As reactions continue to trail the attack on Justice Mary Odili’s residence by suspected hirelings of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, after the Supreme Court ruling which nullified the election of David Lyon as governor of Bayelsa State; and the threat by the Rivers State Government to hold the national chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomole and Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipreye Silva responsible if anything happens to the family of the former governor of the state, investigation revealed that Justice Odili has been fair to even APC governors in her rulings.
Odili came under attack after she led a panel of five Apex Court Justices that sacked Lyon. She has been accused of being partisan because her husband, Dr Peter Odili, who was a former governor of Rivers State, is a chieftain of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. However, what her attackers failed to understand was that it was not solely her decision to nullify the election of Lyon as there are other four justices on the panel.
But Justice Odili has led panels that returned several APC governors including those of Lagos, Kaduna and Katsina.
A seven-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili affirmed the governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s victory on 18th December after dismissing two separate appeals challenging the outcome of the poll.
Justice Paul Galinje, who delivered the lead judgments in the two appeals held that the appeals lacked merit.
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On the same day, Justice Odili’s led panel in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice Centus Nweze dismissed the appeal filed by Mr Isa Ashiru of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) challenging the election Nasir El Rufai as Kaduna State Governor.
On the same day, the seven-man panel led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili dismissed the appeal of David Ombugadu and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against the March 9, 2019 victory of Abdullahi Sule as the Governor of Nasarawa State.
Justice Peter-Odili said the appeal by Ombugadu lacked merit.
The apex court also dismissed an appeal filed by the candidate of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) in the 2019 gubernatorial election in Ogun State, Hon. Abdulkabir Adekunle Akinlade, against the election of Abiodun as governor of the state.
Akinlade and his party were seeking to upturn the verdicts of the election petition tribunal and the Court Appeal, which upheld the election of Abiodun
Justice Peter-Odili, who delivered the unanimous judgment of the court, held that the appellants failed to discharge the burden of proof of the non-compliance with the Electoral Act as argued.
In the Katsina State case, the apex court upheld the submissions of Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), counsel to Masari, that the governor, who was the first respondent, was eminently qualified for the March 9 governorship election.
The court also agreed with Fagbemi that the appellant, Senator Yakubu Lado, did not challenge the basic qualification of the governor, other than mere allegations of submitting false information to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for his clearance for the election.
Justice Mary Peter-Odili, while delivering the lead judgment, held that the appeal by Lado was devoid of merit and substance, and accordingly upheld the concurrent judgment of the tribunal and appeal court, which upheld the election of Masari as governor of Katsina State.
The appellant had argued that Masari was not qualified to contest the election on the grounds that the certificate he tendered belongs to one Aminu Bello that is different from Aminu Bello Masari. But the court held that Masari satisfied the provision of the constitution.
