BY AUSTIN UGANWA
Imo State Governor, Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha last Saturday in Abuja High
Court, Jabi recorded a second victory appropriate to consolidate his
regime. In a unanimous decision, Justice Mallami Umar-Dogondagi –led
Imo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal affirmed him as the
validly elected governor of the state in so doing upholding his
declaration on March 9 this year by the independent National Electoral
Commission as the winner of the gubernatorial election in the state
The authentication of Ihedioha’s victory by the three-member tribunal
which many Imolites believe is an endorsement of the people’s will was
sequential. It flowed from the panel’s months of painstaking
examination and reexamination of the motions, petitions and applications
brought to it by Ihedioha’s three major rivals in the election: Uche
Nwosu of Action Alliance, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume of All Progressives
Grand Alliance and Senator Hope Uzodinma of All Progressives Congress.
The three litigants approached the tribunal on diverse reasons. Senator
Hope Uzodinma , the APC candidate who came a distant fourth in the
election curiously requested the tribunal to declare him winner of the
election claiming to have won the majority of the legitimate votes and
secured the mandatory one quarter of the votes cast in at least two
thirds of the 27 Local Governments Areas in the state. Senator
Ararume’s fundamental grouse was that the election was flawed on
account of alleged malpractices, irregularities and corrupted
tendencies. Unlike Uzodinma that opted to be declared winner, Araruma
and Nwosu’s solicitation was for the cancellation of the election and
a fresh one to be conducted.
The three-man panel dismissed the three petitions. The panel which
earlier sat in Owerri, the Imo State capital for about three months
before moving to the Abuja High Court in Jabi for the judgment held
that the three petitions challenging the declaration of Ihedioha of the
People’s Democratic Party(PDP) as the winner of the governorship
election, lacked merit. While delivering the judgment, the tribunal
chairman, Justice Mallami Umar-Dogondagi affirmed that the petitioners
did not establish their complaints against Governor Ihedioha submitting
that the petitioners failed to discharge the burden of proof placed on
them by the law.
The judgment is historic in many respects. First, it shows the extent to
which the judiciary can demonstrate courage, in so doing, bringing
justice to bear. As a result, the landmark decision of validating
Ihedioha’s election has rekindled people’s confidence in the
judicial system which many had hitherto viewed and assessed with
apprehension. Fundamentally, the judgment inherently and judiciously
reinforced the will of the people which they demonstrated March 9 when
they altruistically entrusted their mandate in Ihedioha.
This is instructive in the heightened manner Imo people were overjoyed
over the judgment. For instance, at the High Court in Jabi, Abuja where
the judgment was delivered a large number of Imo people who travelled
all the way from the state besieged the court to enlist their solidarity
for Ihedioha. They jubilated and chorused victory songs at the end of
the tribunal session when they learnt the outcome. Back home, Owerri,
the state capital went agog on that eventful Saturday night. Hordes of
euphoric youths and women thronged to the streets to express their
excitement while many others ended up in popular drinking joints in the
city to celebrate. Understandably, the opposite naturally would have
been the case if the will of the people and justice were perceived to
have been subverted in the judgment. The state would have been worse
for it.
Although Ihedioha has been able to record uncommon accomplishments
within the short period of his regime as seen in the flagging off of the
rehabilitation and construction of 14 urban roads projects and 381 rural
roads at a total cost of N38b among several other signature milestones,
the tribunal decision will certainly have a far-reaching impact on
accelerating the governor’s performance even further and higher. Maria
Mbakwe, a popular women leader drove this point home more succinctly
when she led Imo women on victory march. According to her, the victory
has the inclination to reducing distractions from the opponents thereby
enabling the governor to fast-track the pace of development in the
state.
This perhaps explained the olive branch Ihedioha extended to his rivals
after the judgment, encouraging them to join him in the onerous task of
rebuilding the state. “I call on all Imolites across party and opinion
divides, especially my opponents in the last election to join hands with
us as we make Imo great again. For me, there is no victor and no
vanquished”, he submitted. Accordingly, the earlier Nwosu, Araruma,
Uzodinma and others on the opposing divide buy into this peaceful,
patriotic and welcoming call for Imo renaissance the better for the
state.
DR. AUSTIN UGANWA, SENIOR SPECIAL ASSISTANT, IMO STATE GOVERNMENT WRITES
FROM OWERRI