Icheoku congratulates Governor Sullivan Iheanacho Chime of Enugu State, Nigeria on his victory at the Appellate Court, sitting in Enugu which reversed his annulled election. (An Election Tribunal had earlier annulled his election as governor; see appellate text posted as comment 1 below).
This is something we at Icheoku do not normally do, regarding "elected" offices in Nigeria as we are firmly convinced that there are usually no elections but "selections" in Nigeria! However we are making an exception with this under the special circumstance that the same Election Tribunal that nullified Sullivan's own governorship "election" victory had earlier upheld the "e
lection" of the master-rigger Chimaroke Nnamani himself, to the Nigeria Senate. Something does not seem right by this picture that a master will be found innocent of the same charge for which his servant was found guilty. Icheoku would have preferred that all elections of May 2007 in Nigeria from the Presidency of Umaru Yar"Adua, Senators, Representatives, Governors, Assemblies and Local Government were cancelled completely in view of the massive irregularities of the said "election" under the supervision and direction of the disgraced Olusegun Obasanjo. But our wish did not come true and now we have to operate within what is available; we feel that justice has been done by the Appellate Court with respect to Governor Chime by upholding
his "election"! Icheoku hopes that all past politicians and/or public office holders will learn how to gracefully make their exit so that the incumbent will find a benevolent environment to try and fulfil his own election promises. In this way they will be more respected and deferred to as statesmen which status their peaceful transition ordinarily would have bequeathed on them.
Based on the heretofore canvassed premise, Icheoku now formally congratulates Governor Sullivan Iheanacho Chime of Enugu State, Nigeria on his victory and urge him to among other things, urgently address the criminality of ritual killings currently going on in some parts of Enugu State. (see account of such incidents posted as comment 2 below). Icheoku also implores the governor to be ma
gnanimous in his victory and not to follow the part of vindictiveness that has made his predecessor a pariah in Enugu State. Governor Chime should understand that he is the governor of all Enuguans and not just a select few; and also try and resist the pressure for a pay-back that will be mounted by hangers-on and political jobbers. Once again, congratulations Governor Sullivan Iheanacho Chime!
lection" of the master-rigger Chimaroke Nnamani himself, to the Nigeria Senate. Something does not seem right by this picture that a master will be found innocent of the same charge for which his servant was found guilty. Icheoku would have preferred that all elections of May 2007 in Nigeria from the Presidency of Umaru Yar"Adua, Senators, Representatives, Governors, Assemblies and Local Government were cancelled completely in view of the massive irregularities of the said "election" under the supervision and direction of the disgraced Olusegun Obasanjo. But our wish did not come true and now we have to operate within what is available; we feel that justice has been done by the Appellate Court with respect to Governor Chime by upholding
his "election"! Icheoku hopes that all past politicians and/or public office holders will learn how to gracefully make their exit so that the incumbent will find a benevolent environment to try and fulfil his own election promises. In this way they will be more respected and deferred to as statesmen which status their peaceful transition ordinarily would have bequeathed on them.Based on the heretofore canvassed premise, Icheoku now formally congratulates Governor Sullivan Iheanacho Chime of Enugu State, Nigeria on his victory and urge him to among other things, urgently address the criminality of ritual killings currently going on in some parts of Enugu State. (see account of such incidents posted as comment 2 below). Icheoku also implores the governor to be ma
gnanimous in his victory and not to follow the part of vindictiveness that has made his predecessor a pariah in Enugu State. Governor Chime should understand that he is the governor of all Enuguans and not just a select few; and also try and resist the pressure for a pay-back that will be mounted by hangers-on and political jobbers. Once again, congratulations Governor Sullivan Iheanacho Chime!
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Christy 'Apena' Essien-Igbokwe , the wife of Jegede Shokoya of the New Masquerade and Nigeria's lady of songs is dead; she was 51years old. Although her family claimed that "brief Illness" killed her like so many Nigerians; Icheoku retorts that it was most likely AKwa Ibom voodoo and remote control that was used to arrest her. It is on record that she had fallen out with the governor of her native Akwa Ibiom State and have been having a relentless war for political turf with the governor? So who knows whether she was sacrificed to Ekpe cult or even Alusi-Okija as an offal; afterall African science is still very much alive and portent. May her soul rest in peace.
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Chime, Elechi Win At Appeal Court
ReplyDeleteFrom Lawrence Njoku (Enugu), Leo Sobechi (Abakaliki) and Samson Ezea (Lagos)
TWO governors, Sullivan Chime (Enugu) and Martin Elechi (Ebonyi), won major victories yesterday as the Court of Appeal sitting in the Coal City, upheld their election.
