.”
The other suit is praying for, among
others, an order restraining INEC
from using card readers for the
conduct of the forthcoming polls
and another order mandating INEC
to allow “every willing Nigerian
who has any voter card issued by
INEC to vote at the general
elections.”
The anti-PVC suit, FHC/ABJ/
CS/06/2015, was filed by a group,
Society for Advancement Protection
of Public Rights seeking an order
stopping the use of the Card Reader
Machine for the forthcoming
elections. The matter is before
Justice Gabriel Kolawole of the
Federal High Court, Abuja.
Another suit filed before Justice
Evoh Chukwu of the Federal High
Court in Abuja is seeking to stop the
use of the PVCs on the grounds that
allowing it could amount to
disenfranchisement of a lot of
eligible voters.
The suit was filed by the Attorney
General of Plateau State; Speaker of
the state House of Assembly, Titus
Alams; and the chairmen of the 17
local government areas in the state
against INEC.
Other plaintiffs in the suit include
the Chairman of the Plateau State
Council of Traditional Rulers, Gbong
Gwom Jos, Da Gyang Buba; and
former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen.
Domkat Bali, who is the traditional
ruler of the Tarok People in
Langtang.
The latest among the anti-PVC suit
was filed by four political parties –
the United Democratic Party, Action
Alliance, Allied Congress Party of
Nigeria and Alliance for Democracy.
The plaintiffs, in the suit filed on
their behalf by S.G Odey, said
majority of their people were yet
to get their PVCs and that they
would be disenfranchised if the PVC
is used for the elections scheduled
for March 28 and April 11.
Also, between January 26, 2015 and
middle of February 2015, at least 10
cases had been filed asking for the
disqualification of the presidential
candidate of the All Progressives
Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu
Buhari (retd.), over his inability to
submit his evidence of his
academic qualifications to INEC.
Within the same period, two cases
were filed against President
Goodluck Jonathan’s eligibility to
seek re-election. The Court of
Appeal in Abuja recently affirmed
Jonathan’s eligibility to seek re-
election in the forthcoming polls.
There are two others seeking the
same prayers now pending before
the Court of Appeal in Abuja.