High Court Throws Out Haruna Election Case, Awards GH¢5,000 Costs Against Him

The curtain has finally come down on what has arguably been the most talked-about student politics saga in the recent history of the African University of Communications and Business (AUCB), as Haruna Rashid Yussif, a former Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) President, has suffered his third consecutive defeat in his bid to become the Student Representative Council (SRC) President, this time at the High Court.

Mr. Yussif, who had petitioned the court to overturn the outcome of the SRC presidential election won by Miss Muniratu Mohammed, was on the third sitting of the case sent packing by His Lordship Emmanuel Kofi Diaba, who struck out the matter.

The court further slapped the petitioner with a cost of GH¢5,000 for wasting the court’s precious time.

A Three-Round Knockout

For close watchers of student politics on the AUCB campus, Haruna’s latest legal setback is only the final chapter in a story that has seen him beaten not once, not twice, but three good times by the same opponent — Muniratu Mohammed.

The first blow came long before the ballot boxes were even opened. According to information gathered, Haruna Rashid Yussif did not qualify academically to contest the SRC presidency in the first place.

His Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) fell short of the threshold set by the SRC Constitution for aspirants of such a high office. However, in what many observers described as an act of magnanimity or perhaps oversight, depending on which side of the divide one stands, the electoral committee still allowed him to stand.

That concession, it turned out, was only postponing the inevitable.

On election day, the students of AUCB spoke and they spoke clearly. When the votes were tallied, Miss Muniratu Mohammed emerged victorious, beating Haruna by a margin of 12 votes. A slim margin, no doubt, but a margin all the same. In democracy, one vote is enough.

But Haruna was not ready to concede. Convinced that the election had not gone the way it should have, he took the matter to the High Court, praying the court to nullify the results and possibly order a rerun.

The Court’s Verdict

At the High Court, however, things did not go the way the former TEIN President had hoped.

On the third sitting of the case, presiding judge His Lordship Emmanuel Kofi Diaba, after painstakingly waiting to hear arguments from Haruna’s counsel, who refused to show up, ruled that the petitioner had failed to provide any credible or substantial evidence to back his weighty allegations.

The case was accordingly struck out, and Mr. Yussif was ordered to pay GH¢5,000 as cost.

“The application is struck out. Cost of GHS 5, 000.00 is awarded against the Applicant in favor of the 4th Defendant” the ruling stated.

Reactions Trickle In

The ruling has since sent ripples across the AUCB campus, with mixed reactions from students. While supporters of the SRC President-elect, Muniratu Mohammed, are in a celebratory mood, a section of Haruna’s camp are disappointed in him for not having a strong case but made them believe he had a case.

“Three times! Academic disqualification, ballot box defeat, and now the court. How many more losses does he need to accept that the students didn’t want him?” a level 300 Communications student quipped.

Miss Muniratu Mohammed, who is expected to be formally sworn in as the substantive SRC President of AUCB, has so far kept a dignified silence on the matter. Sources close to her, however, say she is more interested in “getting to work for the students” than dwelling on the legal tussle.

Lessons For Student Politics

Political watchers on campus are already drawing lessons from the whole episode. Chief among them is the need for electoral committees to strictly enforce eligibility requirements, particularly academic ones, right from the vetting stage, to avoid situations where unqualified aspirants are allowed to contest, only for the matter to blow up later.

Others also point to the need for aggrieved candidates to marshal solid evidence before rushing to court, as the judiciary is neither a playground nor a place for speculative petitions.