Court of Appeal Ruling on David Mark May Shock Nigerians

Saharareporters, New York

Just as local newspapers began a hype over the impending ruling of the Court of Appeal on Senator David Mark’s election appeal petitions before the court of appeal in Jos, a group of legal experts in Abuja who spoke to Saharareporters anonymously have put a lie to the various reports indicating that there is a jostle for Mark’s position in the Senate as an “orchestrated” campaign to give the Nigerian public an impression that the Court of Appeal in Jos led by Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa will do justice in the case against the senate president.

Sources knowledgeable about a secret deal between David Mark and Umar Yar’adua now say that Nigerians may be in for a rude shock on July 15, 2008, if a judgement already prepared by the president of the Court of Appeal, Justice Umaru Abdullahi is delivered on Tuesday. Justice Abdullahi reportedly wrote the judgement favoring Mark and handed it to Justice Bulkchuwa three weeks ago before he ‘disappeared’ on to his annual vacation.

These sources told Saharareporters that Justice Abdullahi had assured David Mark that his appeal would sail through, telling Mark to let the lower election petitions tribunal in Makurdi “finish fooling themselves”, referring to the tenacious actions of the Benue State Election Petitions Tribunal that nullified David Mark’s election in September 2007.

Though David Mark was initially rejected by hawks in the Yar’adua government because of his closeness to former president Obasanjo, another source in Aso Rock told Saharareporters that Mark’s role in pushing the candidacy of Mrs. Farida Waziri of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) through the Senate despite the initial resistance against her might be responsible for the final change of mind over his case. It is an open secret that the president of the court of appeal relates closely to Yar’adua through his wife, Turai. Justice Abdullahi hails from the same state –Katsina-as Yar’adua and his wife.

Justice Abdullahi, who spent most of the last one year administering electoral petitions, has helped Yar’adua fix lots of favorable election judgements both at the Presidential Elections Petitions Tribunal and in states like Kebbi, where Yar’adua’s son-in-law, Governor Usman Saidu Dakingari was restored to office after the Court of Appeal led by Justice Bulkachuwa gave a controversial ruling which handed victory back to the Kebbi State governor.

Legal experts monitoring the appeal case involving David Mark and Alhaji Usman Abubakar (Young Alhaji) his challenger at the court of appeal told our reporters that the panel of judges granted Mark unprecedented “brand new” solid concessions in the case so as to prepare the ground for a favorable ruling in support of Mark.

They point to the u-turn made by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in repudiating its officers who invalidated so many of the votes, their actions favored Alhaji Abubakar to successfully win the case against Mark.

Also, there were key challenges in form of fresh motions that appealed against four interlocutory rulings given by the election petition tribunal in Makurdi. These include appeals against four interlocutory rulings of the lower tribunal and 13 new grounds of appeal in respect of the judgment of the lower tribunal. Mark was supported in his appeals by INEC lawyers. Justice Abdullahi, the president of Court of Appeal reportedly offered “legal advice” to Mark in order to make it possible for him to get victory.

Already the case has all the trappings of travesty, last week, the ruling was postponed for a few days, much the same way the ruling in the case of Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu was postponed to grant the court of appeal in Enugu enough time to alter key elements of the judgment that gave Chime victory, even though Chime had already moved out of the government house in preparation for fresh elections. A source close to Chime told Saharareporters that the judgement shocked him and might have ‘embarrassed’ him as well.

Shortly after the ruling, Chime was caught celebrating the “victory” in a pair of slacks and “bathroom slippers” with shirts hanging loose over his trousers, this image of Chime was a clear departure from a suit-wearing governor that was known to the public since assuming office in May 2007.

In Ebonyi, Saharareporters had predicted that a cozy relationship between the former chair of the lower tribunal, Justice Chioma Nwosu-Iheme (who was recently promoted to the Court of Appeal) would preclude the petitioner, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu from getting justice from the court of appeal, that report by us came to pass as the Justice Funmilayo Adekeye led panel unanimously dismissed the appeals and upheld Martin Elechi’s election.

If Mark loses on Tuesday, one of our sources say, “It won’t be because the Court of Appeal could do justice, it will be because Yar’adua’s people couldn’t trust him enough to fix him nice”