Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
Those whom the Gods want to kill, they first make mad. This aphorism may be playing out on the dissident, politically-rascal and self-imposed lord of Zamfara politics who is soon to meet his waterloo at the temple of justice if the litany of allegations against him is proven true and culpable.
The rather embattled and defenceless Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state, is, to say the least not finding things easy at all, given the barrage of weighty accusations and evidential allegations of his overreaching influence and undue interference in due process in his state and even beyond his state; let alone the much-expected outcome of the court verdict that awaits him on the protracted politics of the state, which he is being massively accused of having turned into his personal tool to subdue perceive elements in his bid to become the unofficial emperor of the state.
Recent reports that alleged him of high-handedness and disrespect to party hierarchy and wanton sleaze of the state till and treasury are replete and very instructive enough to nab him as a political dissident if findings of his innocuous activities are found to be true, ascertained and verifiable. As if this was not enough for the recalcitrant Yari to retrace his steps, the now unpopular Yari in Zamfara and even in his much-avowed party, APC, now has a date with the Sokoto Division of the Appeal Court in the substantive suit regarding his role in the Zamfara APC governorship primaries vis-a-viz his imposition of a preferred candidate, quite against the wishes of the party’s stakeholders from the ward to the national levels of the party. In a court statement issued and reported through the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, during the week stating inter alia: ‘The Court of Appeal Sokoto Division on Thursday fixed Monday, March 25, to deliver judgment in an appeal suit challenging the order of a Zamfara High Court, allowing the All Progressives Congress (APC) to field candidates in the 2019 Election.
The appeal was filed by Sen. Kabiru Marafa, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) and 129 others through his Counsel, Mr Mike Ozheokome SAN. The lead counsel relied on numerous citations arguing that the State High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit, thereby the decision was unconstitutional, of no effect, null and avoid. In his submission, counsel to respondents, Mr. Mahmud Magaji, SAN, urged the court to discountenance the submission and also relied on points in law.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Tom Yakubu, adjourned the case to March 25 for judgment as the parties in the suit have exchanged and filed necessary correspondences according to stipulated rules. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had reported that a Zamfara High Court recognized the primary elections held by APC in the state and declared that INEC accepts the party candidates for the elections. Unsatisfied with the State High Court decision, the appellants approached the appeal court challenging the decision on the ground that the State High Court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the suit among others.’ Meanwhile if the public opinion and raison d’etre by some legal experts, it is getting clearer by the day that a superior court judgment may nullify the Zamfara APC nonsensical primary election in a matter of days. Several disclosures backed with legal references from various respected legal practitioners in Nigeria have jointly and severally asserted that no any reasonable court of law in Nigeria can legalize the so-called and childish primary election Zamfara state APC is unduly claiming. In the real sense of this, APC may lose Zamfara state in the ensuing political warfare, as all set- facts indicating that APC didn’t conduct any acceptable primaries in Zamfara are obviously available and evidential.
The case is very simple, they say, as provided by the electoral act and the party’s constitution, that ‘primaries are to be conducted not by the state Governors, primaries are to be conducted by electoral panel sent by the party’s NWC, the results of which are to be announced by the returning officer who officially chairs the primary election, not the party state chairman or any other party official for that matter.’ This submission, according to yet another concerned group, ALLAH KA CECE JAHAR ZAMFARA DAGA HANNUN YAN NO NO NONSENSE, surmised this submission with a very instructive undertone: ‘If after watching this video clip and you still believed that primaries held In Zamfara state, then your brain is INCONCLUSIVE.’ What a cheeky and extraneous way to infer about a sinking and drowning governor whose days are now definitely numbered. However, from the foregoing, it only stands to reason and common sensibility that Governor Abdulazia Yari is already a goner and is only marking time, because once the national chairman of your party is not in sync with you, the people you have ( mis )governed and embezzled their money, the traditional rulers, civil society groups, and lawyers of note including the international community, are all at variance with his untoward antics and anti-party activities, all of which have piled up to make him a Judas Iscariot in the making with monumental misadventures. The die is cast for non-conformist governors in Nigeria.
Presently, the Appeal Cort sitting in Sokoto last Monday had summarily set aside a judgment of a high court, which allowed the All Progressives Congress to field candidates in the 2019 elections in Zamfara State, a judgment that has been hailed across board with the urge for INEC to return PDP candidates as winners.
The PDP had insisted that the APC participated illegally in the Zamfara State governorship election. It said this was evident in the ruling of the Court of Appeal that nullified the primary that produced the governorship candidate of the APC who participated in the election. The National Chairman of the PDP, Prince Uche Secondus, applauded the court for the judgment, saying that the “night ruling that INEC relied on to allow the APC participate in the election was suspicious.” He said, “The Court of Appeal judgment has vindicated us.
The judiciary is alive and we are happy for that. Though the judges are facing a lot of challenges from the intimidating government, we are however happy that the judges are strong and telling the truth to power.” Justice Yakubu, who delivered the unanimous judgment, said all evidence placed before the court had shown that the respondents (APC and others) did not conduct primary elections which accordingly, contravened the electoral law. The judge also held that the party had made two unsuccessful attempts to conduct primaries in the state and list of candidates was not duly submitted to INEC by the national headquarters of the party. He stated, “We have looked at the exhibits 4, 7 and 8 which are very clear that primary election was not conducted.
Evidence shows that the state governor only appointed a special committee that later came up with candidates’ names in place of primary elections. So far, all evidence constituted that primary election was not conducted which contravened the electoral law.” The judge also faulted the lower court for relying heavily on oral evidence in taking its decision, saying “oral evidence cannot be used to discredit any written evidence. A procedure must be followed whether there is an order or not.
“This court hereby set aside the judgment of the trial court. This must be a hard and bitter lesson for all political parties who will not follow the guidelines lay before them,” part of the judgment read. On lack of jurisdiction to entertain the suit as argued by the appellants, the Appeal Court submitted that the lower court had power to determine such a case in accordance with the law, and therefore ruled in respondents’ favour. In a similar vein, lawyers have referred to the Zamfara ruling as a lesson for INEC, politicians and parties.
