Lagos — "The seat at the Government House, Awka, Anambra State is not hereditary and no winner is returned to it without an election duly conducted within the time frame as stipulated by the law it will be judicial slumber to grant an application of this nature.

The election in which he was returned is an illegal exercise and the certificate of return issued to the applicant (Uba) has no backing in law if this court grants this application, it will be setting a bad precedent and standing the law against its feet, which it has refused to do "

So held the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division, as per Justice Nwali Ngwuta in unanimously dismissing the application filed by Andy Uba praying the appellate Court to declare him "Governor-in-waiting". It was a day the whole Awka stood still in anxiety awaiting the much-dreamt verdict of the Court of Appeal; in anxiety because just a few days before the delivery of the judgment there was a champagne celebration in some parts of Awka to the effect that the Court of Appeal judgment was in favour of Andy Uba. But when the true verdict of the Court finally came on November 13 many heaved a sigh of relief because the judgment confirmed and affirmed what they already knew about the law. It is trite, an elementary law known to the most un-teachable layman, that a court doesn't sit on appeal over its own judgment, let alone being called upon to vary its own judgment or invited to make a consequential order varying its earlier judgment except in rare cases to correct manifest clerical errors.

But as you know very well, we live in society I which absurdity and stupidity are constantly celebrated. As clear as the law in that case filed by Andy Uba case, it triggered off a wide-ranging legal debate among academics, rhetoricians, legal practitioners, eccentrics and mavericks. Trust lawyers: whereas, to some, the Andy Uba case was a good opportunity to rake up some easy money for themselves, to others, it was an exercise in legal logomachy, a mere untying of difficult legal knots or mere disputation with words. Of course, to Andy Uba himself and his offshoots, it was a time for the Court of Appeal to perform the judicial abracadabra and restore them to Andy Uba's kingdom.

But in sealing their hopes in the aforesaid historical judgment, the Court of Appeal inferred viva voce that the Government House, Awka is neither the kingdom of Andy Uba nor the personal fiefdom of Chris Uba nor the kingdom of Ugochukwu Uba nor the property of Peter Obi nor that of Charles Soludo nor Chekwas Okorie nor Victor Umeh nor property of any other embattled Anambra politician: the Government House, Awka, so impliedly held by the Court of Appeal, is a common patrimony of the people of Anambra State which can only be occupied by a winner of a validly and duly-contested Gubernatorial election. Therefore Obasanjo cannot decide who should be the next Anambra Governor. Anenih cannot either. The Okija juju shrine obviously lacks the jurisdiction to adjudicate on the matter. INEC should be an unbiased umpire. Professor Maurice Iwu cannot be playing the Pontius Pilate and pretending not to know what is happening in INEC.

With the aforesaid words, the Court of Appeal is sending a strong message not only to Anambra politicians but to all politicians across the country. Always in a Presidential democracy power belongs to the people. You may have certain things against Zik and his political philosophy, but you cannot fault his avowed belief that power belongs to God and the people are the repository of that power. The social welfarism of Awo was aimed at improving the general wellbeing of the people. But today the words "politics" and "politicians" have becomes words of disrepute and abuse, or, if you like, words of dishonour and infamy. We operate as if the people, the real sovereign in real democracy, do not matter. We condemn corruption quite alright in our speeches but in our everyday life we condone corruption. With one hand we despise those whom we brand as political upstarts, but with the other hand we are ready to collect their bags ill-gotten money. The newspapers are consigned to report only those politicians and political parties with plenty of money to waste.

Painfully over the few years the Anambra politics has been hijacked by a set of ruffians whom Professor Chinua Achebe prefers to dismiss as renegades. Ostensibly spurned by the juju blessing given to them by their political godfathers and of course by a flawed electoral process, these ruffians, who happen to come across easy money, have succeeded in overrunning Anambra State . They alone dictate what happens at Town Union meetings, social and political events. Even in churches you find them making handsome donations just to woo the church ministers and the congregation to their side. Unfortunately some Anambra traditional rulers and red-cap chiefs who ought to be the purveyors of the cultural values of the people dance to their tune.

But there is a time for everything in the affairs of men. There is a time for waywardness; a time for stupidity; a time for dancing naked; a time for chasing after the wind. I think the instant Court of Appeal judgment has ushered a new dawn in Anambra. With the words of Justice Nwali Ngwuta, Anambra State will surely rise again to become a pace-setter Igbo State . With the Court of Appeal judgment, the Anambra people who have been intimidated to submission by young scallywags will regain their strength to assert their rights. And the most fitting occasion to do this is in the February 2010 election. As I said here three weeks ago, the February election, INEC or no INEC, Iwu or no Iwu offers the indigenes of Anambra an opportunity to make a final break with the juju politics in Anambra State . This can only be done by having the right internal disposition to stand up for what is right. Who knows, maybe the cleaning-up of Anambra might trigger off the much-vaunted revolution in Nigeria . Happily, from all sides, different people are now putting their heads together to redeem Anambra. The various Pan-Igbo cultural associations are calling on their Anambra members to go home in February 2010 and vote for the candidates of their choice. Recently President Yar' Adua lashed out on the National Working Committee of the PDP for organizing the most shameful party primaries. Speaker Dimeji Bankole regrets the passivity and non-committal stance of notable Anambra elders on the Anambra political crisis. In far away Brown University, Providence , United States , Professor Chinua Achebe is putting up a Colloquium to discuss a away out of the Anambra political mess.

Others should speak up. Silence is not golden in this time of crisis. Let the party men and electoral officers used in rigging elections be exposed. Let the real identities of the INEC returning officers be revealed. No political party has a monopoly of rascality. No individual can be greater than the community.

Finally let the Anambra kidnappers be caught and punished. If the people of Anambra at large can be made to understand that a handful of political upstarts and kidnappers cannot be terrorizing thousands of honest and conscientious Anambra men and women, then Anambra State will be safe for all.