20 February 2009
Lagos — Anxiety mounts in Akure, the Ondo State capital, and other major towns in the state as the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin-city delivers judgment on Monday in the state gubernatorial tussle.
Residents of the capital and other towns were seen in groups yesterday discussing the issue and waiting with bated breath for the final verdict.
The ruling is on the appeal filed by Governor Olusegun Agagu of the Peoples Demo-cratic Party (PDP) against the judgment of the State Election Petitions Tribunal which had declared Dr. Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP) as the duly elected governor of the state.
And in Ekiti, the Action Congress (AC) and Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) are rooting to preclude the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Maurice Iwu and all those who conducted the April 2007 governorship election in the state from being part of the fresh election.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State had last Tuesday voided Oni's election on the ground that there was no substantial compliance with the Electoral Act. The court asked the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Tunji Odeyemi, to take over as acting Governor.
Politicians in Ondo State were said to be gearing up to mobilise their supporters to Benin for the verdict.
However, the Edo State Police Command has said it will deploy about 5,000 policemen in the state capital to forestall any crisis that could erupt after the Appeal Court judgment.
The state Election Petitions Tribunal presided over by Justice Garba Nabaruma had on July 25, 2008 declared Mimiko as the winner of the April 14, 2007 election having scored majority of the lawful votes.
Last Tuesday's judgment of the Appeal Court on Ekiti also raised the hope of the opposition camp who expressed optimism that the appellate court would uphold the ruling of the Justice Nabaruma-led tribunal.
The duo of Agagu and Mimiko, have however, expressed confidence that they would be victorious.
Agagu, in a statement by his Chief of Staff (COS), Mr. Femi Agagu, expressed hope that he would win at the appellate court.
According to him, "we are full of hope because we know that we won the election conducted on April 14, 2007 fair and square but the tribunal decided to give victory to Labour Party but as people who believe in rule of law we challenged the judgment."
Mimiko also expressed optimism that the appeal court would uphold the verdict of the lower tribunal.
Mimiko said: "We have always believed in the ability of the judiciary to rescue the nation's democracy. We have presented our case and we are quite sure of victory."
At a meeting summoned by the Deji of Akure, Oba Oluwadare Adesina, leaders of PDP and LP promised to maintain peace before, during and after the judgment.
The state Police Command had early this week banned all forms of public procession and rallies.
The Spokesman of the Edo state Police Command, ASP Peter Ogboi, told reporters in Benin City, that the command had completed security arrangement, particularly within and outside the premises of the Court of Appeal.
He further revealed that the Inspector General of Police, Sir. Mike Okiro, had ordered the reinforcement of policemen from neighbouring Delta and Bayelsa States to complement regular policemen in Edo State for the special task ahead.
"Our men are fully ready to ensure that everything come out peacefully that Monday. We have oiled our machinery and in addition to the men on ground here in Edo, the IG has been very magnanimous as he has approved some helping hands to the Edo command from the neighbouring states," he said.
Meanwhile, the AC has decried the alleged utterance made by the ousted Ekiti governor that the Court of Appeal judgment, which ordered fresh election in 10 local governments in the state, would only lead to an extension of his tenure by two years.
The party said the statement credited to Oni was an indication that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) planned to rig the election in connivance with INEC.
Oni and Ondo State Governor Agagu were at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday to meet with President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua.
The ousted governor reiterated to State House Correspondents that he would win again.
According to a statement issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, AC said the over-confidence expressed by Oni could only have been derived from his party's penchant for using INEC and the police to rig poll after poll, rather than the situation on the ground, which he said favours his party.
"In view of this, we have decided to alert the whole country, especially President Yar'Adua, to prevail on the PDP, INEC and the Police to allow a level playing field in Ekiti during the re-run.
"We do not seek any favour beyond that - a level playing field for the two parties involved in the re-run. Our worry stems from the track record of INEC as a partisan body that has no qualms about flouting the electoral act, as attested to by the court; its chairman as an incompetent man; the police as an ever willing tool in the hands of the ruling party and the PDP as a desperate party that does not believe in the sanctity of elections.
