– Written by Eagle Okoro, an Umuahia-based public affairs commentator.
The Abia Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal on Friday delivered its judgment in the petition brought to it by both Governorship Candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressives Congress, Chief Okechukwu Ambrose Ahiwe and High Chief Ikechi Emenike, respectively, challenging the declaration of Dr Alex Chioma Otti as the Abia State Governor.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Otti winner, after he polled 175,5467 votes to defeat his closest PDP rival, Ahiwe, who polled 88,529 votes to emerge a distant second in the March 18 Governorship Election.
The “almighty” APC’s High Chief Emenike polled a paltry 24,091 votes to occupy a far distant fourth, even as a veteran, all-season candidate, trailing behind a far much junior politician and Governorship Candidate of the
Young Progressives Party (YPP), Engr. Nnanma Nwafor, who scored 28,972 votes in his first attempt for the number one position in the state.
Otti won in 10 Local Government Areas, the PDP won in six, while the YPP won in one council area (Osisioma).
Ridiculously, APC suffered such a monumental and humiliating defeat, with no single local government, including Emenike’s Umuahia North, as a consolation for all his noise and swagger throughout the electioneering period.
And while PDP and APC proceeded to the tribunal, alongside their candidates, to challenge the result as announced by INEC on March 22, APGA and YPP, together with their candidates, wisely decided to concede defeat in the election that would, for many years to come, stand out as a reference point, arguably being one of the most transparent, fair and credible polls in the annals of the nation’s democracy.
Indeed, the decision by PDP to approach the tribunal, which was seen as an after thought, surprised many political watchers, who wondered how the party leadership and Ahiwe lost their sense of reason and respect for their Leader and then outgoing Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu.
Recall that Ikpeazu had, in the aftermath of the poll, advised Ahiwe and the PDP leadership to concede defeat and avoid another round of public scorn and opprobrium, which a second defeat in the tribunal would bring about.
He was obviously aware that their performance at the poll was abysmal and woeful and that the outcome was indeed a true reflection of the wishes of a larger majority of the Abia electorate, given the humbling wide margin of lead and, therefore, unimpeachable.
But no sooner had Ikpeazu spoken than the party and its candidate initiated a legal battle to reverse the outcome of the poll via the tribunal.
They assembled their team of lawyers, led by Chief Paul Ananaba (SAN), and went ahead to file a petition at the tribunal, in total defiance to Ikpeazu’s unassailable wise counsel.
They made several prayers, which were captured on three grounds, to wit: (1) That Gov. Alex Otti was not qualified to contest the governorship election since he was not elected as candidate in a validly conducted primary. They argued that the LP’s membership register was not submitted to INEC within 30 days before the primary election as stipulated in the Electoral Act, following which INEC could not supervise the party’s primary. And that Dr Alex Otti did not submit his NYSC discharge Certificate to INEC.
(2) That Dr Alex Otti did not win the majority of the lawful votes cast in the election. They further ridiculed themselves, when they averred that the result of the Obingwa Local Government Area was taken to Abuja, where it was “doctored and brought back to Abia”, thus alleging forgery by INEC.
(3) That the election was not conducted in substantial compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act but characterised by corrupt practices and electoral irregularities.
In a unanimous ruling, the three-member panel, presided over by Justice H.T.D Gwadah, demolished the three grounds of the petition, resolving all the issues in favour of the governor.
In fact, the jurists insisted that the choice of a candidate for any election was the “exclusive preserve” and “domestic affair” of the party. Hence, it held that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction on the matter.
It, therefore, described PDP and its candidate as “meddlesome interlopers” for trying to poke their nose in the internal affiars of another party.
The panel also lampooned the petitioners, saying that they failed to prove the allegation of forgery against INEC.
It further said that “pleadings will not constitute proof of facts” and that the petitioner merely dumped the evidences on the tribunal, having failed to speak to them.
It, thereafter, dismissed the petition for lacking in merit and affirmed Otti as the duly elected governor of Abia.
On its own, APC and its candidate, Emenike, joined LP, PDP and YPP and their candidates in their petition, also challenging the eligibility of the candidates to contest the governorship poll.
