Posted by By CHRISTIAN ITA and GEOFREY ANYANWU on
Coming on the heels of the tribunal judgement that nullified his election as the governor of Anambra State, the acting National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh says Dr. Chris Ngige should vacate office immediately.
Coming on the heels of the tribunal judgement that nullified his election as the governor of Anambra State, the acting National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh says Dr. Chris Ngige should vacate office immediately.
Umeh said Ngige should spare the state the headache of an appeal and vacate the office for Mr. Peter Obi who the tribunal declared the winner of the election.
Umeh spoke just as other Nigerians, including Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Professor Joe Irukwu, Nze Fidelis Ozichukwu, Femi Fani-Kayode and Festus Keyamo reacted to the tribunal judgement.
In a telephone chat with APGA Presidential candidate in the same election, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, he urged the people of the state to remain clam.
Ojukwu who called from America, urged the people of the state to remain calm, saying the ruling had ushered in a new era in the state.
The APGA presidential candidate in 2003 said: "Tell Anambra State people and Ndigbo in general to remain calm. I have always known that the truth shall be vindicated. Remain calm as God will usher in a new era with this judgment in Igboland beginning with Anambra State".
Gani on his part said the ruling reinforced the fact the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and by extension, President Olusegun Obasanjo, did not win election in the country.
Umeh said: "Ngige should not appeal against this judgement because it is a judgement of truth. He (Ngige) knew from the beginning that he did not win the election."
Urging Ngige to do the "honourable thing" by congratulation Obi, the APGA chairman said he expects Ngige to not only congratulate Obi, but that he should also hand over power.
It was his position that since Ngige knows that he did not win election, proceeding on appeal would only "earn him God's wrath. I expect him to do the honourable thing by congratulating Peter Obi and handing over to him."
Describing the judgement as a victory for democracy and the Nigerian judiciary, Umeh said there was a lesson to be learnt from it.
According to him, "the pursuit of justice is something that must not be compromised. With doggedness and resilience, the truth would always triumph over falsehood."
Gani who said Ngige has the right to appeal the judgement, said the Appeal Court has the final say on the matter.
The renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) maintained that the judgement has confirmed that the PDP rigged the elections and that "it confirms the inadequacy of our Constitution."
Wondering why the constitution would allow somebody to be sworn into office and would spend two years and four months before the ruling, he said the National Assembly should amend this aspect of the constitution.
In his own reaction, another Lagos lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo dismissed the tribunal's ruling as a ruse.
Keyamo accused the Federal Government of influencing the tribunal's ruling, saying it cannot withstand the "fire of an appeal."
His words: "The judgement is dripping with the ink of the Federal Government. It is not dripping with the ink of the tribunal. I make bold to say that this judgement cannot stand the fire of an appeal.
"Dr. Chris Ngige has 21 days within which to file an appeal. By section 138 of the Electoral Act, he remains in office until the appeal is determined. The judgement cannot stand the test of time and it would be upturned at the Appeal Court."
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Femi Fani-Kayode said the "land is governed by the rule. The rule of law has prevailed."
Fani-Kayode noted, however, that the constitution allows Ngige the option of appeal.
Immediate past National Vice chairman, South-East of the PDP, Nze Fidelis Ozichukwu, waxing spiritual, said there is time and season for everything.
He said the judgement, though a loss to the PDP, has vindicated the just, adding, "we take consolation in the fact that the rule of law and not of man was upheld."
Meanwhile, the president of pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohaneze, Prof. Joe Irukwu said the organisation would soon meet on the matter.
Delivering judgment Saturday, the tribunal chairman Justice Garuba Nabaruma, had stated that "after proper consideration of evidence laid by the parties including the first respondent, we put them on an imaginary scale as provided by law (cited authority) and it weighs in favour of the petitioner. We therefore hold that the petitioner has proved his claim and accordingly entitled to the relief he is seeking as provided by the law.
"Accordingly, we hereby declare as follows: that the first respondent, Chris Nwabueze Ngige was not duly elected, or returned and should not have been declared duly returned or duly elected by the second respondent (INEC). "And we hereby declare petitioner, Mr. Peter Obi validly and duly elected and returned as Governor of Anambra State, having scored or polled the highest majority of votes cast on April 19, 2003 gubernatorial election".
Meanwhile, Governor Ngige has described the judgment as a miscarriage of justice, stressing that he is dissatisfied with it, just as he declared that he was heading to the Court of Appeal to challenge it.
Ngige who brief newsmen shortly after the judgment said he has 21 days to appeal against the judgment and remains in office until the appeal is disposed of.