Posted by By ERIC OSAGIE, Abuja on
Governor Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State returned to the country from the Holy land of Mecca to meet an unholy news back home: the April 14, 2007 gubernatorial poll results on which he began a second term in office had been annulled.
• Says: ‘I will never lose sleep'
• Sure of having the last laugh
Governor Ibrahim Idris of Kogi State returned to the country from the Holy land of Mecca to meet an unholy news back home: the April 14, 2007 gubernatorial poll results on which he began a second term in office had been annulled. The English playwright, William Shakespeare would have called it "the unkindest cut" or you may call it a sad Sallah package for the man, and you would have hit the nail on the head.
But rather than lock himself up in a room, mourning the ugly turn of events, Gov. Idris is upbeat, not in the least dampened. He says what is happening in his state is a mere storm in a tea cup, a rough weather which will soon blow over.
Speaking exclusively with Saturday Sun on Thursday, shortly on arrival from his religious sojourn, the governor said: "I am not about to lose sleep over the tribunal's judgement. No shaking. I know I will have the last laugh. I know I will come out triumphant."
The tribunal's damning verdict makes Idris the second governor in the post-Obasanjo era to have his election annulled. The Supreme Court had few months ago voided the eelction of Dr. Andy Uba, when it claimed that Gov. Peter Obi of Anambra state had not completed his four-year tenure.
In Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Enugu, Delta, Adamawa, amongst others, the aggrieved candidates are seeking to have the election results upturned for alleged grave irregularities, and stage-managed exclusion from participation in the electoral process.
In the case of Kogi, the ANPP candidate in the 2007 poll, former Gov. Abubakar Audu, had also alleged unlawful exclusion [from the polls] by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The tribunal, therefore, ordered the conduct of fresh election with the inclusion of the excluded candidate.
However, Gov. Idris, who has gone on Appeal against the tribunal's judgement, believes he will trounce the opposition even if the elections were conducted many times. His words: "Don't let anyone deceive you: I am fully on ground in Kogi State. Even if the elections are conducted 10 times, I will beat them hands down. I will still win the election. My opponents know this. Everybody knows this. I am talking of Kogi, as of today, I am the popular choice of the people."
Idris says his lawyers are working round the clock to redress what he calls 'a temporary set back.' "Our lawyers are battle ready to challenge the judgement which we believe was premeditated. We are sure of victory at the Appellate court."
He says there is a nexus between the campaign of calumny against him and the tribunal's judgement.
"Don' t forget they have been maligning me for some time now, alleging certificate forgery and so on. They mailgned me in the press and then delivered judgment against me at the tribunal. However, I will triumph at the end of the day. God does not forsake His own."
The governor said at the appropriate time, he will take his case before the people who gave him mandate in the first place. "Sovereignty belongs to the people. The people's will shall prevail, Insha Allah."