The duo, belong to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
It was sweet victory for Enugu Governor, Sullivan Chime as the five-man appellate court in a unanimous judgment, upturned the ruling of the polls tribunal, which had on January 18 this year nullified his election on the ground that the exercise was held in non-compliance with the Electoral Act. It also held that several malpractices denied the people of the state opportunity to exercise their franchise and ordered fresh polls within three months from the date of the judgment.
Governor Chime, who was absent from court, said the judgment would enable him to "pursue the execution of our four-point agenda of rendering service and making life better and more meaningful for the people of the state".
But Labour Party's (LP's) Chief Okey Ezea, while wishing the court of appeal well, "in truncating justice in Enugu State," said with that kind of judgment, the country was doomed.
The Justice Samuel Ota-led petition tribunal had relied on petitions filed by three candidates who participated in the two segments of the gubernatorial elections held on April 14 and 28, last year to arrive at the decision
They include Chief Ezea of LP, Dubem Onyia of the Action Congress (AC), Chief Ugochukwu Agballah of Accord Party (AP) and Oscar Egwuonwu of the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP).
At the conclusion of the two segments of the election last year, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Chime as the winner, saying he polled 811,798 votes.
It added that Ezea came second with 22, 502 votes while the candidate of All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), Chief Fidel Ayogu emerged third with 19,550 votes.
Agballah emerged fourth with 15, 287 votes while Chief Onyia came fifth with 12,681 votes.
Dissatisfied with that declaration, Ezea, Onyia, Egwuonwu, Agballah and Anigbo proceeded to the election petition tribunal in the state to challenge the position of INEC. Ezea, Onyia and Egwuonwu contested the declaration on the grounds that the exercise was marred by irregularities and prayed the court to nullify the process for fresh polls that could produce a true winner.
However, their prayers were granted on January 18, when the lower tribunal nullified the election, prompting Chime to go to the Court of Appeal, Enugu.
Delivering the landmark judgment yesterday in the capacity-filled court hall, Appeal Court judge, Justice Olufunmilayo Adekeye faulted the method and modality adopted by the lower tribunal in reaching its verdict, insisting that the practice direction which it relied upon to give the ruling was "merely a rule of the court and not a statutory provision."
She stated that Chime had substantial evidence to prove that he actually won the election last year, adding that the fact that he did not front load his evidence in line with the practice direction was not in line with the law.
She said: "The practice direction are rules of the court and cannot override statutory provisions. In this wise, therefore, the rules of court, which include that practice direction cannot be ridiculously applied no matter the nature of the case. The lower tribunal fell into a grave error when it rejected documents supplied by the appellant on the grounds that they were not frontloaded in line with then practice direction. This is substantial miscarriage of justice."
The court insisted that the petitioners in the lower tribunal did not adduce enough evidence to buttress their claims that the election was flawed, adding that it was wrong on the part of the tribunal to close her doors on the appellant to adduce his evidence on the grounds that it was being filed out of time.
Explaining that the issues being canvassed by the petitioners at the lower tribunal were lack of compliance with the electoral provisions such as, late arrival of electoral materials, non availability of result sheets, malpractices among others, the court noted that the lower tribunal did not address its mind to "substantiality."
Taking the cases one after the other, the Court said that the tribunal "glossed" over a lot of things, apparently in their bid to hasten the matter, adding that late arrival and distribution of materials, as a result of which potential voters were disenfranchised were not enough reasons to stop an election.
It insisted that those disenfranchised would have been in the majority, adding that even at that, the INEC, a body with the sole responsibility to conduct the election extended the time allocated for the election.
On the cross appeal filed by the AC governorship candidate seeking the disqualification of the governor on the ground that his deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi was substituted out of time, the court held that the issue lacked basis, as according to it, "it should not have originated from the party but the candidate who was substituted."
It stated that only the INEC charged with the responsibility to conduct the election should raise such petition complaining that a candidate was not duly substituted, adding that the electoral act was clear on the matter.
Upholding Chime's appeal, the court reasoned that it saw no ground upon which his election should be nullified in the first place, adding that the petitioners failed to prove that his election was marred with inconsistencies.
"I, therefore, hold that Mr. Sullivan Chime and his deputy Sunday Onyebuchi are validly elected as governor and deputy governor respectively in Enugu state. The decision of the lower tribunal on January 18, 2008 is hereby upturned and I hereby make a cost of N150,000 against the three respondents,"
Adekeye ruled.
