Appeal Court’s nullification of elections in all the three senatorial districts and some federal constituencies in Rivers State sets the stage for another crunchy encounter in the state, JOE EZUMA, Assistant Editor (South South), reports.
With the Court of Appeal judgment penultimate week, which ordered a re-run in Rivers State National Assembly elections, the stage may have been set for another gruelling encounter in the highly volatile politics of the state. The initial result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returned the candidates of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winners of the March 28 National Assembly elections.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state had, however, disputed the result, insisting that there was no election in the state. It added that scores of its supporters were killed, with others wounded by PDP thugs.
PDP and INEC, on their part, had insisted that election took place in the state and that the party was the clear winner. According to the result, Senator Magnus Abe of the APC was ousted by the PDP’s candidate for the Rivers South-East Senatorial district, Olaka Nwogu. Both were formerly of the PDP before Abe defected to the APC alongside former Governor Chibuike Amaechi.
Senator George Sekibo of PDP (Rivers East) retained his seat against his challenger, Andrew Uchendu, while Osinakachukwu Ideozu (PDP) defeated Otelemaba Dan Amachree (APC) for Rivers West senatorial district.
Victors for House of Representatives included Kingsely Chinda (Obio/Akport), Kenneth Anayo Chikere (Port Harcourt I), Blessing Nsiegbe (Port Harcourt II) and others. All had their elections upheld at the state’s elections petitions tribunal, but not so at the appellate court which upturned the decision.
Idoezu (Rivers South-West) and Nwogu (Rivers South-East) had their elections voided by the Court of Appeal on Friday, December 11. That of Sekibo had been annulled a day earlier.
The court, in a judgment, held among others that INEC failed in its conduct of the elections, to comply substantially with the provisions of the Electoral Act and other guidelines for the March 28, 2015 National Assembly election.
Justice Ali Gumel, in the lead judgment, held that the conduct of the election that produced the sacked senators failed to meet the requirement under the Electoral Act.
The state’s election tribunal, sitting in Abuja, had earlier voided Governor Nyesom Wike’s election and ordered a re-run, a decision the governor promptly challenged at the Court of Appeal.
On Wednesday, December 16, the Appeal Court still upheld the ruling of the tribunal that ordered a re-run in the Rivers governorship election. In fact, Wike proceeded to the Supreme Court after losing his appeal at the appealate court same day.
Since the appellate court handed down the judgment and ordered INEC to conduct fresh elections in the affected senatorial districts within 90 days, there had been mixed reactions by supporters of the political parties. APC members and supporters have, for instance, been on wild jubilation, commending the judiciary for living up to its billing as the last hope of the common man.
APC, which has gone to the drawing table, full of optimism says “we will get it right this time”.
The PDP is, however, taking the development in its strides, stressing: “We will maintain our victory run. This state is a PDP state.”
Wike, who appears unperturbed, though apprehensive of the obviously uncertain development, had remarked that even if they re-ran the election 10 times, PDP would win.
The expression of confidence by the governor notwithstanding, he is still working hard to ensure that he is not caught napping.
Some weeks ago, before the Appeal Court verdict against the lawnakers, in what observers saw as recruitment of field workers in readiness for any untoward development, the governor had beefed up his cabinet with appointment of over 20 special assistants and upped the number of his commissioners to 22.
Observers of the state’s politics are watching the unfolding development with a great deal of caution. To them, it is not over until it is over. Some of them expressed surprise at the way the court swept the state’s National Assembly election smelling rat in the process. Others argue that if what happened could signal the return of confidence to the system and a check against impunity and orgy of violence in the country’s electoral system, it should be encouraged.
There are, however, some who feel uncomfortable that the credibility, which the judiciary garnered since the administration of Presidents Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan, is about being eroded by unseen influences under the current Muhammadu Buhari administration.
With the Court of Appeal’s nullification of the three senatorial elections in Rivers, on the ground of non-compliance with the Electoral Act, the fate of Wike, perhaps, also looks uncertain. This is even as his supporters chant “no shaking” for the governor.