CJN asked to probe verdicts affirming Ndume as winner of Borno senatorial poll

Sesugh Akume, a businessman, has asked Olukayode Ariwoola, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN), to probe some judges over their verdicts on the Borno south senatorial district election.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Ali Ndume winner of the election held in February 2023.

Dissatisfied, Kudla Satumari and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) filed petitions against INEC and Ndume.

The tribunal and court of appeal dismissed the petitions and affirmed Ndume as winner.

In a petition to the CJN, Akume said the courts rendered “questionable opinions” to arrive at “predetermined judgments”.

“The complaint is made against M E Anenih J, A I Ityonyiman J, and A O Adeniji J, for their perverse judgment in the matter of Kudla M Satumari & PDP v INEC, APC & Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume with Election Petition Number: EPT/BOR/SEN/02/2013, delivered on 8 September 2023, at the National and State House of Assembly Election, Borno, sitting in Maiduguri; and Biobale Abraham Georgewill JCA, Folashade Ayodeji Ojo JCA, Peter Chudi Obiorah JCA, for their perverse judgment in the matter of Kudla M Satumari & PDP v INEC, APC & Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume with Appeal Number: CA/G/EP/SEN/BR/04/2023, delivered on 2 November 2023, delivered at the Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja with a certified true copy of the judgment here annexed and marked as ‘Annexure 1’,” he said.

“In the said election petition tribunal judgment, the judges arrived at many conclusions that the Court of Appeal found to be perverse and repeatedly stated so on the record.

“The tribunal held that further evidence provided in response to a counter filed by the opposing side was inadmissible for being filed out of time as it ought to have been filed from the outset.

“It held that any testimony given by an individual pursuing documents tendered was ‘mere’ hearsay as long as the individual was not physically present when the documents were produced.

“These are two of numerous ludicrous holdings by the tribunal to arrive at what appears to be a predetermined judgment, walking from the answer to the question, just in order to return the third respondent (Ndume) as the duly-elected senator for Borno south.”

Akume alleged that Ndume’s supporters had details of the tribunal verdict before it was delivered.

“Some screenshots of Senator Ndume’s supporters sharing the outcome of the judgment on the morning of 8 September before it was delivered are here annexed and marked as ‘Annexure 2 [series]’,” he said.

“It then begs the question, ‘How did the supporters get details of the outcome of a judgment that was yet to be delivered?’

“The court of appeal in its own perverse judgment dismissed most of the findings of the tribunal but in the end still upheld its judgment.

“The court of appeal, for instance, held that the appellants did not prove a case of forgery, mutilation, defacing of results sheets having seen the forged, mutilated, defaced results sheets or how the hundreds of forged, mutilated, defaced results sheets affected the outcome of the election.”

Akume asked the National Judicial Council (NJC) to probe these judgments in order to “redeem the standing and image of the judiciary”.