Chime who reacted after the judgment said there was really nothing to celebrate while extending his hands of fellowship to those not satisfied with the outcome of the verdict.
He said: "In the spirit of no victor, no vanquished, I extend my hand of fellowship to all our brothers who were not happy with the outcome of last year's election, and urge you to dismantle the narrow notion of defeat in order for us all to expand the frontiers of collaboration. I invite all and sundry to join our government in its efforts to make Enugu State the pride of the nation.
"Therefore, I urge our people to remain law abiding and to accept this verdict calmly and in total obedience to the rule of law. I ask all of you to carry on with your lives and businesses as usual. No matter our party affiliations and political preferences, let this judgment unite and not divide us."
"On our part as a government, the judgment only reinforces our commitment to pursue the execution of our point agenda for the purposes of rendering services and making life better and more meaningful for us all."
Also hailing the victory, National Vice chairman of the PDP, South East, Chief Olisa Metu charged the governor to use the opportunity to provide dividends of democracy in line with the party's manifesto as a way of immortalizing the party in the zone.
A former Governor of the old Anambra State, Chief Christian Onoh described the judgment as a divine intervention in the political affairs of Enugu, adding however, that Chime would still have won in a fresh election if the decision had gone that way.
He said: "This is a judgment in favour of the whole Enugu State and Nigeria as a whole. I say so because a situation arose here in Enugu State where the devil's cabinet met in the hope that they would produce a looter, somebody that would do their will. Unfortunately, they got the wrong man. They supported, they turned against him when he could not do their will because he is a redeemer of the people.
But Ezea described the judgment as a truncation of justice in Enugu State, Said he: "If this is the way justice is dispensed in Nigeria, then the country is doomed. How can someone who provided five witnesses as against the twenty-five we provided be said to have proven his case against us. The Court of Appeal is an albatross in Nigeria. I wish them well for truncating justice in Enugu State."
Upon hearing the verdict, Enugu indigenes poured out in celebration. They marched through the streets of Enugu and Nsukka chanting solidarity songs for Chime and causing severe traffic snarls. Chime on his part engaged in a victory party at the old Government Lodge on Abakaliki road.
Signs of what was to happen yesterday emerged when members of the Enugu governor's cabinet started arriving in court wearing smiles and exchanging pleasantries with anybody in sight.
Opposition parties' candidates and their supporters stayed away from the court except the Deputy Governorship candidate of AC, Matthew Agu and Egwuonwu, who later walked out refusing to grant press interviews.
Speaking to The Guardian on the verdict, another former Governor of old Anambra State, Chief Jim Nwobodo said that he knew that the truth would prevail.
He said he always believed that Chime would be vindicated at the Appeal Court.
On the fate of Ebeano family, a political machinery in the state, Nwobodo said it was dead because it was based on deceit, wickedness and harassment of innocent citizens.
"Whatever Senator Chimaroke Nnamani did to me must surely get back to him. He will live to see it all," Nwobodo declared.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu also affirmed the decision of Ebonyi governorship and legislative houses election tribunal, which dismissed the petition of the ANPP's governorship candidate, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu challenging the declaration of Martin Elechi as the winner of the April 14, gubernatorial election.
The tribunal had in a judgement delivered by the chairman, Justice Chioma Mwosu-Iheme, dismissed Onu's petition on the grounds that he failed to prove his allegations of gross malpractices and no voting in many polling booths in the state.
The tribunal also held that the ANPP candidate did not prove his allegations of ballot box stuffing and allocation of votes especially in areas where he alleged that voting did not take place, pointing out that as in criminal cases, the person who asserts must prove beyond reasonable doubts any allegation of corruption or fraud.
Apparently dissatisfied with the tribunal's decision, Onu, led by his counsel, Ejike Ume (SAN) approached the appellate court seeking not only the setting aside of the judgment but also to among other grounds uphold his contention that the election of April 14, last year in respect of the governorship post was fraught with irregularities and that Elechi did not score the highest number of valid votes.
But in a unanimous judgment delivered by Justice A. Jaura, the Court of Appeal resolved that the appeal lacked merit as it did not provide sufficient evidence to support its allegations of fraud and non-voting in many electoral districts.
The court noted that though the seven issues as well as the three grounds canvassed by the appellants were identical in nature; they only differed in construction. It therefore averred that having condensed all into broad issues, it was clear that the 17 witnesses called by the appellant as well as their written addresses were not enough to substantially prove electoral malpractice or fraud.