"Already, the Ekiti state police command has shown its hand early by detaining our governorship candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, twice after the victory he recorded at the Court of Appeal. Is this the same police command that will be expected to help provide a conducive environment for the conduct of the re-run?" AC queried.
The party said if President Yar'Adua was serious about pursuing electoral reforms, he had been presented with a golden opportunity to show it, explaining that it was time for Nigeria to move to restore confidence in the electoral system.
"Much as the judiciary has availed itself creditably, to a large extent, so far in the various cases before it, we cannot continue to rely on the judiciary to decide who remains as governor or not. It is a sign of a failed electoral system," AC said.
As a first step, the party said all those who conducted the April 2007 governorship election in Ekiti must not be allowed to be part of the re-run. It said the INEC Chairman Maurice Iwu was "unrepentant despite messing up a nation's monumental election, must be booted out while strict instructions should go out to the police and other law enforcement agencies to help provide a level playing field for the forthcoming re-run."
CNPP also pointedly called on President Yar'Adua not to allow Iwu and all others that conducted the governorship election in the state to conduct the fresh election in the 10 local governments.
According to a statement signed by CNPP Spokesman Osita Okechukwu, "to allow INEC under Iwu to conduct the said election is to state that nothing has happened.
"He (Iwu) and his commissioners should not be allowed to conduct the election; after all, INEC declared that the election was properly conducted whereas the Justices of Court of Appeal ruled that no election took place."
But Oni has said he will win again in the fresh elections to be conducted within the next 90 days in the 10 local governments in the state.
Agagu whose fate will be determined on Monday by the Appeal Court sitting in Benin, Edo State, has also said he is ready for the verdict of the court.
Oni who was at the Villa in company with the acting Governor of the state, Odeyemi, described as absurd the excuse given by the Court of Appeal to sack him.
He said going by the court's ruling, he lost to INEC reason that enough blue biros were not supplied to all polling units and some of those supplied malfunctioned and that rather than delay the poll it got permission to use other colour biros including red biro to tick the voters register.
Oni said the tribunal exonerated PDP and himself of blame in all allegations related to electoral malpractices and held that the election was free and fair.
He was also at the national secretariat of PDP in Abuja, where he met with the National Chairman of the party, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, and members of the National Working Committee (NWC).
Oni, who arrived the PDP secretariat at about 4.30pm along with the state acting governor to brief the party on his ouster and solicit support in the re-run election in 10 local governments, was said to have been berated by the leadership for not showing interest in the affairs of the party while in office.
THISDAY gathered that Ogbulafor and other members of the NWC accused Oni of not showing interest in the affairs of the party.
He was accused of not attending any of the four National Executive Committee (NEC) meetings of the party while he was governor of Ekiti State.
Though, the party pledged to rally round him for the re-run election, he was however urged to show interest in the affairs of the party.
Oni, who was billed to address newsmen after his meeting with Ogbulafor stormed out of the PDP national secretariat leaving reporters wondering what went wrong at the meeting.
Agagu expressed confidence about winning his appeal on Monday
"I am still confident because we won the election, true and fair. The lower tribunal gave the judgment, we have looked through the judgment and I think people have seen the holes in the judgment. We have hired some of the best legal minds in this country; we have at least 12 SANs who have gone to argue the case. We were at the hearing on 19 January and everybody who was there agreed that we have a good case, so we are looking forward to Monday. We expect the best," he said.
Also speaking, Odeyemi described as illegal the state Acting Speaker Saliu Adeoti's decision to dissolve the state executive council, maintaining that was the job of the governor.
"He (the acting Speaker) does not have the power to do that. It is only the governor who can dissolve the executive," he said.
Odeyemi who said he was at the State House to pay homage to President Yar'Adua added that he would douse the tension in the state before the re-run.
"I have to be here to pay homage to the President and to show myself to him. Don't forget he is the father of the nation," he added.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
