Taraba’s tribunal verdicts, stones and glass houses

Recently, the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal (on the Taraba State governorship election) sitting in Abuja nullified the election of Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku of Taraba State. The nullification was greeted with anger especially amongst members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state and the country. This is evident in the type and […]

Recently, the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal (on the Taraba State governorship election) sitting in Abuja nullified the election of Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku of Taraba State. The nullification was greeted with anger especially amongst members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state and the country. This is evident in the type and magnitude of comments, opinions, views and questions that featured in the media after the verdict. Of interest are the questions raised by the PDP’s gallant soldier, Senator Emmanuel Bwacha representing the Southern people of the state, my state of origin. Bwacha is also the Deputy Minority Leader in the present 8th Senate.
In his reaction to the verdict, the senator asked three questions: First, why the tribunal challenged the validity of holding the PDP governorship primary election in Abuja on security grounds when it sits in Abuja on the same grounds? Second, why the Taraba verdict differed from that of another state (Benue) given that, the underlying situations are similar. Third, why APC supporters jubilated before the passage of the verdict.
Good questions, unfortunately, coming from a lawmaker who prefers the law when it suits his personal interest.
The development was greeted with happiness from Tarabans of all walks of life. The only exceptions were the senator and his cohorts who continued to address the acting governor as deputy governor. Though, the elevation was backed by law, in many instances, the senator continuously addressed the then acting governor as deputy governor.
Now, the logic that can be derived from this is that, in the senator’s mentality, a deputy governor and an acting governor are one and the same.
In his first question, the senator sees no need to nullify the election of the present governor of Taraba State because the primary election was shifted from Jalingo to Abuja on security grounds since; the tribunal sat in Abuja on the same grounds. Good. But did the senator forget that there is a legal backing permitting the shifting of tribunals on security grounds whereas that backing is lacking in the case of party primaries? Besides, did the senator think that Tarabans know the PDP as a party that conducts primaries at any level? In case he holds this belief, let me put the records straight; prior to the 1999 governorship election in the state, there was a PDP primary election, and prior to 2007 governorship election; but the winner of the primary election was not the one that contested for the party. There is therefore probability that the happening prior to the 2015 elections extends itself from; there was primary election (in 1999) to there was primary election but the winner was not given the party ticket (in 2007) to now, no primary at all (2015); check that all the years are odd.
Finally, the third question is on the senator’s concern for jubilation before the passage of verdict. In other words, jubilation before judgement is equivalent to knowing the judgement’s outcome. To say that the two phrases are equivalent is not true. Judgement is a process and passing judgement is just one point in the process.
Judges are like mathematicians. You come with your case (problem), they go through it in their own language, after that it becomes something known to people at their various levels of understanding. Today, time has proven them right. Interestingly, your party did the same in Taraba State and elsewhere when you were the men of the moment. We should also not forget the past or else, it will come back to haunt us as in this case.
Sani writes from Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina.