Umana Moves Nearer to His Dream 22 Dec 2015

Umana Moves Nearer to His Dream

22 Dec 2015

Nseobong Okon-Ekong x-rays the import of the appeal court ruling on the Akwa Ibom State governorship contest

The Court of Appeal in Abuja, at the weekend, pronounced a judgment which gave a shot in the arm to the quest by the Akwa Ibom State governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Umana Okon Umana in his quest to become governor.

Akwa Ibom Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja had ordered a rerun in 18 of the 31 local government areas of the state, having expressed satisfaction that there were infractions during the governorship election in the state last April. Mr. Udom Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was declared winner of the election and was subsequently sworn in as governor on May 29, 2015.

But Umana had approached the Tribunal to challenge the outcome of the April 28 election. The election tribunal had given a ruling that could be viewed as a no victor, no vanquished situation. Both parties secured partial victory, with the election cancelled only in 18 out of the 31 local government areas. The tribunal had ordered a rerun.

But the two gladiators headed to the appellate court. Emmanuel insisted he won in all the 31 LGAs. Umana also expressed reservations against the ruling, seeking a total nullification of the election.

Emmanuel and Umana along with their supporters had been waiting with baited breath for a couple of weeks now in anticipation of the Court of Appeal ruling. Finally, at the weekend, the court dismissed and cancelled the entire election, ordering a re-run in the entire state in 90 days. It insisted that the tribunal was wrong to have refused to abide by section 179 (2) of the Constitution.

The court said having agreed with the evidence of principal witnesses – video evidence, and evidence from state collation agents – the tribunal should have concluded that there was no collation and that votes were merely allotted.

"The question is, if there was no collation, can there be said to be an election?" the court asked. "Indeed, where there was no collation of election, there cannot be said to be an election."

The tribunal was wrong in failing to nullify the entire election, the court ruled, setting aside the judgment of the tribunal in the 13 LGAs.

"The entire election is hereby nullified. The election that brought Mr. Udom is hereby nullified," said the appeal court.

The PDP and Udom suffered double defeat as it lost its bid to relocate the election tribunal from Abuja to Uyo. Their appeal to relocate the Akwa Ibom State election petition tribunal from Abuja to Uyo in Akwa Ibom State was dismissed as the Court of Appeal affirmed the jurisdiction of the tribunal to hear cases before it in its new location in Abuja.

Umana, erstwhile Secretary to the State Government now symbolises the rallying platform for opposition politicians. With the development, the APC in Akwa Ibom and its allies will be encouraged to openly canvass their belief and interest in Umana and what he stands for. The large number of politicians, who have previously moved from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) into the APC in Akwa Ibom State are likely to increase manifold in the days leading to re-run.

The movement from the PDP into the APC appears to be continuous. It is becoming more apparent that there is a gaping crack in the walls of the PDP in Akwa Ibom State and the pillars that held the party is about to crumble. Other political parties like the Accord Party and Labour Party have since collapsed their structures in support of Umana. The emerging scenario now is that those who were sitting on the wall and waiting for the outcome of the Court of Appeal are likely to go all out in their support for Umana.

The leadership of the PDP in the state would be biting its fingers in regret now, realising that it should not have allowed Umana and other stalwarts, who left the party after the political space was closed against them in the primaries and the party refused to embrace internal democracy.

Perhaps, the political calculations of the leadership of the PDP in Akwa Ibom State did not give Umana any chance to come this far. Not many of them thought that the Tribunal could even order a partial re-run. With the new order for a re-run in the entire state by the court of appeal, the camp of the PDP has understandably become jittery while the APC supporters are emboldened. No doubt, the loss of the PDP has become a gain for the APC since Umana and his supporters joined the party.

Immediately the court of appeal pronounced its ruling, some of the 22 governorship candidates, who moved out of the PDP in the state have started to find their way back into Umana's reckoning. As things stand today, it is unlikely that a seriously depleted and fractured PDP can enter a political contest and win.

Umana, as it is, appears the man of the moment as his popularity continues to soar despite alleged smear campaign against him. He has become the man to beat. Elders and political giants in the state like Obong Don Etiebet and former governor Obong Victor Attah, who at the time were members of the PDP Board of Trustees had not only openly supported Umana, they were at the tribunal to witness for him.

The PDP has been campaigning that even if the election is conducted 20 times, its candidate would win. To realise this, over 80 per cent of the functionaries, who served in the previous government of Senator Godswill Akpabio were retained including local government chairmen.

What they have missed out is that this time, all eyes would be on Akwa Ibom. There would hardly be any chance for the kind of brazen electoral malpractices which included snatching of ballot boxes, rigging, total breakdown of law and order, non-compliance with the electoral act, anarchy and violence that took place last April. These occurrences were largely confirmed and documented by international and local election observers.

The question by many right thinking stakeholders is that if the PDP was convinced in its invincibility and popularity, why did it deploy underhand methods during the elections? If the appeal court had upheld the judgment of the tribunal, Emmanuel would have needed to score 25 per cent of votes cast in eight out of the 18 local governments to meet the statutory condition for election.

The tables have turned, giving the two candidates the chance to lock horns afresh. In the next few weeks, it would be interesting to see how the sweeping claim of the PDP not only disregards the current realities and the changing political dynamics in the state and the country at large. Emmanuel has failed to correctly read the prevailing mood in the state. Many are said to identify Emmanuel for who he is: a stooge! The assertion from many quarters is that nothing has changed and that he is a stooge who has no chance of freeing the state, even though he might be a good person.

Another fallacy alleged to have been bandied around to hoodwink the simple hearted is that Akwa Ibom is a stronghold of the PDP. But that has been dismissed largely as crude and a cheap way of taking the people for granted. Indeed, nothing, observers say, can be farther from the truth as reflected by the different circumstance that rules the Nigerian polity today.

Benue and Plateau States were PDP strongholds, but the people have embraced change. Kaduna, where former Vice-President Namadi Sambo hails was a PDP stronghold. Bauchi State, home to former national chairman of the PDP and minister of the FCT was a PDP stronghold. To be sure, a good chunk of the country was firmly in the grip of the PDP, but things have changed. And by and large, the change seems to be racing down to Akwa Ibom!

Source: Thisday Newspaper
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