Date: 2018-02-03

...Asks court to okay trial of agent, INEC staff

It is fresh trouble for the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, as the Federal High Court in Abuja has assumed jurisdiction over a suit alleging that result of the 2015 Kwara Central Senatorial District election was manipulated. President of the Nigerian 8th Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Abdurahman Abdulrazaq, is in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/92/2018, seeking an order of mandamus compelling the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to prosecute one Ladi Hassan, who was Saraki's agent during the collation of the results of the 2015 election.

Equally indicted and penciled down for prosecution by the plaintiff in the suit that has INEC as the sole defendant, was the collating/returning officer for the Kwara Central Senatorial poll, Mrs. Mulkah Ahmed.

The suit was filed few days after the Code of Conduct Tribunal in Abuja, fixed Febraury 6 for Saraki to open his defence to the falsification charge the Federal Government preferred against him.

Meantime, in the instant suit, Abdulrazaq who was the Senatorial candidate of the PDP in Kwara Central, told the court that Saraki was declared the winner of the election on March 28, 2015, when the results were only collated by Ahmed and Hassan (Saraki's agent) at the district level on March 29, 2015.

The plaintiff attached to his suit, two sets of exhibits. While Exhibit 1, showing that "summaries of results from wards and local government areas that make up the senatorial district were finally compiled on March 29, 2015, as the date on each of these forms read the same collation date."

The second document marked Exhibit 2, was identified as INEC FORM EC 8E(1) being "the Declaration of Results of Election compiled by Dr. (Mrs.) Mulkah A. Ahmed (the returning officer) and Ladi Hassan, agent to Dr. Bukola Saraki." The plaintiff alleged before the court that only Saraki's agent and the collation officer signed the form. Besides, the plaintiff, in a supporting affidavit that was deposed to by his aide, Adebayo Oloyin, averred in part, "That it is common sense that collation date will always precede declaration date as the collation dictates declaration of results."

The deponent maintained that the "offence committed" by the persons indicted in the alleged electoral fraud, cost his boss the merit of a petition he filed at the Election Petition Tribunal to challenge Saraki's election.

Saraki had after winning the Kwara Central election, also contested and won the position of the Senate President. Meanwhile, Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Adbul Abdu-Kafarati had yet to assign Abdulrazaq's suit to any Judge for hearing.