ELECTION TRIBUNALS

Decree No. 7 of 1997 provides for the establishment of local government election tribunals and election appeal tribunals to resolve disputes arising out of elections.75 Each tribunal is to be comprised of a chairman and two other members. Election tribunal members are to be appointed by the chief judge of the state or of the Federal Capital Territory, while election appeal tribunal members are to be appointed by the chief justice of Nigeria. The chairman of an election tribunal must have held or be qualified to hold the office of a High Court judge. One of the members of the tribunal must have been qualified to practice law for a minimum of twelve years, and the other must be a non-member of the legal profession. All election appeal tribunal members must be retired justices of the Court of Appeal or Constitutional Court, retired judges of the Federal High Court or the High Court of a state or the Federal Capital Territory, or legal practitioners who have been qualified to practice for a minimum of twelve years.76

Notwithstanding their credentials, there have been many credible reports that members of the election tribunals have engaged in corrupt practices. Allegations of bribery have become so common that Alhaji Hassan Yusuf, a member of the Transitional Implementation Committee, announced in late August 1997 that the tic was documenting alleged improprieties by the tribunals for transmission to General Abacha. Following a Council of State meeting on August 22, 1997, the military administrator of Nassarawa State, Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim, announced that the federal government had decided to review decisions of local government election appeal tribunals throughout the country. He explained that "certain members of the tribunals, including the chairmen and politicians, have participated in corruption malpractices in order to make sure that certain people are now pronounced as winners, and therefore, government has decided to review the situation and then to critically take certain actions that will restore credibility and credence to the transition program." He specified that a committee would be established to investigate complaints and remedy those decisions found wanting.77 A representative sampling of cases that have been considered by election tribunals follows.

Langtang North, Plateau State

After voting had been completed in Langtang North local government area in Plateau State, the returning officer, Gabriel Zi, in the presence of political party agents, began collating results at the local government headquarters. In the midst of the collation process, Zi received instructions to report to Jos, the capital of Plateau State. Because Zi had not yet announced the election results, he was accompanied by the cnc and uncp agents, the only two parties contesting the election. Upon reaching Jos, they were directed to Jos South local government headquarters, where Zi was permitted to finish tallying the votes, revealing a victory for Pomfa Banda of the cnc party. The results were signed by Zi and countersigned by the party agents. Zi also signed a declaration of the results, certifying that Banda had received 15,884 votes, while Joel Dadi of the uncp had received 15,845. The party agents received copies of the declaration.

Although Zi intended to return to Langtang North to announce the results, as required by Decree No. 7 of 1997, he and the electoral officer, along with the party agents, were summoned to necon headquarters in Jos, where the state administrative secretary of necon announced that there had been "orders from above" to cancel the results of the Langtang North election. A radio broadcaster announced that the election had been cancelled "for security reasons" and that a bye-election would take place on April 3.

Banda, through counsel, applied for and obtained an injunction from the Federal High Court prohibiting the bye-election. Although necon ignored the injunction and the bye-election went forward, it was boycotted by four of the five political parties. Joel Dadi, the uncp candidate, prevailed by default.

Following the bye-election, Banda, through counsel, petitioned the newly created Plateau State local government election tribunal to rule that he had been duly and validly elected chairman of Langtang North local government council on March 15, that the subsequent annulment of this election was unconstitutional, and that the bye-election of April 3, 1997 was therefore illegal, null and void. The tribunal ruled against Banda, principally on the grounds that the results of the March 15 election were inconclusive because they had never been announced by the returning officer. Although the court noted some security problems that arose during the March 15 elections, these do not appear to have figured prominently in its decision.78 Citing section 93(1) of Decree No. 7, which provides that no court shall have jurisdiction or competence to address electoral matters, the tribunal also found that the Federal High Court had no jurisdiction to issue an injunction prohibiting the bye-election of April 3. The tribunal seems to have overlooked the fact that, at the time that Banda applied for the injunction, Decree No. 7 had not yet been published. The tribunal noted further that Banda had no standing to initiate a petition seeking to cancel the results of a bye-election in which he had refused to participate.

