By Francis H. Murray
Dr. Sylvia Blyden, the 1st petitioner of the 2018 presidential election that brought President Bio to power has told the Supreme Court that President Bio’s election was not valid, describing her petition as neither “frivolous nor vexatious or malicious.”
Addressing Chief Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards and four other judges on Wednesday 17th February 2021, Dr. Blyden said the Election Petition Rules of 2007 have no binding or mandatory effect on petitioners coming before the Supreme Court with a presidential election petition. She argued that a presidential election petition is “radically” different from a parliamentary election petition.
The APC politician said the 1991 Constitution gives right to citizens to question the election of the president and to approach the court with any concerns raised from a presidential electoral process while Section 45 (2) Act No. 6 of 1991 gives the right to any citizen to question whether or not a member of parliament has been validly elected.
Citing the ruling of Justice Umu Hawa Tejan Jalloh in the election petition case of John Oponjo Benjamin and Julius Maada Bio filed against the National Electoral Commission, she argued that the Supreme Court never bound itself to the Elections Petition Rules of 2007 and the petition was heard.
She asked that if the Supreme Court has not bound itself to the applicability of the Election Petition Rules of 2007, what do petitioners do where there seems to be no rules. She said in 2002, parliament enacted a primary legislation titled the Electoral Laws of 2002 Act No 2 in which it prescribed the way an election petition action can be handled.
Dr. Blyden further asserted that the only rules that bind a petitioner in front of the court for a presidential election petition remains the Statutory Instrument No 12 of 1986 on electoral laws, adding that the Rules of Court Committee does not have the power to overturn the primary legislation.
She maintained that the purported revocation of Statutory Instrument No 12 of 1986 by the by the Election Petition Rules of 2007 is null and void because the Rules of Court Committee cannot purport that it amounts to a primary legislation.
She noted that attempting to punish her and further deprive the people of the country to hear her petition by an election petition rules which she said was not applicable to her will not amount to justice.
Dr. Blyden said there must be a reason why the Rules of Court Committee has not created separate rules for presidential election petition, adding that the Court must use its tremendous powers under Rule 103 of the Supreme Court Rules to direct them on the way forward or to make rules for the matter to be heard.
Adopting the arguments of Lawyer Dumbuya representing the leadership of the APC that Rule 6 of the Election Petition Rules of 2007 is made up of two parts, she argued that Rule 6 (2) neutralizes the mandatory rules of rule 6 (1) by putting the onus on the Supreme Court Registrar to serve copies of the petitions on respondents and not the petitioners.
The hearing continues on Monday 22nd February 2021.
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