AKWA IBOM GOVERNORSHIP JUDGEMENT: THE UNTOLD TRUTH.

Udom Emmanuel and Umana Okon Umana

The  judgement delivered on Wednesday by the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja which nullified elections in eighteen (18) local government areas of Akwa Ibom state has been causing a lot of discussion and confusion in the different circles particularly among supporters of the two parties- the People’s Democratic Party and All Progressives Congress APC.



But the tribunal decision dashed the high hope of the APC and its supporters in the state who had expected the whole election would have been cancelled following their alleged election irregularities in all the local government areas of the state.
The state chairman, Dr. Amadu Atai, who expressed dissatisfaction over the tribunal decision was quick to state that the battle was not yet over as the party would go for appeal.
Some of the party members were optimistic that the APC had won in Mbo, Okobo, Urue Offong/Oruko, and Oron local government areas and wondered why those areas were not among those that were cancelled.
However, the PDP and its supporters in the state seem not to be worried over the judgement as they continue to boast that they will win even if the courts cancel the entire election. Vanguard reliably gathered that the jubilation in the PDP camp is not unconnected with the widespread speculation that what Udom Emmanuel needs to scale through the rerun would not exceed one hundred  and fifty thousand votes (150,000) which the party believes would not be a problem.
The PDP believes it will be able to realise that figure without stress from the few local government areas that were cancelled, particularly in Onna where the sitting governor comes from. The party is also hopeful of clinching votes in Eket and Ibeno where the party is believed to be deeply entrenched.
The difficulties of the APC flow from the fact that the party must win in about 17 out of the 18 local government areas to add up to what it already had for it to stand a chance of winning the rerun and hence the party’s decision to appeal the judgment of the tribunal. But there are other people who are of the opinion that the strength of the two political parties in the eighteen local government areas may affect the outcome of the rerun as most of the affected areas form the major bulk of the population of the state.
However, as at press time, yesterday, the number of votes the sitting governor needs to win the rerun could not be established. The two parties meanwhile have since the judgment been bandying different positions on the total figures they need to outclass one another in the final result.
The issue of Governor Emmanuel still remaining in office after the Wednesday verdict is also causing considerable argument in the state as many are of the opinion that there will never be a free and fair rerun without the governor vacating his position.
According to a politician who did not want to be mentioned “As long as a sitting governor remains in power while a rerun is conducted there will never be a free and fair contest. What is the need of the rerun then?  So the sitting governor and his deputy should be made to step aside for the speaker of the State House of Assembly to take over until after the rerun.”
He described the Akwa Ibom state Governorship Election Petition ruling as unfair stressing that canceling the election in only eighteen local government areas, and with the sitting governor having 13 local government areas in his bag, and still remining in office was an advantage for the governor.
Advantage for the governor
But the leadership of the APC in the state seemed not to be unaware of this fact as the state Chairman Dr. Amadu Atai told Vanguard on Thursday morning that they were not going to leave any stone unturned in redressing the judgment as he said his party would have won the election but for but for the irregularities.
Atai said the party would also proceed to the Supreme Court after the appeal to pursue the issue of removing the governor before the rerun election.
Although the ruling appears to have calmed the heightened tension that surfaced in the state prior to the judgment, many are yet worried about what the outcome of the rerun would pose to the peace of the state.

 vanguardnews