Banda filed an appeal with the Plateau State election appeal tribunal. In the course of the proceeding, the chairman of the appeal tribunal inquired as to the meaning of "orders from above," but received no response. The appeal tribunal ultimately reversed the decision of the lower tribunal on the grounds that the summaries of the March 15 election results provided conclusive evidence of a cnc victory and that the petitioner should not be deprived of his rights on technical grounds. The appeal tribunal also found that, since the bye-election of April 3 was a continuation of the March 15 election, Banda had standing to challenge the bye-election.

After the appeal tribunal ordered that Banda should be sworn in as chairman of Langtang North local government, the respondents applied for and obtained an injunction from the Federal High Court prohibiting his installation. Although the granting of this injunction equally contravenes section 93(2) of Decree No. 7, whichprovides that no court shall have jurisdiction to review any order, decision or judgment of an election tribunal or an election appeal tribunal, Banda has not yet been installed.79 While the election tribunal process appears on the surface to offer redress to candidates who feel they have been unjustly treated by the process, the decisions of the tribunals seem to be ignored in practice where results do not suit the authorities.

Mangu, Plateau State

After it was announced that Francis Kwarpo Damwesh of the cnc party had won the election in Mangu local government area in Plateau State, necon officials and the candidates were summoned to necon headquarters in Jos. They were informed that Damwesh had not submitted the proper nomination papers and was therefore disqualified. Esther Sen, the uncp candidate, was declared to have won instead.

Damwesh, through counsel, applied for and obtained an injunction from the Federal High Court prohibiting Sen from being sworn in until the merits of the case could be presented to an election tribunal. In support of his application, he presented copies of correspondence from necon, including a letter confirming that he had been approved to run for the chairmanship of Mangu local government area, and a copy of a receipt for the ten thousand naira he had paid necon in exchange for the nomination form.80 Notwithstanding the injunction, Sen was sworn in.

Damwesh encountered substantial difficulties in pursuing his case before the election tribunal. Most notably, the electoral officer responsible for receiving nomination forms, Timothy Dangle, attended the first day of the tribunal proceedings, but never returned. Following the first session, Dangle implicitly requested a bribe from Damwesh by informing him that the respondents had offered him x300,000 (US $3,600). Damwesh did not respond. The returning officer, Joshua Waklek, testified that he had been in constant contact with Dangle in the days preceding the election and that Dangle had never suggested that Damwesh was not competent to contest the election. Although the election tribunal ruled against Damwesh, this decision has been reversed on appeal. To date, however, Sen remains in office.81

Kagarko, Kaduna State

After necon announced that uncp member Eric Abubakar had won the election in Kagarko local government area in Kaduna State, one of his opponents, dpn member Daniel Madaki, challenged the results before an election tribunal. The evidence presented revealed that the collation process had gone smoothly in seventy-six out of seventy-seven polling stations, except that the electoral officer had granted an extra twenty-five votes to each political party "as a bonus." In the single "problematic" polling station, the electoral officer and the returning officer had reached different results. The election tribunal upheld necon's decision and discounted the conflicting results of the problematic polling station. However, the appeal tribunal later reversed this decision and announced a victory for the dpn candidate. The appeal tribunal held that the results of all the polling stations should be taken into account, but did not specify which of the two sets of conflicting results should prevail or why. While the matter was stillpending before the appeal tribunal, tribunal members reportedly asked the uncp chairman and vice-chairman to pay a bribe of five hundred thousand naira (US $6,025), which they refused to do.82

Lafia, Nassarawa State

Results announced at the polling stations in Lafia, Nassarawa State reportedly indicated a victory for dpn candidate Chris Abashi. En route to the collation center, however, vehicles carrying results from two electoral wards were stopped at a checkpoint manned by a group of ten armed men, supposedly including the national auditor of the uncp party. These results were seized, and necon later announced that the uncp candidate, Mohammed Halilu, had won the election.

After Abashi filed a petition with an election tribunal, a high-level government official reportedly tried to convince him to withdraw the case by promising him a government appointment. Abashi refused. The tribunal later dismissed the case on grounds that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. The election appeal tribunal also dismissed the case.83

(a) that the person whose election is questioned was at the time of the election not qualified or was disqualified from being elected as a member of a Local Government Council or an Area Council; or

(b) that the election was voided by corrupt practices, irregularities or offences under this Decree; or

(c) that the respondent was not duly elected by a majority of valid or lawful votes cast at the election; or

(d) that the petitioner was validly nominated but was unlawfully excluded from the election.