Kwara and Electoral Commission seek dismissal of PDP case

The Kwara State government and the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission on Friday asked Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss the suit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party seeking to block the September 21 local government elections in the state.

The KWSIEC and the Attorney General of Kwara State, Senior Sulyman, in separate preliminary objections and counter-affidavits, argued that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the case.

In a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1061/2024, the PDP sued the Independent National Electoral Commission, KWASIEC, Kwara AG, the Inspector General of Police and the Department of State Services as the first, second, third and fifth defendants respectively.

The party, through its legal team led by Kehinde Ogunwumiju, had told the court that KWASIEC was in serious violation of Sections 9, 28, 29 and 106 of the Electoral Act, 2022, Sections 20 (1) and 21 (1) of the Kwara State Local Government Electoral (Amendment) Act, 2024.

The PDP argued that all the conditions and precedents contained in the state local body election laws were deliberately ignored by the state electoral body under unacceptable circumstances, among other things.

KWASIEC and Kwara AG urged the court to dismiss the plaintiff’s application for prescription, arguing that the court has no jurisdiction to hear it.

In the preliminary objection filed by the second respondent, KWSIEC, through its counsel, Johnson Usman, the Election Commission gave five reasons why the appellant’s case should be dismissed.

Usman, in his argument, said among others that the PDP’s suit was based on the September 21 local government elections in the state and that the court did not have jurisdiction to hear and decide the suit “which relates to the Kwara State local government elections which were not conducted or recognized under the Electoral Act, 2022.”

The third defendant, the Attorney General of Kwara State, on his part, in agreement with the second defendant in his preliminary objection and counter-affidavit filed with the court, urged the court to dismiss the applicant’s application.

Meanwhile, PDP counsel Ademola Abimbola, at the outset of the proceedings, informed the court that the matter has been adjourned to today for a hearing on all the pending applications, including the substantive issue.

Abimbola further informed the court that KWSIEC served them with a motion seeking to set aside the court’s interim order in August and that they responded with a counter-affidavit on September 4, 2024, adding that he would like to know whether KWSIEC’s counsel intends to proceed with the matter or not, which Usman said he is ready for.

Adamu Bello, appearing for INEC, sought to withdraw all the proceedings filed, including their amended counter-affidavit filed on August 21, 2024.

Since there were no objections from any of the parties involved, Judge Lifu granted his request.

Abimbola proceeded to inform the court that his client forwarded him a letter dated August 28, which he received this morning (Friday).

Abimbola said the letter was addressed to the state PDP chairman, inviting the party to a peace meeting despite an injunction restraining the parties from taking any measures pending the hearing and decision on the case.

“There are two things I can infer here. The second defendant (KWSIEC) is in contempt of court. Therefore, the second defendant cannot be heard in this case,” he said.

However, the senior counsel strongly opposed Abimbola’s oral request.

Usman argued that, firstly, no evidence of alleged disobedience to the order had been presented to the court.

“My lord, speaking from within the court, I am hearing this allegation for the first time and my distinguished friend feels it is my duty to inquire and obtain confirmation from my client,” he said.

Furthermore, he argued that such a request cannot be made orally.

“All the facts alleged are concrete facts which cannot be furnished by a bar advocate. They have to be furnished through affidavit and that has not been done. Therefore, his plea cannot be accepted,” he argued.

Usman said that if Abimbola felt that KWSIEC was disobeying the court order, he knew what was right to do.

“He should do the necessary, notify the second defendant and then we will take care of the rest,” he said.

He urged the court to ignore the accusation, saying: “There is no document to show in court, but he is only talking on his phone.”

Abimbola told the public hearing that he forwarded the electronic copy of the letter to Usman a few minutes after the hearing began and attempted to read the letter aloud to everyone.

But Usman stopped him by objecting.

“I objected because reading it would have been prejudicial,” he said.

But Abimbola insisted that he could have made the request orally, citing the authorities.

He said that KWSIEC’s disobedience to the court order was related to election issues.

For his part, Usman argued that the authority cited by Abimbola was directly against the PDP lawyer and his (Usman’s) support.

He said that in the case cited by Abimbola a formal application accompanied by an affidavit had been filed, but in the instant case it had not done so.

“So, since he did not file the same application, that authority should be used against him,” he said.

Abimbola prayed to the court for an adjournment saying “I will demand that my Lord give us a reprieve or adjourn to Monday to enable us to come properly. This is a very serious matter and is of concern for the disobedience of the court in relation to the elections.”

Usman argued that “There is no reason to postpone. Whatever he is looking for, he can do it anytime and anyday.

“The request for postponement can be heard even after the verdict. The elections are on the 21st of this month, 16 days from today. The elections concern the entire State. It is in our interest that this matter be heard.

“Preparation for elections involves a huge amount of money and without elections, the state will not receive any allocation from FAAC. This is a known fact.”

The Attorney General of Kwara also opposed Abimbola’s request for adjournment, citing Order 26, Rule 2 of the High Federal Court.

Sulyman argued that this request constitutes an application to file a complaint, which, he said, is unknown to the law.

“This is because there is no formal request submitted to the court.

“Furthermore, there is nothing presented to the court to justify this. It is just a mere accusation.

“We urge the court to dismiss this as a waste of time and order it to proceed,” Sulyman said.

However, Judge Lifu ordered the plaintiff to file a formal notice of objection and adjourned the matter until September 11 for a hearing on all pending claims, including the substantive case.

In the previous sitting on July 29, Justice Lifu granted the PDP’s ex parte motion restraining INEC from releasing the national voter register to KWSIEC to conduct the September 21 elections pending the hearing and decision on the substantive case.