"A quick and general consideration of the issues at stake shows that the onus of proof of the allegations of ballot box snatching and other irregularities is on the person making the allegations," the court held as it cited the case of Buhari versus Obasanjo to support its argument that proof being on the balance of probability, it must be beyond reasonable doubts.
Justices O. O Adekeye, A. A Jega and I. M. M. Salawu, who sat on the appeal concurred with the lead judgment which also held that section 139 of the Electoral Law as well as section 138 of the Evidence Act did not shift the burden of proof of allegation of crime to the respondent.
For 26 year old Edith Onuh-Ossai, life is short, nasty and brutish. Young Edith, a native of Inyi, a sleepy town in Igbo-Eze North East Development Council of Enugu state left his home on February 4 this year to attend a funeral ceremony of a deceased kinsman. Edith was expected back home by her widowed mother the following morning after the burial. But she never returned.Edith’s kinsmen alerted the traditional ruler of the town, Igwe Hyacinth Alumona, who immediately constituted a search party to comb all the bushes in the area for her. The outcome of the search was a horrifying sight! The villagers were panic-stricken to watch the dismembered bodies of Edith dumped in shallow graves at the scene of her murder near the town’s health centre. It happened that an armed gang overpowered and abducted Edith into the bush on her way back home, and slaughtered her like a ram. Her killers, subsequently, made away with her vital organs.Igwe Alumona narrated the episode thus: “We gathered together the body parts and took them to Bishop Shanahan Hospital in Nsukka to be deposited at the mortuary, but the hospital management rejected them on the reason that they could not handle the already dismembered body”.There have been similar killings in Inyi and its neighboring Umu Okoro community. Mrs Eucharia Abugu, a middle aged woman, on Easter Monday last year, disappeared on her way to her sister’s house in the town. And up until now, there has been no trace of her.The third victim of the rampaging gang in the communities was Mrs. Caroline Odo. Caroline excused herself from laborers she engaged to work in her farm to go and send some food stuffs to her mother a short distance away from her house. But like the earlier victims, Caroline did not return home alive. At the end of the day when the laborers finished their work and wanted to go home, their host was nowhere to attend to them.Members of the community later carried out a search and discovered that she had been murdered like the others. The search party was able to find only one of her decapitated legs, which the killers dumped in a pit by the road side.Igwe Alumona narrated to KlinReports that four women had been gruesomely murdered in the past three months in the two neighboring towns, and vital parts of their bodies removed. Surprisingly, the victims of the ritual killings had been all women. The communities sent a Save Our Souls (SOS) message to Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu state, complaining that a powerful human ritual cult operating in the area have been killing their women for ritual purposes. The SOS which solicited the governor’s intervention in the killings, was signed by Alumona and Igwe Christopher Abugu, the traditional ruler of the neighboring Umu Okoro town, and dated March 3, 2008. The monarchs listed four native doctors in the communities who have been sponsoring the ritual killings, including Veronica Uja, Joseph Ogbonna, Francis Ojobor and Jeremiah Eze.The Igwes cried out: “Our people no longer go to schools, markets or farm. Nobody dare go out from his/her house as from 6pm to 7 am. Nobody travels in the day alone! Please, come down to our communities and save us from this gang of head hunters”.The gory sight of the mangled body of Edith instantly sparked off rounds of protests, first week of February, by angry women of Inyi community. The placard carrying women, who wore black clothes, marched round the council headquarters at Ogurute, chanting war songs and repudiating the upsurge of ritual practices in the towns. The protesting women urged the state government to institute a probe into the ritual killing of women in the area.Inyi and Umu Okoro are two border towns between Enugu and Benue states. Investigations show that the towns have, over the years, assumed notoriety for native medicine and its attendant ritual killings. In fact, in Inyi community, in particular, virtually all males and a handful of women are prided as first class native doctors, herbalists or even witch-doctors. The towns have a land mass, dotted by thick forests and shrubs, and although they are situated close to Obollo-Afor, a gateway town from the eastern Nigeria to the northern part, they virtually have nothing to show for it in terms of development. Apart from a rustic health centre and a school, there is, in deed, no other government presence in the area, not even a market!It is estimated that over 20 persons have been killed for ritual practices in the area in the recent times in the two communities. To demonstrate the level of ritualism and backwardness in the area, several attempts to establish a market in Inyi town for decades failed amidst incredible stories about people buried alive in the space mapped out for the market. It was learnt that about nine persons and six native doctors had been killed and buried in the market site. The reason behind the killing of the medicine men hired to establish the market