Of Doma and opposition in Nasarawa

Governor Aliyu DomaRemi Adegoke writes on the political situation in Nasarawa State following the judgment of the tribunal which upheld Governor Aliyu Doma’s election.

The declaration of Governor Aliyu Doma as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the keenly contested governorship primaries in December 2006 was not without mixed feelings, owing to the fact that Doma defected from the ANPP where he had contested the 2003 governorship election with former Nasarawa State governor, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu.

While some people had celebrated his victory at the primaries, many others, especially those who lost out, had condemned the process that produced him. They had argued that Doma was not qualified to participate in the primaries, the PDP constitution stipulated that anyone who has not spent up to two years in the party could not vie for elective positions on the party’s ticket. They argued that Doma had spent less than two years since he returned to the party and as such was not qualified to fly the party’s flag. The party turned the request down.

The first time the primaries was held at the premises of Nasarawa State University, Keffi, it ended in a crisis. Those who lost out of the primaries were the then incumbent deputy governor, Mr. Labaran Maku, Barrister Solomon Ewuga, Alhaji Tanko Baba, Mr. Polycap Azinge and among others. Alhaji Adamu frustrated their bid to scuttle Doma’s candidature and the national leadership of the PDP did not help matters.

As fallout, some of them defected to the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP). Ewuga defected to the ANPP to pursue his ambition of becoming the occupant of the Shendam Road Government House. He seemed to have partially achieved his aim when the ANPP won one two seats in the National Assembly and three in the Nasarawa State House of Assembly.

Doma’s eventual emergence as governor stirred up another round of controversy when youths went on rampage, claiming that opinion poll conduct before the election had favoured Ewuga. It took the efforts of security agents to calm down frayed nerves.

At the inauguration of the election petition tribunal in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, Ewuga had filed his petition before the tribunal chaired by Justice Rita Pemu. On the day of judgment, the streets of Lafia were deserted and everywhere remainED calm as people anticipated possible breakdown of law and order.

Delivering the tribunal judgment, Justice Pemu ruled that the petitioners failed to provide sufficient proof of alleged malpractices and massive irregularities during the April 14th governorship election. Ewuga and ANPP had filed a petition on May 15th 2007, challenging the return of Governor Doma as the winner of the April 14th governorship election in Nasarawa State.

They prayed the tribunal to determine that Doma was not duly elected by the majority of lawful votes cast during the election. They also prayed the tribunal to declare Ewuga as the winner of election. In addition, they alleged that the governorship election that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) conducted on April 14th 2007 in five local government areas of Doma, Keana, Nasarawa, Awe and Obi were not in compliance with the Electoral Act, 2006, claiming that they were fraught with irregularities such as massive thump printing and stuffing of ballot boxes, among other allegations.

Justice Pemu said the petitioners’ allegations were based on hearsay and conjectures. She said the evidence the petitioners provided were not sufficient to establish any of such allegations. “Evidence of the petitioners’ witnesses were imprecise, uncertain, unequivocal, vague and rigmarole,” she said. She added that the evidence by the petitioners’ witnesses on hijack of electoral materials, multiple thump printing, ballot box stuffing and disruption of election fell below the standard required proof of such allegations.
She said the allegations were criminal in nature and that the standard proof required is proof beyond reasonable doubt, stressing that the petitioners did not meet this standard. She also said the testimonies of witnesses on voting were based on wards instead of polling units. She further said the petitioner should have based the case of malpractice on specific polling units of the five local government areas which were affected in the case rather than using general terms such as wards.

On the allegation that INEC was biased, the tribunal maintained that the Electoral Act did not cover bias and so could not be an issue in the case. She questioned the credibility of a thumbprint expert, Walter Cook, brought into the country from the United Kingdom by the petitioner, saying while the qualification of the expert to handle issues of such magnitude was in doubt, his opinion of the analysis could not even be authenticated or validated.

On whether the tribunal has jurisdiction to subpoena a foreigner, Mr. Cook, she said that since the expert had agreed to submit himself such evidence is admissible, adding that Walter admitted that he was subpoena in Nigeria. On the allegation that the said election in the five local government areas were done with manual voter registers instead of the approved electronic voter registers, she said the testimony of INEC witness indicated that manual registers were valid as they were used as back up, noting that the decision on which register to use lied with INEC.

She said the petitioners failed to link the alleged malpractices “unsubstantiated as they are” to the Adamu. “It is the law that when the petitioner alleges thuggery, violence or other criminal acts, he must establish a nexus between the perpetrators of the said acts and the 1st respondent by credible evidence,” stressing that this was not the case in this petition.

The evidence before the tribunal, she said, strongly suggested that the election into the office of the governor of Nasarawa State held on April 14th 2007 was conducted substantially in accordance with the principles of Electoral Act 2006. Based on this, she upheld the election of Governor Doma as the duly elected governor of Nasarawa State, while dismissing Ewuga’s petition. Commenting on the judgment, the Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Abdullahi Mustapha, said the petitioners should be take the judgment in good faith, urging them to rally round the government to lift the state to a higher level. He said continued hostility to government would not solve the problem, urging those who lost out take everything as an act of God. Governor Doma, in his state broadcast after the judgment, appealed to all the aggrieved people to join hands with his administration to ensure success.

It seems the stage is now set for Doma to turn things round in the state following the outcome of the tribunal. Whether the opposition political parties will take the judgment in good faith, head for the Appeal Court or start preparations for 2011 is what onlookers are waiting to see.