Justice Gabriel Kolawole
of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has declined jurisdiction in the suits filed
in relation to the dispute on the inconclusive governorship election in Kogi
State. The
judge, in two judgment he delivered on Friday, dismissed the suits filed by the
state governor, Idris Wada and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
the running mate to the late Abubakar Audu, the governorship candidate of the
All Progressives Congress (APC), James Faleke, and three others on the ground
that his court lacked the jurisdiction to determine the issues raised.
The Nation report continues:
Justice
Kolawole said issue raised were election related and had crossed the
“threshold” of matters for the court since results in most of the polling units
had been declared.
He
said the suits qualified as a post-election dispute that could only be
entertained by the election petition tribunal which would be set up by the
President of the Court of Appeal in line with section 285(2) of the
Constitution.
The judge said he refrained
from looking at the merit of the cases to enable parties re-argued the issues
involved at the election petition tribunal.
Meanwhile TheCable reports that Gabriel Kolawole, justice of the federal
high court, Abuja, on Friday ruled that the court had no jurisdiction to hear
the cases involving the Kogi governorship election, which was declared
inconclusive on November 22.
The
court held that only the election petition tribunal had the jurisdiction to
hear the cases before it.
It
also held that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) could go
ahead with the conduct of its supplementary election in the state,
scheduled for December 5.
Delivering
his ruling, Kolawole said: “Only the election petition can entertain this case.
The court does not have the affirmation to make definitive pronouncements.”
The
court had received four suits from different parties on the November 21
governorship election in Kogi state.
The
suits were later consolidated into one, with three issues outlined for
determination.
The
issues were why Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) should not be
returned as governor having secured the second highest votes in the election,
whether the late Abubakar Audu died with his votes being the leading candidate
in the election, and if the December 5 supplementary governorship election
should hold.
The
personalities behind the suits were James Faleke, Audu’s deputy in the
inconclusive election, who asked the court to declare him governor of the state
as well as to stop Saturday’s supplementary governorship election; Wada,
incumbent governor of the Kogi state, who asked the court to declare him winner
on the grounds that he secured the second highest votes in the election;
Emmanuel Daiko, who contested the governorship election on the Platform of
Peoples Democratic Change (PDC), and asked that the supplementary election be
declared illegal; Raphael Igbokwe (a PDP member of the house representatives),
who asked the court to order the Independent National Electoral Commission (the
first defendant) to hold a fresh election in the state, and Johnson Jacob, a
native of Kogi state, who asked the court to cancel the election.
The
court struck out all the reliefs sought by Wada, Faleke, Daiko and Jacob for
want of jurisdiction.
It
observed that aggrieved candidates in an election would hurriedly run to the
court with the aim securing quick advantage over opponents; hence the need for
the court to be circumspect in delivering judgment.
The
court described such a case as an “invitation to constitutional and judicial
anarchy”.
However, it also held that
it would not fail to deliver a balanced judgment if it had the jurisdiction to
entertain the case. 
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