Gabriel Efo, Uyo
The 2019 gubernatorial, state House of Assembly and National Assembly elections in Akwa Ibom State may have come and gone but the outcome of the exercises is still fiercely being contested by parties involved in the courts. The All Progressives Congress, APC, had approached the Election Petition Tribunal, asking it to nullify the process that gave total victory to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which resulted in woeful loss to it and its candidates.
However, in a recent development, the APC, which hitherto only had squabbles to straighten out with the PDP and the Independent National Election Commission, INEC, in court, now seems to be faced with yet another dissenting voice – the state Traditional Rulers Council.
The council had, in reaction to the juridical fireworks ongoing at the tribunals, described as absurd the call for the annulment of a process it termed as free, fair, transparent and acceptable. It urged the APC and other parties that lost in the last elections to, in the spirit of sportsmanship, accept the results of the process.
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In a statement signed on behalf of the council by Nteyin Solomon D. Etuk, JP, Nteyin Nsit Ubium Local Government Area (LGA), Edidem Udo Joe Ntuk Obom XII, Edidem Ikot Abasi LGA and Okuku (Dr) Uwah Umo Adiaka III, JP, Ekporikpo Obot Akara LGA, and titled: “Let’s respect the people’s will for the reign of peace, justice and progress”, the royal fathers warned the APC against unnecessary media altercation over the outcome of the 2019 elections in the state.
The statement said: “Our attention has been drawn to series of political verbosities launched ceaselessly against the conduct of the 2019 gubernatorial/state House of Assembly and National Assembly polls held respectively on Saturday, February 23, 2019, and Saturday, March 9, 2019 in Akwa Ibom State.
“Most worrisome about the aforesaid scenario is the banal assertion that the elections as conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which we participated and witnessed as being totally free, fair, transparent and acceptable across the length and breadth of Akwa Ibom State could today be suddenly criticised as being a farce. What manner of politics would this be?
“That celebrated processes, which were upheld within the state and beyond our shores, could, for want of political relevance, be canvassed for annulment? This is simply absurd and must be totally condemned.
“As traditional fathers, who are the custodians of the norms, values and conscience of our people, our sacred positions and duties demand that we rise to give our wise counsel, least our subjects suffocate themselves in a mindless political fire that would likely harm the peace, progress, unity and development which we have witnessed greatly in the last couple of years.
“We have often advised that those who volunteer to partake in politics should cultivate the spirit of sportsmanship so that it will not be difficult for them to accept electoral outcomes and to abide by the results, irrespective of who wins. Democracy is built upon the will of the people.”
While urging all persons and parties involved to respect the victories in the elections, the monarchs discouraged “hanging out in the public domain by using the media to misguide the gullible public and by extension muzzle the court away from the facts tendered” saying it “is completely an aberration and a deliberate ploy to steal the will of the people.”
It would be recalled that on March 6, 2019, during an extraordinary meeting in Uyo, attended by paramount rulers as well as clan heads, village heads and other classes of traditional chiefs, the traditional rulers had, in line with the prevalent rotation policy in the state, endorsed the election of Governor Emmanuel Udom for a second term in office.
You are biased -APC tells royal fathers
But reacting, the APC described the statement as an “open chastisement of all petitioners and accused the royal fathers of being biased in their judgment.
In a statement signed by its state Publicity Secretary, Mr. Nkereuwem Enyongekere, titled: “No! Our royal fathers, please no”, the party insisted that it had the legal backing to contest the outcome of an election in court.
“We have read a news report published in the Vanguard Newspaper of August 27, 2019 at page 21 credited to the Akwa Ibom State Council of Chiefs – the apex official assemblage of paramount rulers in Akwa Ibom State – deprecating what it termed ‘the virulent media propaganda launched against the successful re-election of Governor Udom Emmanuel for a second term in office’.
“It is instructive to note that the release is an open chastisement of all petitioners, particularly of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who participated in that contentious election and who have a plenitude of reasons to seek judicial intervention and review of the entire process and outcome of the exercise. That, of course is the minimum provided by law and expected of peace-loving and law-abiding citizens,” the statement said.
The party said that electoral process which is a creation of the law must be conducted within the ambit of the law.
The APC regretted that the royal fathers who adjudged the last electoral exercise to be free, fair and acceptable, “did not deem it fit to seize the golden opportunity to also file an observer/monitor report or better still, for grandiose effect, testify at the tribunal as the Arewa Peoples Assembly, APA, frantically tried to do in the course of the proceedings.”
