I am responding to the ruling of the Court of Appeal, which sat in
\nCalabar, Cross River State, on the petition filed by the candidate of
\nthe All Progressive Congress (APC) in the 2019 Akwa Ibom North West
\nSenatorial elections, from which a rerun has been ordered in 90 days.<\/p>\n
That ruling was drawn from evidences of irregularities that bedevilled
\nthe election. So I am calling for an investigation into the reason why
\nthat election failed.<\/p>\n
I also, in the article, allayed the fears of His Excellency, Godswill
\nObot Akpabio, which instructed his seeking the help of the presidency to
\nremove Mike Igini, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the
\nState, and his counterpart heading the Department of States Services
\n(DSS), showing how unnecessary the call was.<\/p>\n
Please be kind to publish it as an opinion article on your well-read
\nonline news portal please.<\/p>\n
Thank you,<\/p>\n
I am,<\/p>\n
Ini Akpan Morgan<\/p>\n
EKPEYONG VS AKPABIO: INVESTIGATE THE FAILURE OF INEC IN ESSIEN UDIM
\nLOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF AKWA IBOM STATE ON 23 FEBRUARY 2019<\/p>\n
I am so angry with the deceptive political leadership we presently have
\nover our people. Partisan politics, and politics generally, has blinded
\nour sense of political appropriation and has prevented our advancing our
\ndemocracy to achieve optimum popular results. We cannot continue like
\nthis.<\/p>\n
If we do continue like this, then, this is what will happen: one day,
\nlaw and order will break down, and Nigerians will turn one against
\nanother, killing, maiming and taking prisoners for themselves, because
\nno one will, any longer, accept or tolerate the granduous level of
\neconomic inequality in our nation and the political hypocrisy we find in
\npopular governance in our country.<\/p>\n
To say the truth, as far as “justice” is concern in this country, we are
\nall liars, and in deep shit – justice is paid for, and it is expensive.
\nThe very foundation of our existence as a country is based on lies – our
\nconstitution is not a consistent document. Yes! Our very constitution is
\na very big lie.<\/p>\n
This is why I call on all governments and leaders that have operated the
\n1999 constitution as was, as amended, and as is, to explain how they
\nfaithfully executed Section 16 Subsection 2 (c and d) of our laws – laws
\nthat provided for the weak, the old, and the vulnerable: laws that
\nprohibits an economic system that allows the wealth of our country to be
\nconcentrated in the hands of a privileged few – what do we see all
\naround us? Nigerians should understand how all our past and present
\nleaders swore to and acted on lies, deceiving us with their korofo
\ngovernments.<\/p>\n
Today, I am speaking to you all as a prophet over this land:<\/p>\n
For me, the judgment of the Court of Appeal, which sat in Calabar, Cross
\nRiver State, which ordered a rerun of the cancelled elections of the 23
\nFebruary 2019 – in response to the petition filed by the Akwa Ibom North
\nWest senatorial candidate of the APC, asking for the admittance of the
\nresult that was in his possession – though commendable for me, but that
\njudgment was also a moral call for an investigation into the
\ncircumstances that led to the electoral fraud that happened in Essien
\nUdim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, on that day.<\/p>\n
As a citizen of this country, and a passionate lover of law and order,
\nhaving learnt directly from the Almighty God, how law and order helps a
\npeople, I think it is the least I can ask from my leaders, that an
\nelectoral fraud be investigated and offenders punished.<\/p>\n
I, therefore, demand that the Independent National Electoral Commission
\n(INEC) rises to the challenge of investigating, or to cause the Nigerian
\nPolice to investigate the immediate and\/or remote cause(s) of the
\nirregularities that the Court of Appeal judgment threw up as the reason
\nwhy tax payers’ money will again be deplored into an election that
\nshould not be happening if some of our politicians and civil servants
\nhad imbibed certain national ethics, morals and civility in their
\nunderstanding of the universally permitted standards for sociopolitical
\nengineering.<\/p>\n
The presidency must be wary of towing the same path of error Nigerians
\nendured for 16 years in the hands of the leadership of the PDP, during
\nwhich era we never had elections. Votes were counted upon the blood of
\ninnocent Nigerians. At one point the mentality for our elections was to
\nmake it a “do or die affair” on one hand, but it developed onto a
\n“Warsaw saw war” affair on the other hand.<\/p>\n
We do not need our elections to be wars any more. This is why what
\nculminated to the irregularities during the elections in Essien Udim
\nmust be investigated: those found guilty of obstructing the citizens’
\nexercise of their adult suffrage should be prosecuted, and if found
\nguilty, they must be punished appropriately.<\/p>\n