was to stop them from replicating their talisman elsewhere. And it was, also, learnt that killing of women peaked in recent times with regular demand for human parts, especially, those of women, by patrons of native doctors in the area who place such orders. It is either that such patrons demand for charms that will make them rich overnight or the ones that will facilitate their electoral victories, or still charms that will fortify them against bullet attacks. And as soon as the patrons are unable to provide such human parts, the native doctors reportedly opt to procure the needed human parts for a fee, using their standby mercenaries.The leadership of the council joined in raising alarm over the indiscriminate murder of natives for ritual. In a petition to the state police commissioner, Chidi Nwaomeh, last year, August 6, chairman of the council, recalled that the ritual gang first started their murderous activities in the communities with raping and robbing their victims along Obollo-Afor Markudi road. As a matter of fact, the two towns share a common border with Orakam people of Benue state. Nwaomeh said that, over time, the hoodlums resorted to kidnapping and killing their victims for rituals.In response to the appeals, the state police command, late last year, arraigned eleven out of 36 suspects in the orgy of killings before a magistrate court in the state for conspiracy and murder. The command said it is still on the trail of other fleeing suspects, while continuing investigations in the matter.But the police intervention is yet to bring reprieve to the people. At the moment, the indigenes are deserting the communities to other neighboring towns for the safety of their lives. The flight by the natives, according to Igwe Alumona, is informed by threats by the fleeing suspects to continue with the killings unless their colleagues were set free. Alumona, therefore, called for a security beef up in the area to assure his people of their safety.
ReplyDeleteEnugu guber verdict: How Chime outsmarted his opponents
ReplyDeleteWritten by Tony Edike
Saturday, 12 July 2008
THE anxiety and uncertainty that pervaded Enugu State over the legal tussle between Governor Sullivan Chime and his opponents could best be said to have been finally laid to rest with Friday’s unanimous judgment of the 5-man panel of the Court of Appeal Enugu that treated four appeals brought before it.
The decision of the court will no doubt douse the tension that gripped the various camps of the government and the opposition which had been so eager to get the outcome of the many cases before the appellate court.
Chime had since his victory at the April 2007 gubernatorial poll been shuttling between the courts and the Government House and for a period of one year and two months, the legal battle was tense.
While the governor’s opponents working with his former sponsor and immediate past governor, Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, deployed their arsenals to unseat him through the election tribunal, Chime, with the backing of some breakaway chieftains of the Ebeano political family like Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, Senator Ayogu Eze and eight members of the House of Representatives from the state, joined forces to battle the former governor whom they suddenly regarded as a common enemy.
It is on record that Nnamani single-handedly picked and sponsored Chime for the election just as he did to the two other senators, all the federal and state legislators currently representing various constituencies in the state. But in what the Ebeano members have continued to regard as the “height of treachery”, both Chime and all the benefactors of the Ebeano, quickly dumped Nnamani and formed a new alliance under the leadership of the governor apparently to free themselves from the control of their former boss.
However, in pursuit of this agenda, it became fashionable for anybody who wants to be regarded as a true loyalist of the new political bloc to cast aspersions on the former governor. They dissociated themselves completely from the actions and inactions of the Nnamani regime and went further to fashion a new agenda under what is now dubbed the new Enugu State distinct from the immediate past era.
This angered Nnamani and the remnants of Ebeano stalwarts of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who were believed to have joined forces with Chime’s opponents in the election to work for his removal. The camp had vowed that the governor which was their own product must quit having failed to recognize the fingers that fed him.
Opposition candidates
Nnamani and his supporters were said to have joined forces with the opposition candidates during the Election Petitions Tribunal sittings and they succeeded in getting the governor’s election nullified.
The Justice Samuel Ota-led tribunal found merit in the three petitions brought before it by Chief Okey Ezea of the Labour Party, Chief Dubem Onyia of Action Congress and Rev. Oscar Egwuonwu of Democratic Peoples Party on the strength of which it nullified Chime’s mandate. Nnamani had repeatedly denied any involvement in the matter but the Chime camp believed the tribunal was highly compromised.
Chime, who appeared unperturbed by the nullification in January this year, went ahead to execute his populist agenda encapsulated in the four-point development agenda which he adopted during his electioneering campaign. He embarked on massive road reconstruction and rehabilitation within Enugu and Nsukka urban while the sanitary condition of the state was given a facelift.
