As the news of the Judgement in the Presidential election spreads across the world,reactions are following it.
Dozie Okoro a Nigerian Lawyer writes a short satirical comment of the decisions of the supreme court of Nigeria and Kenya in presidential election petitions.
Nigeria Supreme Court 2007 Per Niki Tobi JSC(of blessed Memory)
“For the avoidance of doubt, I am not saying by this judgment that all was well with the conduct of the Presidential election conducted in 2007. What I am saying is that there was no evidence before the Court of Appeal to dislodge section 146 of the Electoral Act. In the sum the appeal fails and it is dismissed”
There is yet another point. It is in the respect of the fact that non-serialisation, if it had benefits and advantages, was not exclusive to the respondents (Yar’adua and Jonathan). I do not see any proof by the appellant that the respondents had benefits or advantages over and above the appellant on the alleged non-serialization of the ballot papers. I do note that the non-serialization favoured the respondents and disfavoured the appellant (Buhari).
Kenya Supreme Court 2017 Justice David Maraga Chief Justice
“Irregularities affected the integrity of the election The independent Boundaries And Election Commission failed , neglected or refused to conduct the presidential election in a manner consistent with the dictates of the constitution. the election commission “committed illegalities and irregularities … in the transmission of results, substance of which will be given in the detailed judgment of the court” that will be published within 21 days”
The Chief Justice intimated that the court had reached its verdict not because Mr Odinga had proved fraud but due to the opaque manner in which the count was conducted.
Results filed from a quarter of the 40,000 poling stations were not submitted to the central tallying centre with the required hard copies signed by agents from both parties, but were nonetheless allowed to stand.
A declaration is hereby issued that the presidential election held on August 8 was not conducted in accordance to the constitution and applicable law, rendering the results invalid, null and void,” He ordered a new vote to be held within 60 days, sparking dancing and singing in the streets outside the court and opposition strongholds in the city’s slums.
