Investigation by this newspaper revealed that Dongban-Mensem acted in response to an avalanche of petitions and protests by political parties and their candidates, who allege that the judges of the tribunals were heavily compromised by the governors during the trial stage in their respective states.
Consequently, was told that all appellate cases arising from the judgement of the various election petition tribunals in the 36 states of the country would be heard and determined in Abuja and Lagos divisions of the Appeal Court.
By this action of Dongban-Mensem, only two of the 20 divisions of the court would determine all appellate cases arising from the judgements of the elections petition tribunals throughout the country.
The order affects gubernatorial, national and state assemblies’ elections, which have the court of appeal as the last court of adjudication.
A source in the Court of Appeal headquarters in Abuja revealed that all appellate cases arising from the judgements of the election petitions tribunals on the 1,209 cases filed against the conduct of 2023 general elections had been assigned to Abuja and Lagos for hearing and determination.
Already, all political parties and their candidates, having pending appeal cases have been directed to comply with the order by moving to either Lagos or Abuja as the case may be to prosecute their cases.
It was revealed that Dongban-Mensem acted in response to an avalanche of petitions and protests by political parties and their candidates, who allege that the judges of the tribunals were heavily compromised by the governors during the trial stage in their respective states.
Dongban-Mensem was of the conviction that having a restricted and concise number of the appellate court divisions to handle the cases would pave the way for easy monitoring of the judges by the presiding officer of the appellate court.
The governing party, All Progressives Congress (APC), and two opposition platforms, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), and their aggrieved candidates in their various petitions and protests to the leadership of the court of appeal alleged that the judges of the tribunals became vulnerable as governors generously provided logistics and other support for them to ease the discharge of their assignments.
The aggrieved parties and the candidates protested that various judgements pronounced by some of the tribunal judges were not only fraudulent but were “outrightly purchased” by the governors in favour of their parties and candidates in the election.
The appellants in the various cases expressed apprehension that the same fate might befall them if their cases are allowed to be determined by the other 18 divisions of the Court of Appeal domiciled in various states under the watch of the governors of the states.
Giving further insight into the unfolding development, the source said the leadership of the appellate court was persuaded to move against the governors by relocating the cases to Abuja and Lagos, where the judges could be effectively monitored by the president of the appellate court.
Perturbed by the revelations, Dongban-Mensem was reported to have launched discreet enquiries into the allegations against the governors and the judges of the trial tribunal.
It was gathered that enquiries established the veracity of the allegations to the extent that an unholy alliance was established between some governors and judges of the tribunals, which led to perversion of justice at the trial level.
Some judges of the tribunals were reportedly indicted and might face trial by the National Judicial Council (NJC).
Subsequently, Dongban-Mensem, who was dazed by the outcome of the enquiries, ordered an immediate transfer of all election appellate cases to Abuja and Lagos.
To this end, all appellate cases in the 19 states of the country are to be heard and determined by the Abuja division of the court.
Similarly, those cases emanating from grievances over the judgement of the election petition tribunals in the 17 states of southern Nigeria are to be treated by the Lagos division of the court.
In arriving at the decision, Dongban-Mensem was bothered that the image of the judiciary could be rubbished by unsavoury activities of corrupt judges in alliance with the political class.
Besides, it was learnt that Dongban-Mensem believed that the action would guarantee the independence and integrity of the judiciary, especially the appellate court.
More importantly, it would renew the hope of political parties and the petitioners that they could secure fair hearing and justice, especially in those cases arising from the conduct of the national and state assembly elections, which have the Court of Appeal as the last court of instance.
Credit: Leadership Newspaper
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