H.E. Dimeji Bankole

Honourable Speaker

House of Representatives of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria

National Assembly Complex

Abuja

Nigeria

 

Your Excellency, Honourable Speaker;

We represent various Ukwuani/Ndokwa civic society groups based in Nigeria and in the Diaspora, and we hereby write to express our alarm, concern and frustration over the continuing lack of representation for the people of Ukwuani/Ndokwa Federal Constituency (located in the Delta State of Nigeria) in the Nigerian House of Representatives.

We are aware that this present situation has been created by the protracted litigation between the Honourable (Mrs.) Mercy Alumona-Isei and Chief Charles Onyekweli, both members of the People¢s Democratic Party (PDP) who have both contested the electoral primaries and have vied for the same seat.  Mrs. Alumona-Isei, having served several terms in the lower house of the National Assembly has been the representative of Ukwuani/Ndokwa Federal Constituency since 1999, but her candidacy was recently disqualified by a competent court. The same court judgement by the Court of Appeal seating in Benin-City, Edo State , had on 10 th June 2008 upheld the candidacy of Chief Charles Onyekweli and ruled that he should be the duly elected candidate that should represent Ukwuani/Ndokwa in the House of Representatives. However, since that decisive court ruling, Chief Charles Onyekweli has not been able to occupy the Ukwuani/Ndokwa Federal Constituency seat because Hon. (Mrs.) Mercy Alumona-Isei has obtained a court order which restrains Your Excellency from swearing-in Chief Charles Onyekweli as the duly elected representative, thereby causing our non-representation in the House of Representatives.

We understating that there are certain judicial processes which are presently in the courts that continue to affect our representation, and who shall eventually represent us, in the Nigerian House of Representatives. Even so, we note that our right to representation is mandated by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the supreme law of the federation. Our understanding therefore is that our people shall only respect and support a process which ensures our earnest and unfettered representation based on proper adherence to constitutional principles and the rule of law. Accordingly, any court-imposed order which leaves our presentation in the Federal House in an uncertain and indeterminate state is clearly unacceptable, and is in clear breach of our constitutional rights; that is, of us as a people who inhabit a Federal Constituency recognized under the electoral laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Our request is anchored on the argument that the constitutional right of our people to be represented in the House of Peoples¢ Representatives far outweighs the individual right of Mrs. Mercy Alumona-Isei to contest a court judgment that would enable her continue to represent us in the House of Peoples¢ Representatives. Ipso facto, we see the court-order that has been obtained solely to restrain you from swearing-in Chief Charles Onyekweli as an attempt to disenfranchise and further marginalize the people of Ukwuani/Ndokwa Federal Constituency, and as such, we see this as a denial of our constitutional rights as enshrined under the Laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We deem any action that denies us of our constitutional rights as injustice, and this we cannot live with.

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Therefore, in order to redress this injustice, we hereby prayerfully request Your Excellency, Mr. Speaker to immediately swear-in Chief Charles Onyekweli in order to satisfy the political expediency of ensuring that our people who inhabit Ukwuani/Ndokwa Federal Constituency are properly represented in the House of Representatives. We further contend that a court order on Your Excellency as the principal officer of the House of Representatives cannot override the constitutional right of our people to be represented in the Lower House of the Nigerian National Assembly. Moreover, we also believe that the court order which presently restrains you from swearing-in Chief Charles Onyekweli cannot countermand the good and proper judgement that has been made by the Court of Appeal which already ruled that Chief Charles Onyekweli should have been the electoral candidate of the Peoples¢ Democratic Party (PDP) and as such, should occupy the Ukwuani/Ndokwa Federal Seat in the House of Representatives.

Note that since both contending candidates who hope to occupy the Ukwuani/Ndokwa Federal Constituency seat are from the same Peoples¢ Democratic Party, we understand that the total number of seats won and controlled by the PDP in the House shall remain the same, irrespective of whichever candidate occupies the Ukwuani/Ndokwa Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives. Therefore, we believe that the decisive and guiding factors in this matter transcend partisan politics, and must therefore be viewed from the perspective of constitutionality and the supremacy of the rule of law to ensure that the people of Ukwuani/Ndokwa do not suffer any disenfranchisement.

We further urge you Mr. Speaker to honorably expedite the process of swearing-in Chief Charles Onyekweli who will be our de facto representative pending the final outcome of any pending litigation that has been instituted in the courts by Hon. (Mrs.) Mercy Alumona-Isei, since our representation in the House cannot be held hostage to any further legal uncertainties or unfathomable acts of political maneuverings and intrigues. Honourable Speaker Sir, we hereby implore you to help address the sense of injustice that we are suffering as a people and to ease our anxieties and stop our continuing disenfranchisement; a state of affairs that is clearly antithetical to the Federal Government¢s often touted commitment to the Rule of Law.

Honourable Speaker Sir, we hope that you will use your good offices to kindly expedite the process of swearing-in Chief Charles Onyekweli so that the collective rights of our people are not denied. We need not overstress the lamentable fact that the legal uncertainties which have caused our continuing lack of representation in obvious breach of our constitutional rights are clearly unacceptable to our people.

Therefore, whilst believing that Your Excellency will stand on the side of constitutionality, and give due priority attention to this matter, and by so doing, grant our humble request, all with a view to addressing it squarely without any further interminable delays.

We remain,

Yours sincerely,

For and On Behalf of Ukwuani/Ndokwa Civic Society Groups/Ukwuani Foundation Union/Ndokwa Global Community Forum and Concerned Ndokwa Sons and Daughters of Ndokwa in Diaspora

cc:        His Excellency, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar¢Adua, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Abuja , Nigeria

cc:        His Excellency, the Honourable Senator David Mark, President of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, National Assembly Complex, Abuja , Nigeria

cc:        The Right Honourable Chief Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Federal Supreme Court, Abuja , Nigeria

cc:        The Honourable Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

cc:        The Clerk of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

cc:        Honourable Commissioner for the South-South Zone, National Assembly Service Commission, Federal Republic of Nigeria , Abuja , Nigeria

cc:        The National Chairman of the People¢s Democratic Party, Abuja , Nigeria

cc:        The Honourable (Mrs.) Mercy Alumona-Isei

cc:        Chief Charles Onyekweli

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