It is a season of shocks and upturn of election
victories for politicians in the country. Beside the presidential
election between former president Goodluck Jonathan and the incumbent,
Muhammadu Buhari, which was not contested in court, there have been
shockwaves across the length and breathe of the country.
Although elections of some state governors have been annulled and
upheld by the various courts in the country, National Assembly appears
to have suffered the biggest blow in the unprecedented reversal and
outright cancellation of election results by the courts. From the House
of Representatives to the Red Chamber, the story is the same.
Lawmakers reputed to have attained some reputation and political
sophistry have been subdued by their political opponents. Incidentally,
the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has
suffered the biggest casualties so far in the court rulings given so
far.
The victory of business mogul and former governor of Abia state, Dr.
Orji Uzor Kalu at the Court of Appeal in Owerri, Imo state last
Thursday is one of the major shockers that charged up the entire
Southeastern region and Abia state in particular. Senator Mao Ohuabunwa
of PDP who is believed to have enjoyed a phyrric victory through the
election he was surprisingly declared winner in April by the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) .
The court in its ruling, had ordered the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a fresh election for the
senatorial zone within 90 days. Kalu, had challenged the judgment of
the lower court which upheld Ohuabunwa’s election at the Appeal Court.
Delivering judgment on the case, Justice I. G. Mbaba stated that the
lower court should have relied on certain documents for its judgment,
which ought to have been filed, but were not. Mbaba further noted that
the senatorial poll was marred by high level of irregularities and that
the results were mutilated.
The judge had ruled that: “It is better for all the candidates to go
back for a fresh election which would be transparent, reliable and
credible because the previous poll was marred by fraud and the results
were mutilated.”
Kalu’s victory did not come as a surprise to keen observers who have
been following political developments and goings-on in Abia state. As a
former governor and a successful businessman who has empowered a
number of Nigerians through his large network of businesses, Kalu
resoundingly won the March 28th, 2015 National Assembly elections to
represent Abia North Senatorial District on the platform of Progressive
Peoples Alliance (PPA).
However, certain forces who were threatened that his ascension to the
Senate would check their political relevance , allegedly connived with
some elements in INEC to twist the election victory of Kalu. Undaunted
and believed to be driven by an uncommon love for his constituents, Dr.
Kalu approached the court. At the lower court, he was denied victory,
but refused to give up, until the Court of Appeal in its wisdom granted
his prayer and asked for a fresh election.
An elated Kalu after the court judgment, said: “This is victory for
democracy aimed at the restoration of the people’s will, which was
trampled upon through the abuse of fleeting power by those who thought
they could mortgage the conscience of Abians. “What the Appeal Court has
succeeded in doing is the liberation of Abians from the shackles of
authoritarianism and associated power of rascality.
“Abians and I are now going to win, by God’s grace, by a landslide
margin much more than we did in the last election, whose outcome was
brazenly manipulated against the wish of our people. This same thing
happened in 2011 when my mandate was recklessly upturned by persons who
had special relationships with the immediate-past president of the
country.
“We are ready for the rerun. I congratulate the Appeal Court on this
decision. It is a testament to the robust vibrancy of our judiciary,
which remains the last hope of the oppressed. This, again, is victory
for Nigerians generally, Abians particularly and democracy.”
Both contenders for the top job are back to trenches. But observers
who are familiar with the political sophistication of Kalu, strongly
believe that he will coast his way to victory when INEC finally
announces the date for the rerun election in the senatorial district of
Abia state.
Another major upset that happened on the 7th of December, was the
sacking of Senator Uche Ekwunife by the Court of Appeal sitting in
Enugu state. Ekwunife, a member of the opposition PDP was dragged to
court by the former chairman of All Progressive Grand Alliance ( APGA),
Chief Victor Umeh over claims that she did not win the March 28th, 2015
National Assembly election, held in Anambra state. Until her sack by
the court, Ekwunife represented Anambra Central Senatorial District and
chaired the Senate committee on Petroleum (Downstream).
Ekwunife’s election was upheld in October by the National Assembly
Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Awka, Anambra State. Not
satisfied, Umeh approached the Court of Appeal, Enugu state division
and on the 7th of December, Justice A.H. Yahya of the ruled that
election of Senator Ekwunife did not meet the provision of the Electoral
Act. He then ordered that fresh election is held in the Anambra Central
Senatorial District within 90 days.
Reacting to his hard-earned victory, Umeh said: “Today, we have a
government that is averse to impunity and cutting corners. Today things
have really changed for good. Today we do not have a Nigerian First
Lady who would stay in Abuja and threaten the businesses of Anambra
people if they fail to vote for the PDP. Today, my opponent knows she is
already out of the re-run election because those factors that
encouraged brigandage and impunity in the March 28 polls are no longer
here with us.
Senators from Rivers state appears to have suffered the biggest blow
so far in the ongoing court tsunami sweeping through the land. The
Court of Appeal in Abuja, last week, voided the elections that produced
two Senators from Rivers state – Osinakachukwu Idoezu (Rivers
South-West Senatorial District) and John Olaka-Nwogo (Rivers
South-East).
The court, in a judgment, held among others, that the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) failed, in its conduct of the
elections, to comply substantially with the provisions of the Electoral
Act and other guidelines for the March 28, 2015 National Assembly
Election. The sack of Idoezu and Olaka-Nwoga yesterday brought to three
the number of Senators sacked in Rivers State by the Appeal Court. The
Court had in a similar judgment on during the week, nullified the
election of George Thompson Sekibo, representing Rivers East
Senatorial District.
Former Senate President, David Mark who until recently, maintained a
loud silence on the floor of the Senate, was among the first to be
sacked by the court. Until his sack, he was the longest serving Senator
in the country. Between 2007 and 2015, Mark was the President of the
Nigerian Senate. He was one of the arrowheads that coined and passed the
Doctrine of Necessity motion in 2010, empowering former president
Jonathan to take over, following the incapacitation of late Musa
Yar’Adua.
Observers believe that the eviction of Mark from the Senate was a
step taken in the right direction, since he appeared to have reneged
since his party, the PDP failed to secure the majority seats in the
Senate.
The court in its ruling in late November, 2015, ordered the INEC to
conduct a fresh election in Benue South Senatorial District within 90
days. Mark’s victory, at the March 28, 2015 senatorial election, had
been challenged by Daniel Onjeh of the All Progressives Congress (APC)
who petitioned the Benue State Legislative Houses Elections Tribunal,
asking for the cancellation of the election and an order to conduct
fresh election in the district.
The Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu-led panel, on October 7, 2015,
dismissed Onjeh’s petition on the grounds that evidence tendered before
the tribunal was documentary hearsay. But in a unanimous judgement by
Justice Peter Ige, the appellate court dismissed the judgement of the
tribunal and upheld the plea of the appellant that Mark’s election
failed substantially to meet the provisions of paragraphs 39 and 40 of
INEC guidelines and Sections 73and 74 of the Electoral Act 2010 as
amended.
Members of the Federal House of Representatives, as well as
lawmakers in the 36 State Houses of Assembly have also been sacked. In
the coming days, weeks and months, the country will again be alive, as
affected politicians plot to make comebacks, while those who have
secured victories are not willing to repeat the mistakes of the past.
Benue, Rivers, Abia and Anambra states will also serve as further litmus
tests for the new chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu on the
preparedness of the commission to conduct elections in the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari said in the ongoing presidential media chat
that if bombings continue in the country, Hijab might be banned.Most of
the bombings in the country are carried out by bombers clad in Hijab. 