Chime quickly recalled dozens of workers that were disengaged from service by the past regime which he also served.
These measures, no doubt, endeared him to the people so much that many publicly cautioned his detractors to steer clear to avoid scuttling the good works the present regime was doing. The government’s achievements were seen as a great weapon of ‘war’ by his opponents. But to the governor, he was keeping faith with his campaign promises and would leave nothing to chances in ensuring that his administration delivers democracy dividends to the people, who are in dire need of basic infrastructure.
However, as Chime headed for the Appeal Court to continue the battle to reclaim his mandate, the opposition was indeed confident and sure that nothing would reverse the ruling of the lower tribunal. Many of them believed that Chime’s days as governor were numbered given the weighty evidence deployed against his election at the tribunal, but unknown to them Chime appears to be a “child of destiny”.
Throughout the period of six months that the legal tussle at the appeal court lasted, majority opinion was that the governor would not survive the appellate court. Legal pundits who analyzed the case against the background of what transpired at the lower tribunal reached the conclusion that the best the governor could get was to go for a fresh election, which they believed he would win landslide in view of his achievements so far. But in Chime’s camp, there was a strong optimism of divine intervention at the appellate court.
The governor’s team of lawyers which included two Senior Advocates of Nigeria, J. O. Ibik and Justina Offia, went to work and with the support of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) counsel, filed necessary actions before the Appeal Court urging it to dismiss the rulings of the lower tribunal which earlier ordered fresh elections in three different petitions while INEC also filed three appeals against those rulings. The cases were later consolidated by the Justice Olufunmilayo Adekeye-led appeal panel which heard the various governorship election cases at the Enugu Division of the Court.
Prior to the ruling of the court which upturned the decisions of the lower tribunal in favour of Chime on Friday, the state witnessed unusual tension and anxiety especially after the court had shifted the judgment earlier slated for last Tuesday to Friday without any cogent reason.
It was speculated that the chairman of the panel, Adekeye, took ill and was unable to come down to Enugu for the judgment but the opposition and some pressure groups quickly raised an alarm alleging that the shift in judgment date was to allow the governor time to manipulate the judgment in his favour. They claimed that the governor with the support of a north east governor was able to penetrate the Appeal Court justices to do his bidding.
The governor was accused of travelling to Katsina State last weekend where he met with some powerful chieftains of the court who agreed to help him out. Although the governor’s camp immediately dismissed the allegation as frivolous, explaining that the governor only traveled to that state for an official engagement, the opposition continued to insist that justice in the cases might have been compromised.
However, when the Adekeye and the four “wise men” on the panel delivered their verdicts on Friday, it became clear to all that the governor may have actually outsmarted his opponents. The signs that things would go the governor’s way emerged on Thursday when the alleged move by the governor’s camp to remove the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Eugene Odoh, from office, was suddenly dropped.
Odoh told reporters in his office few minutes after Thursday’s sitting that he received several telephone calls the previous night and in the morning of that day threatening that he would be removed that day by his colleagues and that he should run away from the assembly complex after the sitting to avoid being caught up by the fire that would engulf the place.
“But you can see me sitting here with my colleagues. We have just finished the day’s business and adjourned sitting till Tuesday. I have not seen anything and I can tell you that we are fully in-charge,” Odoh said. Highly placed sources said the move to remove Odoh, who was to be replaced by the majority leader, Hon. Paul Anikwe representing Ezeagu constituency, was borne out of the belief that the speaker, who is from Igbo-Etiti in Nsukka zone, might not support the governor in the event of the Appeal Court declaring a re-run of the governorship poll and Odoh becoming the acting governor, hence the decision to replace him with Anaekwe believed to be a true loyalist having come from a neighbouring local government to Chime’s Udi.
Extracting an assurance
But the source said when the camp extracted an assurance from the court that the issue of fresh election was out of the way, the impeachment move against Odoh was quickly dropped. The governor’s personal assistant on legislative matters, Hon. Chuka Utazi, however, dismissed the allegation. Utazi said there was no such move as the governor was comfortable with the leadership of the assembly with whom he has had very cordial relationship since inception of the present dispensation.
When the stage was set for the judgment on Friday, only members of Chime’s cabinet led by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Martin Ilo, were present in court. The question on the lips of many was that why did the opposition members stayed away. A politician from their camp later explained that it was for security reason since they suspected that the security personnel could be working with the government officials.
