Imo State, South-East Nigeria is currently charged with undefined expectations regarding what the verdict of the Supreme Court will be in the petitions against the election of Gov.Emeka Ihedioha.
All three major contenders for the seat of Imo State Governor including Senator Ifeanyi Ararume of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance (AA) and Sen. Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress, APC, have challenged the declaration of Ihedioha as the governor of Imo State.
While Ihedioha got 273,404 votes to defeat his closest rival, Uche Nwosu of the Action Alliance, AA, who polled 190,364 votes, while Senators Ifeanyi Ararume and Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), and All Progressives Congress (APC) got 114, 676 and 96,458 votes respectively.
Before the announcement of the final results, Imo State Governorship election had been turbulent which led to the temporal suspension.
At the announcement of the results, all the major contestants rejected the results and headed for the courts to “reclaim their stolen mandate”.
However, all of them eventually lost their petitions both at the Tribunal and Court of Appeal, pending that of the Supreme Court.
Ahead of the much expected judgment on the Imo State case, a lot of intrigues have emerged. These twists may define whether Gov.Emeka Ihedioha will lose or retain his seat of power.
One man who is believed to be a major figure to reclaim his stolen mandate through the apex court is Senator Hope Uzodinma.
Bittertruth Media therefore highlights the chances of the former lawmaker despite coming a distant fourth place in the election.
1. Electoral Irregularities: Irregularities which characterised any electoral process is a huge consideration to nullify the said election. However, in our Nigerian setting, it is always difficult to prove the occurrence of such irregularities across the areas where the elections held. Accordingly, if the lawyers of the petitioner are able to convince the Justices of the Supreme Court that the election was married by substantial irregularities, then the election may be nullified.
2. Inability of Gov.Ihedioha To Meet The Constitutional Requirement of Victory: All the petitioners including Sen.Uzodinma are contending that the declaration of Emeka Ihedioha was wrong since he didn’t fulfil the constitutional one quarter of the votes in at least two-thirds of the 27 local government areas of the state, in line with Section 179 of the Constitution. Although the lower courts have dismissed that argument and gave judgment in favour of Gov.Ihedioha, the ruling of the Supreme Court on that issue may go a long way in determining whether Gov.Ihedioha will lose his seat.
3. The God factor: With a huge Christian population, many Nigerians believe in God and the words of his prophets. And if the prophecy of fierce Catholic Priest, Rev.Fr.Ejike Mbaka is anything to go by, then Senator Hope Uzodinma may just be sworn in as the new governor of Imo State.
In his 2020 prophecies, Mbaka had said;
“Those who are attacking the message are just casting Pearl before swine, the holy spirit has said it, and that is final.
“I don’t know how it will happen, but the only thing is that I see hope, joy, and a new government coming in Imo state.
“Even though Ihedioha has won in tribunal and at the Appeal court, that doesn’t mean that he will triumph in supreme Court enough of all this brouhaha!
“What we are doing in adoration here is spiritual, it is not according to our power, it is holy spirit, once he reveals it, we say it.
“Ihedioha and co should go and relax. This is not unprecedented, it happened to Jonathan, Atiku and Peter Obi and after everything, my prophecy came through. You must not be the Governor of Imo state, and you are not better than Hope Uzodinma,” Mbaka said.
If Mbaka’s boast that his prophecies never fail is anything to be trusted, then his preferred governor may take over Imo State.
4. Dissenting Judgment in favour of Uzodimma’s Appeal: A sign of hope for Senator Hope Uzodinma is a dissenting judgment that was given in his favour at the Court of Appeal. The judgment was given in a ratio of 4:1.There are precedents where the Supreme Court jettisoned the majority judgment and upheld that of the minority. If the apex court sees through the eyes of the minority judgment and upholds that merit, then Senator Uzodinma may just emerge victorious.
5. The Disqualification Uche Nwosu: The decision of the Supreme Court to nullify the candidature of Action Alliance’s Uche Nwosu has obviously brought Senator Uzodinma close to the Imo Seat of Power. Any judgment which spells doom for the appeal of APGA’s Ararume may swing favour to the side of Senator Uzodinma.
6. The alleged exclusion of some results: Senator Hope Uzodinma is arguing that if results from 366 polling booths out of the approved 388 where he won are added to the official results, he will have the highest number of votes and emerge as the winner. If the Supreme Court buys into his argument and recalculates the votes, things may just go his way.
Regardless of how the verdict will go, some persons will rejoice while others will weep in disappointment.
However, Imolites must be peaceful and not destabilise the tranquility of their state.
