By Abdallah el-Kurebe, Editor
#TrackNigeria: The Sokoto State National and State Assembly Elections Petitions Tribunal sitting in Sokoto, on Friday adjourned ruling in Senator Aliyu Wamakko’s application, seeking to strike out the petition filed by
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate of Sokoto Central till the end of proceedings.
Wamakko has urged the tribunal to strike out the petition because it was filed out of time.
Maccido had filed a petition challenging the declaration by the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of Wamakko as winner of the Senatorial seat under the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Lead Counsel to Wamakko, Dr Hassan Liman, SAN, had however filed an application praying it to strike out the said petition.
He submitted that the petition was filed out of time, which contravened the provisions of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
According to him, “Section 285, sub section 5 of the Constitution requires such petitions to be filed 21 days after the date of the declaration of the results of the election.
“The petitioner filed the petition on the 18th of March ,2019, which is clearly outside the 21 days required by the law. We have therefore urged the Tribunal to strike out the petition, no matter how good it is . Senator Wamakko has won his election, validly in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution,” Liman told the Tribunal.
Both the Lead Counsel to the APC, Chief Jacob Ochidi and that of INEC, Barrister Henry Eni-Otu aligned themselves with the submissions of Dr Hassan Liman and urged the Court to strike out the petition.
Lead Counsel for Senator Maccido, Barrister Ibrahim Abdullahi however argued that the petition was filed within the stipulated time.
Tribunal Chairman, Justice Peter Akhimie Akhihiero, adjourned ruling in the matter to the end of the Tribunals proceedings (Judgment ).
Meanwhile, the Court also adjourned ruling in another application by APC’s Lead Counsel, Chief Steve Nwoke, seeking the Court to grant an order to strike out the Petitioner’s reply, to 1st Respondent’s reply, to Monday, 13th May, 2019.
In a related development, the Tribunal has granted leave to the Counsels of Senator Maccido and PDP, seeking to amend their main petition challenging the declaration of Senator Wamakko as the winner of the Senatorial poll .
The Tribunal Chairman granted the order sought by them, saying that, the amendment the Petitioners want to do is not substantial, as it arose from a minor typographical error .
Senator Maccido and PDP Counsels had wrongly pleaded Electoral forms EC 8A 2, instead of Forms EC8 A1.
The court also granted N 20,000 costs to each of the three Respondents.