The suspicion was quickly confirmed when the policemen deployed to the court allowed the government officials, Chime’s supporters and lawyers easy passage into the court hall while those from opposition camps were kept outside.
Apart from the governorship candidate of DPP, Rev. Egwuonwu and Prince Matthew Agu, deputy governorship candidate of AC, that found their ways into the court, no other opposition member was seen. No Ebeano member was in court and their absence was unusual since they had participated in the previous sittings of the court. Many journalists who covered the judgment were rough handled by stern looking security men who refused them entry.
The action of the security men, as later observed, was in line with the directive of the deputy registrar of the Court, who later ordered the policemen to move some journalists who were sitting on bare floor following their inability to secure seats that were already filled by the government officials and their supporters.
It took the intervention of some Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) official s present before the security men could allow the journalists to perform their lawful duties in the court.
However, as Adekeye took her seat along with other members of the panel, their mood could be discerned by a careful observer. Before calling up the first case (Chime vs. Ezea), the appelate court head complained bitterly over the media reports on the shift of the judgment date from last Tuesday, saying the panel members were embarrassed by such reports.
One of her colleagues also reacted angrily after delivering his judgment saying, “I have been on this bench for 25 years, I have never been accused of taking one kobo from anybody in the course of discharging my functions. It is rather uncharitable for anybody to start maligning us simply because we shifted the judgment date.”
In their judgments, however, all members of the panel seriously attacked the decisions of the Ota Tribunal, saying they prevented Chime from defending himself under the guise of practice direction, adding that the petitions against the governor’selection were not proved beyond reasonable doubts and as such the tribunal erred in nullifying the election. All the members agreed that the governor was not given fair hearing, and resolved all the grounds of the appeal set out by the governor in the three appeals as well as that of Dubem Onyia which sought to disqualify the governor on the grounds of wrongful substitution of his deputy, Sunday Onyebuchi, in his favour.
Prominent politicians who reacted to the judgments praised the judges for restoring Chime’s mandate. Former governor of old Anambra State , Chief C. C. Onoh, was driven into the court after two of the cases were resolved in favour of the governor. He sat in court and, after listening to the final case that was also ruled in favour of Chime, he stepped out and declared that the victory was not that of Chime, but for the entire Enugu people and Nigerians.
He said that Enugu people were prepared to return the governor if the court had ordered a fresh election. Onoh assured that the governor of the unflinching support of the people and urged him not to relent in his good works.
But while the governor’s supporters praised the decision of the court, the Labour Party governorship candidate, said the decisions of the panel fell short of justice. Said Ezea: “This is not justice. I think Sullivan has purchased judgment without justice and the Court of Appeal in Nigeria has once again demonstrated as being a clog in the wheel of progress in Nigeria ’s administration of justice.” He said that it was curious that the tribunal in first instance requested parties and with the consent of all parties during the pre-trial conference agreed to present only 25 witnesses each way. “Out of those 25 witnesses for each party, Labour Party presented 25 witnesses in accordance with the agreement. Chime and PDP only presented nine witnesses less by 16.
It is therefore curious that the same Court of Appeal will turn around to say that the paty that could not present 25 witnesses was denied fair hearing. I wish this case could go to the Supreme Court where justice could have been done.” Continuing, Ezea said, “To buttress the unreliability of the Court of Appeal, it should be noted that left to the Court of Appeal in Nigeria, there will be no Peter Obi in Anambra, there will be no Chibuike Amechi in Rivers today.
We are witnesses to how Court of Appeal handled their cases when it came to them. For us to move forward in this country, the Court of Appeal must be reformed - from the president of the Court of Appeal to the last man there. If these same characters are allowed to progress to the Supreme Court, then justice is doomed in Nigeria .”
Ezea, who is a lawyer by profession, however, said that he has decided to leave the judges to their consciences, saying what they delivered is their judgment, but “there will be judgment of God and there will be judgment of the people.”
With the legal battle successfully fought and won by Chime, many expect that the PDP would embark on true reconciliatory move to bring to its fold those aggrieved members especially those in the Ebeano camp with a view to harmonize the factions towards creating an enabling environment for peace to thrive in the state. The governor Chime may have realized the importance of this when he said in his broadcast to the people Friday that he was prepared to extend hand of fellowship to all.
Text of an address by the Governor to the people of Enugu State following his Appellate Court's victory.
ReplyDeleteFellow citizens of Enugu State. It is my pleasure to address you, once again, in response to an important development that concerns the governance of our dear State.