The statement continued: “Tribunals are set up for very serious legal business. It is unfair and prejudicial to refer to petitioners as seeking ‘political relevance’. That would only be reminiscent of the unfortunate commentaries of Mr. Mike Igini, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, for Akwa Ibom State, who in like manner described members of the APC as going to the tribunal to ‘make noise, attract sympathy and look for appointment from President Buhari’. This is a curious coincidence.
“It is our respectful and regrettable view that our royal fathers have rather taken on the role and garb of political fathers who must relish the ‘success’ of their political sons at the polls no matter what and how, rather than fathers, who encourage and applaud healthy and peaceful political engagement amongst their children without taking sides.
“The sanctity of the ballot is not determined by ‘who wins’ but ‘how he won’! We must state for the umpteenth time that the legitimacy of an election is determined by the inviolability of the process.
“We recall too with disappointment, that earlier on, our royal fathers had betrayed their partisan leanings when a few days to the governorship election, precisely on March 6, 2019, they assembled to endorse the incumbent for second term. What more proof do we need to confirm that our royal fathers are clearly driven by party kindred spirit rather than patriotic reasoning.”
APC’s legal battle effort in futility -PDP
Also reacting to APC’s statement recently, the PDP explained that the royal fathers’ statement was not intended to stop the opposition party from continuing in its legal battle, but was a call for it to stop mudslinging the governor, INEC and religious leaders in the state.
In a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Ini Ememobong and titled: “Deception and Insolence: APC’s Nicene creed and Mandarin jacket”, the party apologised to the royal fathers “for the unmerited insults hurled at them by people, who strenuously tried to gain their support through financial inducements, devilish political horse trading and threats.”
It continued: “The All Progressives Congress, APC, Akwa Ibom State has in their characteristic tradition made lying and deception their Nicene creed and clothed themselves with insolence, as a fitting mandarin jacket. In a recent publication, the broom carrying movement shamelessly deprecated our revered traditional rulers for demanding a cessation of virulent media attacks on the governor.
“The admonition by the traditional fathers was made in utmost good faith, to caution the APC and their shameless leaders from further sponsoring media campaigns against the governor.
“The statement was not to dissuade them from continuing in their potentially fruitless legal circumambulation, but to caution against baseless, unsubstantiated and very shameless accusations against the governor, INEC, religious leaders etc.
“The APC through their leadership has accused almost anybody and anything within sight, as being instrumental to their electoral loss. These allegations, when heard, tend to reduce the intellectual standing of the average Akwa Ibom citizen in the estimation of rational people. In fact, the leadership of the APC in the state and their candidates had since become examples of disgraceful political misadventure.
“The APC, in and out of the tribunal has been the synonym of confusion, befuddlement and stupefaction. They have adopted doublespeak, flip flop and scenario creation as a strategy, but unfortunately, available results show that it has been a bad strategy.
“The world must be having a huge laughter with the succumbing submission made by their ‘walking stick’ governorship candidate, who earlier, alongside the National Comedian, boasted to the world that their party won 26 local government areas during the governorship elections and that they were heading to the tribunal to ‘reclaim’ their mandate.
“However, when he and his party arrived the tribunal and discovered that the only mandate they had was an agreement to use armed thugs to rig elections while killing and maiming innocent citizens, they abandoned their ‘tales by moonlight’ victory claim and took up the defeatist exclamation that ‘elections did not hold’.
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“While we sympathise with him and his ilk, we wish to remind them that King Solomon when faced with a similar situation where two women were laying claim to a living child, had laid the locus classicus for future determination of such cases.
“Akwa Ibom people know the truth and we are hopeful that the tribunal and all other courts in the land will apply the extant law to the facts presented and confirm the overwhelming victory of Governor Udom Emmanuel and other PDP candidates in the 2019 elections.
“We apologise to our revered royal fathers for the unmerited insults hurled at them by people who strenuously tried to gain their support through financial inducements, devilish political horse trading and threats. Having played God and lost favour with men, they are irredeemably pained and have found comfort in spewing shameless lies and exhibiting irreverent behaviour.
“The Akwa Ibom public is well aware of their atrocious disposition and can therefore not take them seriously.”
The PDP maintained that the traditional rulers, as custodians of customs, values and traditions of the people must be respected and allowed a right to intervene when situations arise that can bring disrepute to the corporate identity and threaten the peaceful existence of the people.
At the moment, all fingers and legs are crossed anticipating the final verdict of the Election Petition Tribunal on all cases before it.
But until then, the juridical fireworks continue.