According to him, none of his rival candidates was validly nominated in their respective party primary elections.
Indeed, Emenike contended that Otti did not formally resign his membership of APC, after he defected to LP.
He further alleged that APC’s votes in the election were “maliciously excluded” during the final collation by INEC, and urged the tribunal to declare him the winner of the election.
Emenike merely danced around the issues, and as aptly captured by the tribunal, failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he won the election.
Delivering judgment in the petition, a member of the panel, Justice Omolara Adeyemi, held that Emenike had no business challenging the qualifications of candidates fielded by parties other than his own party.
According to the judge, it has already been settled by the Electoral Act and judicial decisions that the issue of party membership and qualifications of candidates are pre-election matters and purely internal affairs of political parties.
“It is a cast iron. The law has since changed.
“The issues canvassed by the petitioner do not represent the present state of the law,” Justice Adeyemi said, in her melodious, scintillating, vibrant and untiring voice.
The panel, therefore, in like manner, dismissed the petition for lacking in merit and affirmed Otti the governor.
It is imperative to note that before each of the judgments, the panel members, including Justice Boniface Mgyon, took turn to rule on all the pending applications and motions filed by the litigants.
No doubt, the two judgments, which were a product of painstaking efforts by the erudite jurists, appealed exceedingly to the lawyers, who took turn to pour encomium on the trio for their diligence, industry and candour demonstrated throughout the duration of the petition.
In fact, Counsel for Emenike and APC, Mr Fabian Nwankwo, in his vote of thanks, said that the petition would have elapsed on Sunday, October 8, but for the resilience and extra effort put into the assignment by the judges.
The verdict, though largely predicted by followers of the legal battle, again, gave Abia citizens and residents, cause to rejoice and dance round the major streets of Umuahia, Aba and other towns of Abia for a second time after the March 18 mother-of-all celebrations.
Today, the consensus among all men and women of good conscience across political and cultural divides in Abia is that Friday’s judgment by the “three wise men” has finally sounded a death knell for the two opposition parties in the state. And, indeed, more for PDP, its Machiavellian political leaders and the 24 years of misrule, wickedness and evil machinations visited on Abia and Abia citizenry -. indigenes and non-indigenes alike.
Given the watertight judgment, as acknowledged even by the so-called “learned men” and legal luminaries, appealing the verdict, as hinted by Fabian Nwankwo, would ultimately amount to no moment but a wasteful wild goose chase and waste of scarce resources that could wisely be deployed in better ways to positively change Abia and its good people.
Expectedly, Gov. Otti has joyfully reacted to the verdict in a statement, entitled “This is a good time to sheath your swords, join me to rebuild Abia”.
In the statement, which was issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Kazie Uko, the governor dedicated the victory to Abians, especially his teeming supporters in the state.
He “extended the olive branch to the two main opposition political parties,” including PDP and APC, urging them to come with him on the tortuous, herculean voyage of rebuilding the state from its current state of rot and ruins.
The statement read in part: “My advise to my opponents is that this is a good time to sheath their swords and join hands with me to develop our state, Abia.
“Any how you slice and dice it, it costs a lot of money to engage in litigation.
“While I will not ask them to bring the money to me, I would advise that each of them have villages that are dilapidating; without roads, without water, and I believe that their communities will appreciate it if they would channel those resources to building their roads.”
Uko further quoted the governor to also say that the resources spent by his opponents in prosecuting the litigation “could be used in providing pipe borne water and ensuring that Abia remains peaceful for the benefit of its residents”.
Gov. Otti, who reportedly expressed joy that the wishes of the people had come to pass,” rightly argued that his victory at the poll “should not have been contested in the first place”.
Continuing, the statement added: “If you follow the election and everything that happened thereafter, you would know that, quite frankly, this victory shouldn’t have been contested in the first place, but then, I also do not deny my opponents their rights to go to court.”
“He thanked the jurists and all those who ensured that justice prevailed in the end.
“The Governor also thanked God for the victory and pleged to continue to serve Abians diligently, describing the victory as a reflection of the sacrifice made by Ndi Abia in the 2023 Governorship Election,” Uko stated. (End)
– Eagle Okoro, a public affairs analyst, writes from Umuahia