Court of Appeal removes Imoke as Cross River governor July 14, 2008 | posted by Nigerian Muse (Archives)

THE NATION 

Court of Appeal removes Imoke as Cross River governor    15/7/2008

 

From Kunle Johnson,

Calabar The Court of Appeal sitting in Calabar yesterday removed Mr. Liyel Imoke as Cross River State Governor after ruling that his election last year failed to comply with the 2006 Electoral Act.

Following the verdict, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr. Francis Adah, was sworn in as acting governor for the three months within which the court ordered that a fresh election be held.

Imoke’s ouster resulted from an appeal by four opposition parties – the All Nigeria people party (ANPP), the African Renaissance Party (ARP), the Action Congress (AC), and the People Progressive Alliance (PPA) – challenging the verdict of the Election Petition Tribunal on January 23, this year upholding the former governor as duly elected.

Delivering a three-hour judgment yesterday, Justice Suleiman Galadima said the April 14, 2007 governorship election was invalid, based on the conduct and results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He also said the tribunal erred in law when it declared that Imoke was validly elected based on votes cast in the elections.

The ANPP candidate, Mr. Paul Ukpo; his PPA and ARP counterparts, Mr. Iheke Awa Solomon and Mr. James Ebri; and the AC had taken Imoke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Justice Amina Wambai-led tribunal, which ruled in the former governor’s favour. Dissatisfied with that verdict, ANPP’s Ukpo headed to the Court of Appeal, arguing that Imoke’s election failed the test of the 2006 Electoral Act.

In the unanimous judgment yesterday, Justice Galadima cited anomalies associated with allocation of scores and non-presentation of result sheets at the polling booths as fatal flaws of the election. He also said the petitioners were not given fair hearing by the tribunal.

According to him, INEC did not comply substantially with the provisions of the 2006 Electoral Act as it failed to make available result sheets for elections at the polling station as demanded by the law.

He ruled that the petitioners proved that votes were unilaterally awarded to Imoke in a manner that could be described as anything but free and fair.

On the heels of the Appeal court verdict, Imoke issued a statement saying he would abide by the rule of law.

The statement reads in part: "I, Senator Liyel Imoke, Governor of Cross River State hereby acknowledge the verdict of the Electoral Appeal Tribunal delivered in Calabar today, Monday, 14th July, 2008, nullifying my election of 14th April, 2007 as Governor of Cross River State.

"I wish to state categorically that as a law-abiding citizen, I will respect the rule of law and the constitution I swore to uphold. In the light of the judgment, I am handing over to the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly until fresh elections are held and an elected governor subsequently sworn in.

"I appeal to all Cross Riverians to remain calm and go about their normal duties. Let me use this opportunity to thank all Cross Riverians for the immense support given to my administration within the past year and pray you extend the same to His Excellency, the acting Governor, the Rt. Hon. Francis Adah."

The atmosphere was calm in Calabar as Adah assumed office as acting governor, describing the circumstance of his ascension as an unhappy one. The acting governor was sworn in by the Chief Judge, Justice Dorothy Eyamba-Idem, at about 4.15pm in the presence of some members of the State Executive Council and the House of Assembly, the state chairman of the PDP and some party faithful.

"We are all aware of the circumstance that led to this and it is not a happy one. We want to assure the people of Cross River State that the judgment notwithstanding, everything is under control. I urge you to go on with your daily work," Adah said.

He assured political office holders who witnessed his swearing in at the state Executive Chambers that the PDP would go for a fresh election with the opposing parties for "the revalidation of the mandate that was given us last year," adding: "We are going back to our people to ask for the mandate in the next few months."

The acting governor called on commissioners and special advisers to remain attheir duty posts, urging them to face their jobs "until he (Imoke) who holds this position comes back to continue with his work. The mandate was not stolen."

The petitioner, Ukpo, said the judgment vindicated his position that there was no election in Cross River State. "The Appeal court has proved me right that what happened was allocation of results to the PDP," he added.

The state chairman of the ANPP, Chief Martins Bissong, welcomed the verdict, saying his party was prepared for a fresh election.

But his PDP counterpart, Mr. Ekpo Okon, described the judgment as unfortunate.

He said: "It’s unfortunate; PDP feels a bit let down in the State. However, we accept the judgment because we believe in the rule of law. We want INEC to conduct the election early enough. We will still field Senator Liyel Imoke."

On whether he was sure Imoke would come back as governor through fresh election, he said: "PDP has no opposition in Cross River State."

In his reaction, counsel to Ukpo, Mr. Felix Offia, said the judgment vindicated his firm belief in the Nigerian Judiciary. He added that the judiciary had once again justified its role as impartial arbiter.