As you already know, the Appeal Court in its judgment earlier today, upheld that sacred mandate which you freely and graciously gave to me to chart a new beginning for our State.
I am completely flattered by the enduring expressions of solidarity which you, our good people of Enugu State, have shown since the commencement of the legal battles which ultimately culminated in today?s verdict.
To me, your prayers, co-operation and sacrifices were practical demonstrations of your willingness to share in our triumphs and travails. I am eternally grateful for this rare show of support.
Today, I enjoin all of you to appreciate this victory as yet God?s intervention for the purpose of sustaining our collective aspirations to rebuild our State and restore our dignity as a people. In truth really, there is nothing to celebrate because there are no winners and losers.
Rather, I see today?s judgment as the end of one phase and the beginning of another journey to prosper our State and release our people from the grip of poverty.
In the spirit of ?no victor, no vanquished,? I extend my hand of fellowship to all our brothers who were not happy with the outcome of last year?s election, and urge you to dismantle the narrow notion of defeat in order for us all to expand the frontiers of collaboration.
I invite all and sundry to join our Government in its efforts to make Enugu State the pride of the nation.
Therefore, I urge you, our people, to remain law-abiding and to accept this verdict calmly and in total obedience to the rule of law. I ask all of you to carry on with your lives and businesses as usual. No matter our party affiliations and political preferences, let this judgment unite and not divide us.
On our part as a Government, the judgment only reinforces our commitment to pursue the execution of our Four-Point Agenda for the purposes of rendering services and making life better and more meaningful for us all.
Like I reassured you after the judgment of the Election Tribunal on January 18, this year, ?we will not return to the dark and low times of the past. We have moved on and there is no looking back.?
My fellow citizens, I believe you are all witnesses to our modest efforts and intentions as a Government since we assumed duties on May 29, 2007.
I enjoin you to come on board and make that resolve today to take our State to the next level. Let us put the interest of our State first and above all other considerations.
This way, posterity shall be kind enough to engrave your names in gold as part and parcel of the team that recreated our new Enugu State.
Though our Administration disavows violence, let me warn that we will not, at this point in time, condone any acts capable of disrupting the peace we presently enjoy. Any violator or offender, no matter his status, will face the full wrath of the law.
And to you, the good people of Enugu State, I say that the time has come for us to cast aside the pains of the past and embrace the promises of the future.
The challenges are enormous but with your support, we shall, God willing, accomplish our common dreams and design the destiny befitting of our heritage.
May God continue to bless Enugu State. I thank you all.
Don't Be Carried Away By Your Victory, Lagos Lawyer Tells Chime
ReplyDeleteBy Emma Chukwuanukwu, Assistant News Editor
A lagos-based legal practitioner and former president of the Association of Enugu State Development Unions in Lagos, Nnabuike Edechime, has advised Enugu State governor, Sullivan Chime not to be carried away by his recent victory at the Court of Appeal which set aside the earlier decision of the tribunal that nullified his election.
In an interview with Sunday Independent in Lagos, Edechime said the governor should see himself as a father of all indigenes of Enugu State and carry everybody, including the opposition, along in his policies. "He should not be carried away by his victory. He should not start riding rough-shod over everybody in the state, including the opposition. He should see himself as a father of all, whose primary duty should be the order and good governnance of Enugu State, welfare of Enugu citizens and residents. That is his primary responsibility - to carter for everybody, not his supporters or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)members only."
On the vicious opposition against the Chime government especially within the PDP, the lawyer advised them to either support the government of Chime or leave the party.
Said he: "The PDP members who are sabotaging Chime need to be warned. His party members who are opposing him should support the governor or leave and join another party. I am aware that what is causing tension in the state is because the other factions of PDP are up in arms against him. They should not do that. It is either they are in that party or if they are disagreeing with the governor who is the leader of the party in the state, they should go somewhere else. There are more than 50 parties. They should join another party and be visible opposition, not inside opposition, because that is causing confusion and anarchy which we don't want in the state. They are all our brothers; we should learn to live together, vie for an office and when we lose, we should be good losers, not bad losers."
Edechime also advised Chime to use of Enugu professionals both at home and in the diaspora to support his development drive in the state. "The past governments in Enugu State failed to utilise the state's enormous manpower residing in Lagos for the development of the state which is very regrettable. People rulling Enugu State over the years have generally ignored (those of them)Lagos, although occasionally, for personal reasons, they pick one person or the other, but generally they have ignored Lagos.
"But we have the brightest Enugu people in Lagos who are actually ignored by the government and it is regrettable," he said