Posted by John Ameh, Onitsha; Tajudeen Suleiman, Enugu; Fidelis Soriwei, Owerri; Festus Owete, Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja, and Niyi Odebode, Abeokuta on
Embattled Anambra State Governor, Dr. Chris Ngige, on Friday vowed to remain in office in spite of a verdict by the First Anambra State Elections Tribunal invalidating his April 19, 2003 election.
Embattled Anambra State Governor, Dr. Chris Ngige, on Friday vowed to remain in office in spite of a verdict by the First Anambra State Elections Tribunal invalidating his April 19, 2003 election.
The tribunal ruled that Ngige's opponent, Mr. Peter Obi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), actually won the poll.
The governor said at a news conference after the three-hour ruling in Awka, the state capital that he was still in charge, vowing to appeal the ruling, which he described as a 'miscarriage of justice."
Ngige, who was flanked by his lead counsel, Mr. Jerome Okolo (SAN); the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Udechukwu N. Udechukwu (SAN); and the governor's brother, Mr. Emeka Ngige (SAN), told a news conference a few minutes after the tribunal rose that he remained the governor of Anambra State until the Appeal Court decided otherwise.
He said, ' I am still the governor of this state. Under the Electoral Act 2002, I have the right of appeal within 21 days of the judgment and I have done so immediately by directing my legal team to file a notice of appeal.
'We shall study the judgment and in due course, we shall inform you of the grounds of appeal as they unfold. For now, all the officials and apparatus of the government remain in place. I am still the governor; this night I am hosting the South-East Governors' Forum in Awka, of which I am the chairman. Please, come and witness it."
Earlier on Friday, the five-member tribunal led by Justice Garba Nabaruma said that Ngige lost the election clearly on the grounds of 'differences and irregularities" committed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, which tendered results sheets that failed to tally with the actual valid performance of the candidates that contested the election.
Nabaruma who read the ruling, stated that after carefully studying the evidence before it, especially the performance chart for the poll, the tribunal came to the conclusion that Obi polled a total of 241, 469 votes as against Ngige's 175, 221 votes. Other candiates polled a combined performance of 116, 829 votes.
'From the INEC results, the petitioner scored 1/4 of total valid votes in 15 local governments out of the 21 local governments in Anambra State.
'The local government areas are Aguata, Dunukofia, Idemili-South, Nnewi-South, Ogbaru, Onitsha-North, Onitsha-South, Orumba-South, Anyamelu, Anaocha, Ekwusigo, Awka-South, Idemili-North, Nnewi-North and Orumba-North.
'The First Respondent (Ngige) scored 1/4 of total votes cast in nine out of the 21 local government areas of Anambra State namely, Aguata, Anambra-West, Awka-South, Dunukofia, Njikoka, Nnewi-South, Orumba-South, Oyi and Orumba-North."
The tribunal further upheld the APGA candiadate's key relief, which was that he should be declared the winner of the poll, having polled the majority of valid votes cast at the election. It also said that after putting all the parties on an 'imaginary scale as provided by law, the evidence weighed in favour of the petitioner."
The tribunal chairman added, 'We, therefore, declare that the petitioner has proved his claims and is accordingly entitled to the reliefs he is seeking since he has discharged the burden of proof placed on him by law. We hereby declare that Dr. Chris Ngige was not duly declared elected or returned and should not have been declared or returned by the second to the fourth respondents.
'We declare that Mr. Peter Obi was the validly and duly elected and returned Governor of Anambra State, having scored or polled the highest majority of total votes cast at the April 19, 2003 governorship election."
The ruling was long in coming, with the tribunal sitting for 23 months and both Ngige and Obi calling a record 472 witnesses in an election petition hearing considered by many as the longest in the history of electoral contests in the country
Friday's sitting took place under heavy security, with a record number of six trucks loaded with riot policemen deployed in the area.
A greater number led by the Commander of MOPOL 29 Unit in the state, Mr. Evans Ebe, patrolled the streets of Awka in anticipation of a speculated violent protest by some groups disenchanted with the result.
There was jubilation in the camp of Obi, who was said to be out of the country when the judgment was delivered.
Jubilant APGA supporters poured into the streets of Awka, with some hoisting the party's flag on buses and shouting, 'Up APGA, 'Up Obi", 'It is APGA that we want", 'It's Obi that we voted for."
A factional national chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh, who led some party executives to the tribunal, said that the verdict would mark the beginning of 'real peace in Anambra State."
'We thank God for His mercies. Ngige knows that he did not win the election and the tribunal has confirmed it. It is unfortunate that some people tried to withdraw this petition at some point.
Umeh also advised Ngige not to waste his time seeking redress at the Appeal Court because 'you cannot appeal against justice. You cannot appeal against God.
'It has been two years of strenuous work and we are happy that justice has eventually prevailed. The people of Anambra State are happy that the mandate they gave Peter Obi has been finally recovered. So, we are getting ready to take over Government House and we advise Ngige to accept the verdict as the handiwork of God."
In a similar vein, Obi's lead counsel, Senator Nathaniel Anah (SAN), recalled that in the course of his over 45 years of legal practice, 'this was one tribunal sitting that was the longest. I am relieved that it came to a close and did so very well too."
But his counterpart in Ngige's camp, Chief Jerome Okolo (SAN), said that there was no point losing sleep over the verdict since the tribunal was merely a court of first instance.
Immediately news of the ruling filtered into Abuja, there was an alarm that some persons were planning to attack the national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abuja in anger at the outcome of the case.
The gate of PDP's Wadata Plaza in Zone 5 Wuse District as well as the main entrance to the building were shut while three riot policemen at the gate turned people back.
A request was sent to the FCT Police Commissioner, Mr. Lawrence Alobi, to send a reinforcement of policemen.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party faction in Anambra State opposed to the governor, Chief Uchenna Emodi, told our correspondent on telephone, 'I have always told you that Chris Ngige has never been a member of our party. He has been expelled a long time ago. I do not know why you are calling me to react. Anything that happens to him, as far as we are concerned is alright. He is unfaithful, ungrateful and a disloyal person. It is good riddance to bad rubbish. That position does not belong to him."
Also reacting, a Senior Advocate, Chief Mike Ahamba, declared the judgment as a welcome development.
Ahamba, who spoke on telephone, said it was good to have at least one of the numerous election petition tribunals giving a judgment that was the true reflection of what happened during the election.
Ahamba sad that although, he sympathized with Ngige, whom he described as his personal friend, the judgment was a clear portrayal of the outcome of the election.
In his comments, Secretary-General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Dr. Lateef Adegbite, said the time it took the tribunal to conclude the case had shown that the nation's electoral system was defective.
Speaking in Abeokuta, Adegbite said the judgment had raised a number of issues, wondering, 'What happens to all the decisions that have been taken by a governor, who ought not to have been there, according to the decision of the tribunal?"
SATURDAY PUNCH, August 13, 2005