A youth activist and a member of the opposition, Dr. Theophillus Onyikwu, described the judgment as historic, saying: "It’s a historic judgment, landmark judgment, unprecedented in the annals of elections in Cross River State. It shows that power comes from God.

"We insist on credible, valid, transparent, free and fair fresh election for governor of Cross River State. This is the first step towards dismantling of enslavement, carrot dangling and cabal democracy."

But counsel to Imoke, Mr. Joe Agi (SAN), said the court had only extended the tenure of his client. According to him, Imoke now has up till 2012 to complete his first tenure.

 

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THE NATION

Imoke’s exit from Government House    15/7/2008

 

 

 

By Bolade Omonijo,

Group Political Editor MAY 29, 2007 in Calabar, like other 35 state capitals, was marked with celebration. A new governor had been sworn in. Liyel Imoke, a former senator and minister, had just taken over from his friend, Donald Duke.

With the celebration that marked his inauguration, a political neophyte could be forgiven if he ran away with the opinion that all the political parties and players in the state agreed that the best governor had emerged through a transparent process.

It took about one month to discover that the picture was wrong. Only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was happy with the election and its outcome. Othe parties headed for the election tribunal. They petitioned the Justice Amina Wambai tribunal, praying that the election of Imoke was flawed and should be annulled. They held that the level of malpractices was so mind-boggling that it amounted to substantial non-compliance with provisions of the 2006 Electoral Act.

Counsel to the petitioners, Chief Okoi Obono-Obla said his clients— the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP); All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP); African Renaissance Party (ARP); Action Congress (AC); African Development Congress (ADC) and Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA)— lost to an unholy alliance between the PDP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

After six months of trial, the tribunal threw out the case on the ground that the petitioners could not adduce sufficient evidence to prove the allegations. The other ground of the petition, that the governor lacked the credentials he claimed in the forms he filed with INEC, was found to lack merit.

Counsel to the petitioners said his clients were not satisfied with the judgment and vowed to appeal. But by the time the case surfaced at the Court of Appeal, only Paul Ukpo of ANPP and his party showed interest in pursuing the matter further.

Yesterday, the final verdict came. The Justice Suleiman Galadima panel of justices who heard the appeal ruled that the petitioners had discharged the onus placed on them by law by calling relevant witnesses to show that the April 14, 2007 was flawed and could not stand. Contrary to the position of the tribunal, the Appeal Court held that INEC and the PDP failed to produce the result sheets at the polling stations to show how it arrived at the result that made Imoke governor. Thus, the election was annulled and a re-run ordered to be held within 90 days.

Withthe ruling, the original parties to the suit will go back to the field. By the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Jos on the Adamawa election, only the original candidates in the annulled poll could participate in the fresh election.

At the April 2007 governorship election in the state, the candidates were Liyel Imoke of PDP, Eyo Etim Nyong of DPP, Paul Ukpo of ANPP.

Others were Emmanuel Ibeshi of the AC, Iheke Solomon of PPA, Innocent Okey of All Progressives Grand Alliance, James Ebri of ARP, Emmanuel Idaka of ADC and Mike Ogar of Republican party of Nigeria, RPN.

The race is starting afresh. But, who would be the candidates? While the law says only those who participated in an election could fly their parties’ flags, there is nothing stopping a candidate from withdrawing from the race. The AC candidate had withdrawn from the case even at the trial stage, leaving only his party to identify with the other parties. The candidate, Emmanuel Ibeshi, was once a national spokesman of the PDP.

Only two political parties are likely to fight the battle- PDP and ANPP. Others are likely to align with either.

But, how did it go the last time? Imoke was credited with 836,207 votes to DPP’s 14,067 and ANPP’s 9,996. Ibeshi was said to have polled 7,075 votes to PPA’s 2,541, APGA’s 960, ARP’s 509, ADC’s 468 and RPN’s 281.

One would be tempted to say, going by the result, Cross River State is a one-party state. However, as counsel to the petitioners pointed out at the trial, while there were only 750,125 voters registered to vote in last year’s general elections. Of the number, 354,000 were accredited for the governorship election on April 14. Yet, in the declared result, more than 800,000 votes were credited to Imoke alone. This position was countered by the defence that, as found by the Appeal Court justices, failed to tender proof of results at the polling stations that would have proved those who actually voted.

With the swearing in of the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Hon. Francis Adah as acting governor, politics in the state has received fresh impetus. Meetings are being held to see if the opposition parties could come together to back one candidate and turn the table against the ruling PDP. How things would turn out will only be clear after the election which INEC is likely to call within the next 60 days. But if precedent in Kogi, Adamawa and Sokoto is anything to go by, the return of Imoke is not unlikely.