BY AUSTIN UGANWA
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja Tuesday, November 19 affirmed the
victory of Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha as the validly elected governor of
Imo State. The Appeal Court panel led by Justice Oyebisi Omoleye
accordingly struck out the application filed by Uche Nwosu of Action
Alliance; Senator Hope Uzodinma, All Progressives Congress and Senator
Ifeanyi Ararume of All Progressives Grand Alliance that requested the
setting aside of the tribunal judgment in their favour.
The Appeal Court also upheld the preliminary objection raised by
Ihedioha on the eligibility of Nwosu to appeal against the tribunal
judgment . This provided additional legal dais leaned on by the
Court to declare Nwosu’s suit incongruous and defective leading to the
N500,000 award of damage levied against him by the court. Ihedioha’s
objection of Nwosu’s suit was a consequence of the Supreme and Appeal
Courts earlier rulings which invalidated Nwosu’s governorship
candidacy on the platform of AA.
Ararume and Uzodinma who came distant third and fourth respectively
during the March 9 governorship election in Imo and oddly approached
the court to declare them winner had their cases unsurprisingly
dismissed on the basis of lack of evidence and merit. The court held
that it is settled law that “hearsay evidence is not admissible in
court”.
Apart from the defeat they suffered in the hands of Ihedioha during the
March 9 governorship election, the landmark Appeal Court verdict was
the second time the trio of Nwosu, Ararume and Uzodinma would be
flattened by Ihedioha on point of law. The first was at the tribunal
where three-member panel had in a unanimous decision delivered on
September 21 in Jabi, Abuja held that Ihedioha was lawfully declared
the winner of the governorship election by the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC). The panel led by Justice Malami Dongondaji
had in the judgment dismissed their petitions for lacking in merit on
the grounds that their allegations were unfounded because of their
failure to prove their case. This essentially consituted the pivot
hinged on by the Appeal Court to grant its ruling
There are far-reaching deductions and lessons drawn from the two legal
victories recorded by Ihedioha in the past eight months. One was the
failure of the three petitioners to prove with evidence their claim that
Ihedioha did not make one-quarter in two-thirds of the 27 local
governments in the state. Similarly, they were unable to prove other
allegations brought before the courts, including purported INEC’s
substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act and Guidelines,
resulting in the rulings of both the tribunal and the Appeal Court that
their petitions were based on hearsay and therefore lacked merit. This
finds authentication in the fact that Nigeria law system and court
processes are anchored fundamentally on nothing but hard evidence.
In view of the above realization, for any petitioner to get favourable
judgment he has to transcend beyond beer joint claims apparently leaned
on by Ihedioha’s opponents that informed their inability to prove
their case concretely with evidence. The result was their failed attempt
to thwart the mandate collectively given to Ihedioha by Imo people. The
courts simply followed settled position of law to demonstrate in their
judgments the banal, boring and petty nature of the petitions raised by
Uzodinma, Ararume and Nwosu against Ihedioha
Two, the legally established inconsequential nature of the petitions
underscores the desperation and greed inherent in the pursuit of the
lawsuits up to the Appeal Court. The desperation will certainly be more
acidic if the trio decide to head for the Supreme Court. Not a few
well-meaning Imo people believe that such a move will amount to
unnecessary distraction on Ihedioha-led administration’s rebuild
activities going on at stunningly record rate and needless waste of the
apex court’s resources. This is markedly so because the
incontrovertible position of the law on the petitions has already been
recognized by the earlier panel and Court that heard the petitions and
therefore would have the same effect in the apex Court
The above identified realities obviously lie at the heart of the
comments credited to the elder statesmen of Imo extraction who showed
their disdain over the lawsuits and any attempt of taking the petitions
to the Apex Court .Mike Ahamba, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), for
instance, called on the opponents of Ihedioha to sheath their sword
and allow him concentrate on his resolute moves towards delivering on
his campaign promises. Describing Ihedioha’s victory at the Court of
Appeal as the true reflection of the wishes of the people as evidenced
in the polls, he urged them to work with Ihedioha rather than
distracting him any further.
Chief Emmanuel Iwuayanwu, member of the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) Board of Trustees enjoined them to accept the verdict of the
Appeal Court in the interest of the people of the state. “The victory
has confirmed the verdict of the people, so as an elder I want to plead
with Araraume, Uzodinma and Nwosu to rally round Ihedioha and help in
the rebuilding process of the state”, he added.
Iwuanyanwu and Ahamba are right. The court victory is consistent with
the will and aspirations of Imo people who laid their resources and
votes towards making the triumph at the polls possible. This is
underlined by the long-held aphorism that the voice of the people is the
voice of God.
On the contrary, the distractions arising from the lawsuits negate in
clear terms the rebuild mission of Ihedioha administration which has
evidently been on track since inception May 29. This is evidenced in the
18 roads reconstruction projects that are currently ongoing; pension
reform and regular payment of pensioners; agricultural development
programmes; healthcare services revamp; rehabilitation of technical and
vocational colleges; enthronement of due process in procurement and
revenue generation through the introduction of Treasury Single Account
and a wide spectrum of others that cut across all sectors of Imo
development.
DR. AUSTIN UGANWA, SENIOR SPECIAL ASSISTANT ON DOCUMENTATION TO IMO
GOVERNMENT, WROTE FROM OWERRI