The Court of Appeal in Ibadan, Oyo State, has set aside a ruling of the Justice Tanko Usman-led National and State House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal on the petition filed by Senator Olufemi Lanlehin against the election of Honourable Rilwan Akanbi.
Senator Lanlehin, who was Accord’s candidate in the Oyo South Senatorial district election of March 28, is challenging the declaration of Akanbi of the All Progressives Congress (APC), as the winner of the election.
The tribunal had, in the ruling delivered on June 23, granted an application for extension of time filed on June 4 by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner(REC), Mr Rufus Akeju, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), third and fourth respondents respectively in the petition.
Under the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended), a respondent is required to file a reply to an election petition not later than 21 days from the day of service of the petition.
Lanlehin’s counsel, Richard Ogunwole, SAN, had challenged the competence of the application seeking extension of time for Akeju and INEC, who filed their responses 44 days after they were served with the petition.
The tribunal, interpreting paragraph 45 of the First Schedule to the Electoral Act, had anchored its decision to extend time out of the statutory time limit on exercise of discretionary power.
Dissatisfied, counsel to Lanlehin headed for the Appellate Court, where he contended that the tribunal erred in law by taking such decision as it lacked the fundamental jurisdictional competence to so act.
The three-member Appeal Court panel led by Justice N Okoronkwo, in a unanimous judgment on Friday, held that the tribunal lacked the power to extend time for Akeju and INEC because the provision of Section 285 subsection 7 of the 1999 Constitution, which limits the time for election petition, does not brook any challenge.
He said that the intendment of the provision by the drafters of the constitution was to guard against unnecessary elongation of election petition matters which resolutions had often led to some elected politicians losing their positions a few months to the end of their tenure.
The Appellate Court added that, if a party in an election matter failed to file the necessary process by 24 hours, tribunal could not grant an extension of time for such party, as doing so, would open a pandora’s box that could vitiate proceedings.
A motion on notice and a preliminary objection filed by Akanbi’s counsel, Chief Olayinka Bolanle, against Lanlehin’s appeal were dismissed for lacking merit.
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