I think it is time President Muhammadu Buhari moves us forward. As Akwa
\nIbom people in particular, and Nigerians in general, await the outcome
\nof the ordered rerun elections in Essien Udim in less than 90 days, I
\npray the presidency would discountenance the allege condition given by
\nour Minister of Niger Delta Affairs for him to accept to enter into the
\nrerun election.<\/p>\n
What I am not conversant with is if the Honourable Minister has an
\noption to choose whether or or not to obey a court order – I agree that
\nhe can legally “boycott” the elections, but that would make him look
\nlike a political midget.<\/p>\n
And in case it is true that the Honourble Minister has asked the
\npresidency to redeploy the Resident Electoral Commissioner, and the
\nDirector of State Services in the State, the presidency must note that
\nINEC is guided by laws, and in the laws governing INEC, the commission
\nis empowered to be “independent”. The presidency must stay away from
\nINEC in Senator Akpabio’s matter.<\/p>\n
By the time we begin to subjugate our institutions to the interest of
\none man, then it is a sad betrayal of the trust Nigerians repose in the
\nBuhari presidency: such a disservice robs of leadership morality and
\nethical decency.<\/p>\n
For God’s sake we are a country of more than 180 million people, why
\nwould the leadership be so vulnerable to be considered to intervene and
\nallow appalling schemes geared to shortchange the citizens of their
\nhuman rights and deny them the rights to their civic
\nresponsibilities…why?<\/p>\n
The rerun senatiorial\/House of Representatives elections coming up in
\nEssien Udim LGA in less than 90 days can result to a free, fair,
\ncredible, transparent and acceptable outcome, if certain steps are taken
\nto ensure openness by all parties involved.<\/p>\n
The call for the removal of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in
\nAkwa Ibom State will be shown to be childish, immature, myopic and
\ndepicts a lack in the knowledge of the dynamic nature of INEC leadership
\npositionings for assignment in order to have their outcomes attain
\nmaximal acceptability by the people.<\/p>\n
It is possible for Mike Igini to remain REC, Akwa Ibom State and be
\nretained as an official monitor of the elections – no harm done. INEC
\nwill not need civil servants as Ad Hoc staff. INEC can deploy all
\nElectoral Officers (31 of them), all Assistant Electoral Officers (31 of
\nthem), all senior and junior staff, call out staff from sisters States,
\napart from those in their security department, to Essien Udim LGA to
\nhandle the rerun.<\/p>\n
The entire election should be handled by the staff of INEC – from the
\nReturning Officer for the elections to the Presiding Officers at each
\npolling unit – only deploying National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)
\nmembers as Poll Clerks, having no hands in leading any polling unit.<\/p>\n
This way INEC will own her elections, own her materials, own her staff
\nand own the results and the outcome, having no one to blame for another
\nsets of irregularities. The election is in just one LGA, and INEC staff
\ncan handle that election “in situ”. No need for anyone to fear being
\nrugged out in the regional election – it’s a small fry for INEC and
\nProfessor Mahmud Yakub.<\/p>\n
The entire Akwa Ibom State will be in Essien Udim LGA in less than 90
\ndays to embrace the outcome of the “uncommon rerun”.<\/p>\n
If Godswill Obot Akpabio does not want Mike Igini in his election, INEC
\ncan ensure that, but his election, a regional one for that matter, is
\nnot enough to instruct him to call for the removal of Mike Igini from
\nAkwa Ibom State. Mike Igini has a national commissioner who he reports
\nto, whoever that is, can take over the duties of presiding over the
\nrerun elections.<\/p>\n
Again, for security reasons, the other call for the removal of the
\nDirector of State Services should be investigated. Why should a
\ncontestant in an election not conducted by the Directorate of State
\nServices be threatened by a staff of the department?<\/p>\n
Godswill Akpabio’s apprehension should neither be swept away nor under –
\nit is a serious security indictment. I am recommending an investigation
\ninto it, in case the poor director, being projected for removal, is
\ninnocent of our Minister’s lack of confidence in him.<\/p>\n
All I have been trying to say here is that we have to begin to get our
\ndemocratic acts right – God has been gracious to us as a people. We must
\nconductively learn from those who have embellished sound societies,
\nexerted enviable respect for their citizens and their human rights
\ngenerally. We must leave this level of mediocrity and rise to the faith
\nof excellence in our communal services and popular governance.<\/p>\n
We must begin to investigate electoral crimes and punish perpetrators to
\nserve as deterent measures to indicate our attention to the details of
\nour laws and order. This is about democracy, this is about the Nigerian
\npeople.<\/p>\n
God bless you all, Amen!<\/p>\n