Posted by From PETRUS OBI, Enugu on
The Appeal Court sitting in Enugu has confirmed the former governor of Enugu State, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani as the duly elected Senator representing Enugu East Senatorial Zone.
The Appeal Court sitting in Enugu has confirmed the former governor of Enugu State, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani as the duly elected Senator representing Enugu East Senatorial Zone.
But the appellant and All Peoples Grand Alliance (APGA) Senatorial candidate, Pastor Anayo Enechukwu, raised dust over the judgment.
Apparently angry, he said: 'I accept the judgment because I have no choice and I cannot go to the Supreme Court, but I don't agree with the judgment. I leave everything in the hands of God, let Him be the judge."
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday by Justice S. D. Bage who stood in for Justice Olu Ariwola, the Appeal Court upheld the November 13, 2007 judgment of the Enugu Election Petitions Tribunal that cleared Nnamani as Senator and dismissed the appeal filed by Enechukwu.
The APGA candidate had gone to the Appeal Court, requesting that the judgment of the tribunal be set aside on the grounds that Dr. Nnamani was not qualified to contest the election, and was not duly elected by the majority of the votes cast.
He also argued that the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act.
But in its ruling, the Appeal Court noted that the burden of proof was on the appellant and that he failed to show through credible evidence, whether oral or documentary, that the election did not comply substantially with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
It also held that the appellant who asked to be declared winner of the April 21 election could not prove that he was the candidate elected by the majority of lawful votes cast thereby failing to discharge the burden of proof placed on him by the law.
Dismissing the appeal, the court noted that the appellant failed to prove that he was denied judgment by the tribunal, saying that 'the appeal, therefore, fails and the first respondent is hereby confirmed as the duly elected Senator representing Enugu East."
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to first respondent, Mr Gordy Uche, said that they were happy with the judgment, explaining that it was the last of the judgments in the case. His words: 'This is the last judgment after the tribunal judgment because this case cannot go to the Supreme Court. This is the end of the case and my client has been confirmed as a Senator of the Federal Republic."
He commended the resilience of the petitioner in taking the case to the level of the Appeal Court, saying that 'we only wish him luck in his future political career, but for this one he has lost."
But the appellant, Enechukwu said he does not agree with the decision of the Appeal Court, saying 'but I have no choice. If I have the opportunity of going to the Supreme Court, I would have gone ahead, but as it stands let God continue the judgment.
'There is no way I can agree with a judgment that say there is presumption of correctness of result in favour of the respondent when he does not have any result. There is no result tendered and accepted either at the tribunal or even the Appeal. There was no result at all, either from the ward or the local government."