Court Dismisses INEC application For Stay Of Execution

The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) has again been faulted by the Federal High Court, sitting in Warri, Delta State, over its inability to restorate Ughelli South 1 and Isoko North 1 constituencies.

The court Tuesday dismissed the application for the stay of execution filed by INEC against the judgment of the court on October 31, 2014 ordering INEC to restore the two state constituencies, which were suppressed by the commission in 1998 forthwith.

Presiding Judge, Justice Shitu Abubakar, while dismissing the application without cost against INEC, the said the commission had no reason to delay the implementation of the court’s judgment.

The matter was adjoined to February 10 for the commencement of contempt of court proceedings against the commission’s chairman, Prof Attaihuru Jega. After the adjournment, INEC counsel, Mr. Efa Oka, said INEC was under obligation to obey the judgment after its application for stay of execution was dismissed.

Also, counsel to the plaintiffs, Chief Efe Akpofure, SAN, described the dismissal of INEC’s application for stay of execution as a good judgment, saying that the matter deserved extreme urgency since the judgement was for the restoration of state constituencies that should participate in the February 28 elections, Akpofure said, “there is nobody that is bigger than the court; you must obey the court order.

“The court has made an order and that judgment is subsisting. I don’t want to believe that the delay in the implementation of the court judgment is political; we expect INEC to do the needful, having been put on notice”.

He held that unless Prof Attaihuru Jega complies with the court judgment, they would not withdraw the contempt of court proceedings against him. He said similar judgements had been given in other states and those constituencies were restored.

Mr John Okoriko, who is also a counsel to the plaintiffs, said the ruling was fair, adding that; “we are convinced that it has met the justice of this particular case. The reason is that; this is a matter in which we have gotten judgment on the 31st day of October 2014 and the court copiously made the order that INEC should comply with the judgment by ensuring that Ughelli South 1 and Isoko North 1 constituencies be restored forthwith”.