It has been a season of arguments and counterarguments, a season of lies and unburied truth, a season of hope and frustration and as well as a season where the Only God who superintends over the affairs of mortals is alive to reaffirm his supremacy over the human might.
For Nsima Ekere, the governorship candidate of the APC in the last general elections, it is face saving gambit. He knows the odds are insurmountable but like a drowning man, he clutches on the straw to give a semblance of hope and survival to supporters with a view to remain relevant in the political equation of the APC.
The arduous task before him is neither in extrapolating media propaganda nor impersonation of supposed agents but to convince the jury beyond all reasonable doubts with a watertight proof that the election of March 9, 2019 was not conducted in substantial compliance with the electoral act.
For the reelected governor of Akwa Ibom, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, who is being represented at the tribunal by a strong legal team eminently led by learned silks, the case at the tribunal is storm in a teacup. He is confident that his victory at the polls was an expression of acceptance by the generality of Akwa Ibom people and not a product of concocted figures.
He didnât have the INEC, he didnât have the Federal Might, and neither did he have the police nor the army, a position that Senator Godswill Akpabio while in PDP noted as early as January 3, 2018 in his infamous âAll is not Wellâ sermon at the Independence Hall, Abak.
Without the weapons and apparatchiks of the strong and mighty, he won because of his faith and belief in the Only God whom his opponents taunted. His undaunted affinity to the Supreme Being authorized his victory as divinely mandated.
So far, all the witnesses who have testified for the Governor and the PDP have punctured the scuttlebutt production earlier told by the APC comedians, some of whom were impersonators.
For instance, Uduak Essien who testified as RW4 for Governor Udom Emmanuel disclosed that one Utitofon Ekanem who signed the result for APC was the ward collation agent for APC for Ward 7 in Ukanafun whereas APC had earlier presented Ubokobong Ime Udoworen who testified as PW34 as Ward 7 collation agent.
If there was any doubted glimpse of hope for Ekere and the APC at the tribunal, Ekere, the supposed beneficiary of such utopian hope nailed the coffin of his case and made preparations for the interment when he appeared as PW46 before their Lordships recently.
Fact is, in his petition, he averred that he won in some local government Areas and as such should be declared the winner of the election.
In uttermost disregard to almost all his earlier averments disposed to on oath, Ekere told the Governorship Elections Petitions Tribunal, GEPT, in Uyo that he was no longer interested in the outcome of the election rather that the entire process should be nullified and afresh election conducted.
That Ekere in his testimony, said he can no longer stand by his written deposition on oath and wants the entire election nullified, is a pointer to what would have befallen the people of Uyo Senatorial District in 2023 if he, by any slimmest error had won the election.
Recalled that Ekere and his band of comedians had during electioneering, maintained that Ekere was coming to complete the second term for Eket senatorial district, and as such had signed an agreement to do only one term if he is elected.
When confronted with his earlier deposition and the evidence by the Essien Udim Divisional Police Officer, Samuel Isiek, that election in Essien Udim was free, fair and credible he admitted that eventhough his tendered result showed he won in Essien Udim, he wanted the election also canceled.
According to Ekere , âMy plea is for full nullification of the entire elections, including Essien Udim, because by the time we went through documents provided by INEC we discovered that election was not conducted according to the provisions of the electoral law.â
When asked if accreditation took place in the areas he claimed to have won according to his statement on paragraph 15 Subparagraph 11, Ekere replied âMy lord, I have abandoned the areas I wonâ
When confronted with his statement on oath in paragraphs 15(18) where he claimed to have figures of accredited voters for the March 9 election, Ekere confirmed that he got it from INEC sever but failed to provide the data source before the tribunal and couldnât also tender the names of the PDP members he earlier claimed were recruited by INEC as electoral officers to authenticate his claims.
However, it was a different kettle of fish when the he National Legal Adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Barr Emmanuel Enoidem entered the dock as the first Witness for the Respondent, Udom Emmanuel.
Enoidem who was the State Collation Agent during the Presidential / National Assembly elections as well as Governorship/ House of Assembly Election said elections were canceled in some polling units and wards in Etim Ekpo local government because materials were hijacked by armed thugs.
Enoidem, under cross examination by Prof. Ernest Ojukwu, SAN admitted that he voted in his local government, and that elections in some units in three wards were cancelled due to the thuggery as hijacked materials and INEC officials were taken to Chief Godswill Akpabioâs house in Essien Udim for massive electoral fraud, hence most cancellations by the electoral commission.
Earlier while being led in testimony by Chief Assam Assam, SAN, Enoidem tendered all Unit Results (Form EC8A) and Local Government Results (Form EC8B), Form EC8C, Form EC8D and Form EC8E including the CTC of the receipt of payment to INEC in application for the forms tendered.
Answering questions from the 3rd Respondent, INEC Counsel, Sylva Ogwemoh SAN, the witness affirmed that he was at the INEC office at the state and participated in the process of the collation of results from all the Local Government Areas in the state.
He stated that he took part in the collation exercise together with over fifty other political party agents, including Ambassador Sam Akpan who was the state Collation Agent of the APC in the state.
Enoidemâs deposition was also corroborated by Hon. Aniekan Dan who was Ward Collation Agent of Ward 4 in Etim Ekpo local government and was dock as RW5. He said election in Unit 1 was cancelled because supporters of APC took away materials.
Regardless, one recurrent decimal in the ongoing tribunal by the Petitionerâs lead counsel, Prof. Ernest Ojukwu, SAN, is his consistent attempt to arm-twist the respondentâs witnesses by cross examining them on documents neither made nor tendered by them as exhibits.
For instance, at the resumed hearing on Friday, Ojukwu’s attempt to cross examined a witness on the Votersâ register met with stiff opposition by Essien Andrew, SAN-designate representing the 1st respondent. In his objection, Andrew said âMy Lord, this tribunal has ruled many times that witnesses should not be cross examined on a document not tendered by them, or for which they are not the makers.â
In his response, the Chairman, Justice Yakubu replied, âwe have taken notice of that. We have said it many times and if Prof doesnât want to follow, we cannot stop again, and we just want to have a smooth session. Allow him to do what he chooses⌠you can bring this up in your final addressâ.
Perhaps out of frustration and against the practice direction, Ojukwu was said to have secretly obtained exhibits from the court registry which he intended to use for cross examination of the Respondents witnesses. As pointed out by Assam Assam, SAN, Counsel to the 1st respondent, counsel can only ask for the exhibit by formally and vocally requesting for same to court who would then direct the registry to avail the counsel the exhibit needed.
Agreeing with Assam, the tribunal stated that such was in keeping with the principle of fair hearing and accordance with practice direction of the tribunal. The Chairman further ordered the Petitionerâs legal team to return all exhibits illegally acquired to the court clerk.
Ojukwu was also cautioned against taking procedures not known to the tribunal.
The electoral act provides for 180 days for the determination of the election petition by the tribunal, the time is ticking, the days are running, there are less than 32 days left for jurists to sift the truth from falsehood. Akwa Ibom people are watching with bated breath to see the truth resoundingly prevailed over falsehood when the jurists deliver judgment on the petition.
Aniefiok Macauley, a journalist, writes from Uyo
