Court Rules On Suswam, Kakih, July 11

WHILE the Supreme Court might have shut the door to any contesting of Governor Suswam's election victory by Prof. Steve Ugbah (ACN) and Prof. Daniel Saror, the suit by Mr. Terver Kakih (PDP) at the Federal High Court, Makurdi, remains.The court, presided by Justice Marcel Awokulehin, last Friday, fixed July 11, 2012 for judgment on the case.Awokulehin gave the date after counsels to Kakih, Suswam, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) had adopted their final addresses.Counsel to Suswam and the PDP, Mr. Jibrin Okutepa, made references to decided cases of the Supreme Court and observed that the onus of proof in an allegation of forgery lies on the person making the claim.Okutekpa said Kakih participated in the party's primaries but got only six votes, wondering how somebody who was not a governorship candidate in the April 2011 governorship election would seek to be pronounced governor through a court declaration. He pointed out contradictions in the evidence of 10 witnesses brought by Kakih, saying many of them disclosed that they were not in all the wards to ascertain whether or not the congresses took place.Counsels to INEC and WAEC, Messrs E.P. Echor and G. I. Enebeli, submitted separately that the case should be dismissed for lack of merit. In his submission, Kakih's counsel, Mr. Sam Kargbo, stated that since the defendants did not contradict evidence of the plaintiff, the court should grant the reliefs sought.
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