Posted by Saharareporters.com on
The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu today quashed Governor Chris Ngige's election under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and declared Peter Obi of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) winner.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu today quashed Governor Chris Ngige's election under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and declared Peter Obi of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) winner. The Appeal Court in pronouncing its judgment upheld the ruling of the Anambra State Election Petition Tribunal which had earlier confirmed Obi, and not Ngige, as winner of the election.
In the same vein, an Appeal by Ngige, had lodged an appeal against a ruling by an election tribunal last August that an Obi had won a free and fair vote while the result was rigged in favour of PDP. "The Independent National Electoral Commission erred in declaring Chris Ngige winner of the 2003 gubernatorial election in Anambra," Justice Rabiu Muhammed said in the appeal ruling. Ngige had been on office while the appeal lasted, arguing that the first ruling was an attempt by President Olusegun Obasanjo to unseat him because of a dispute with PDP "godfathers", or people who sponsored his election with money. Today's ruling in Enugu means Peter Obi of the All People's Grand Alliance will soon be sworn in as governor of Anambra. However, it is not immediately clear if Ngige would go without putting in some battle.
The trouble in Anambra started from a fallout soon after the election between Ngige and Chris Uba, alleged to be his main sponsor. Uba, who donates generously to the PDP and whose brother is a close adviser to Obasanjo, made attempts to unseat Ngige. Riot ensued in the state because of the power struggle between the two men whereby paid thugs controlled by one PDP faction set fire to government buildings and tried to kill Ngige in November 2004.
At the height of the Anambra crisis, Obasanjo said Ngige and Uba had admitted the 2003 vote had been rigged, and likened them to "two armed robbers that conspired to loot a house and after bringing out the loot, one decided to do the other in". Yet the Anambra crisis also reflected badly on Obasanjo, who has ruled Nigeria since it returned to civilian government in 1999 after 15 years of army dictatorship. The PDP had expelled both Ngige and Uba, but last December it readmitted Uba citing his "good behaviour". Ngige remains a party outcast.
Uba had written to the party to plead for readmission, arguing that he had shown remorse and that he had handed over his house in Anambra for use as the PDP's headquarters in the state, free of charge.