Monday 13 May 2019
Thursday 9 May 2019
Osun Election: Appeal Court Upholds Oyetola’s Victory, Sets Aside Tribunal’s Judgment
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has set aside the judgment of the Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal which nullified the victory of Governor Gboyega Oyetola.
Delivering the lead judgment on Thursday, Justice Hannatu Sankey set aside the entire proceedings of the Tribunal because of its ‘faulty composition’.
She added that ordinarily the matter should be returned to the lower Tribunal but because it was a post-election matter where time cannot be expanded or elongated, the court cannot make an order of retrial.
Justice Sankey also resolved the remaining 11 issues in the appeal in favour of the appellant who is the Osun State governor.
According to her, the petitioner did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was substantial non-compliance to the Electoral Act by the absence of the ballot paper records.
The judge, therefore, set aside the judgment of the Osun State Governorship Election Tribunal delivered on March 22, returning Senator Ademola Adeleke as the governor of Osun State.
She made no order as to cost.
The judgment was upheld by four of the five justices of the panel.
While there were four majority judgments upholding the appeal of Governor Oyetola, while Justice George Mbanmba gave a dissenting judgment.
The majority judgment was on the ground that the lead judgment of the Tribunal was delivered by Justice Peter Obiora who did not participate fully in the proceedings of the Tribunal.
However, Justice Mbanmba said the allegation that Justice Obiora did not attend all the sessions of the Tribunal was a mere hearsay.
He explained that the records of the court indicated that the judge did participate in the hearing because he signed at the beginnings of the days’ proceedings.
Justice Mbanmba, thereafter, dismissed Governor Oyetola’s appeal with a cost of N200,000 against the appellant.
The appeal court also upheld the appeal filed by the All Progressive Congress (APC) on the same issues in a four to one majority judgment with a dissenting judgment from Justice Mbamba who maintained the same position.
In the lead judgment, Justice Datti Yahaya settled the appeal in favour of the APC and was supported by four of the five-man panel.
But Justice Mbamba held that parties with common interest should file a joint appeal, noting that filing separate appeals was an abuse of court process which adds to the work of the appeal court.
Monday 6 May 2019
We are in arrears in salaries, pensions payments, Imo State tells court
The Imo State Government has told a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja that it was currently owing salaries and pensions.
Also, one of the state’s bankers, Zenith Bank Plc, has disclosed that it gave Imo State Government a N10billion loan in 2016, which it was yet to be fully repaid.
The information are contained in court papers filed by Imo State and Zenith Bank in reaction to a garnishee proceeding initiated against the state governor and three others by a firm, E. F. Network Nigeria Limited and Mr. Gideon Egbuchulam.
F. Network and Egbuchulam are, by the garnishee proceedings, seeking to attach all funds owned by Imo State and three others in banks, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), for the purpose of satisfying the N1.05billion judgment given by the Supreme Court on March 8, 2019 against the state governor and three others.
The Supreme Court, in the judgment, given against the Governor of Imo State of Nigeria, the Attorney General, Environmental Transformation Committee and the Ministry of Petroleum and Environment, affirmed an earlier judgment of the Court of Appeal, which upheld the judgement given in favour of E. F. Network and Egbuchulam by a High Court of Imo State.
On April 17, 2019 Justice Bello Kawu of the High Court of the FCT,in Kubwa heard an ex-parte motion by E. F. Network and Egbuchulam and granted garnishee order nisi, ordering the 17 banks listed in the motion to show cause why the garnishee order should not be made absolute.
It is in reaction to the order of April 17 that the Imo State Government, Zenith Bank and some other banks filed affidavits, giving details of their financial dealings with the state.
In the document filed for the state and three other judgment debtors, the Attorney General, Milithus Nlemedim (SAN) prayed the court not to make absolute, the garnishee order nisi it granted on April 17 this year.
In a supporting affidavit deposed to by Christopher Izima, the judgment debtors stated that: “Imo State Government is presently in arrears of salaries and pensions of civil servants. “The grant of the garnishee will bring untold hardship to the entire citizenry and government of Imo State.
“All money’s appropriated in the Imo State Appropriation Law are in the custody of public officers.
“The judgment debtors strongly dispute the sum of money claimed as interests by the judgment debtors in this garnishee proceedings. It was not properly and correctly computed.”
They queried the competence of the garnishee proceedings, which they described as an abuse of court’s process, claiming that the judgment creditors had initiated a similar proceedings before another court.
The judgment debtors urged the court to decline jurisdiction, claiming that the applicants failed to obtain the consent of the Imo State Attorney General to initiate the garnishee proceedings.
Zenith, on its part, sought to be excused from the proceedings, claiming that the state government was indebted to it.
In an affidavit deposed to by Solomon Unamka, Zenith Bank stated that: “The 3rd garnishee (the bank) was served with an order nisi made by this honourable court on 18th April 2019.
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“Further to the service of the said order nisi, the 3rd garnishee conducted a search on its records and hereby states as follows:
“The judgment debtor, Imo State Government is heavily indebted to the 3rd garnishee to the tune of over N9,400,000,000 as it has a credit facility from the 3rd garnishee.”
Unamka said the state got an “Excess Crude Account backed loan” of N10billion from Zenith Bank on 26/01/2016, with a tenor of 240 months.
He added that Imo State also maintains with the bank, a loan account: 3700236696, with a current balance of N9,422,588,166.78.
“The balance in the account: 3700236696 cannot be attached because the 3rd garnishee has right of set off on the said account.
“The 3rd garnishee humbly seeks to be discharged from this proceedings by this honourable court,” he said.
In its response, Guaranty Trust Bank said none of the judgment debtors has account with it, but that it has an account with the name: IMSG Internally Gen Reve (IGR).
GTB stated that, although the current balance in the account was N64,997,774.44k, the money is already “subject of earlier extant garnishee orders in six other cases of the 17 banks ordered by the court to show cause, almost all of them have responded, with many claiming that the judgment debtors do not maintain accounts with them.
When the case came up on May 3, 2019, Justice Kawu agreed with Nlemedim to first hear the objection filed by the judgment debtors.
Lawyer to the applicants, Anthony Agbonlahor did not object, but sought time to reply to all the responses filed by the garnishees, particularly the objection by the judgment debtors.
Justice Kawu consequently adjourned to June 25 for the hearing of the objection.
THE NATION
