Posted by By TOPE ADEBOBOYE on
Four days to the governorship elections, Anambra State Governor, Mr Peter Obi, has declared that there is no vacancy in the state's Government House, insisting that he will be governor until he fully serves out his constitutionally guaranteed term of four years.
Four days to the governorship elections, Anambra State Governor, Mr Peter Obi, has declared that there is no vacancy in the state's Government House, insisting that he will be governor until he fully serves out his constitutionally guaranteed term of four years.
Obi told journalists at the weekend that some people were merely misinterpreting last week's pronouncement of the Supreme Court concerning his tenure.
"I did not go to the Supreme Court, but the Attorney-General of the state went on tenure issue, because he felt it concerns Anambra as a state, but the Supreme Court refused to entertain it on the reason that it essentially concerns me as an individual, whereupon it declined jurisdiction.
Therefore, let me take the liberty to clarify. It does not affect the case I instituted against INEC on tenure issue, which is still on-going and I have resolved to pursue it to its logical conclusion," Obi said.
The governor accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of deliberately seeking to frustrate him out of Government House to pave the way for emergence of an already anointed candidate as governor.
A special assistant to the governor, Mr Valentine Obienyem, said, in a statement, that INEC frustrated all attempts by Obi's party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to substitute Dame Virgy Etiaba's name with Obi's after the governor's impeachment had been quashed by the courts.
Said he: "This same INEC refused to accept Governor Peter Obi's name, citing a spurious court judgment. The irony of it all is that all other APGA candidates were cleared, all of whom belong to the same APGA with Governor Peter Obi. What is clear from the foregoing is that Governor Peter Obi is a primary target, because he is seen as a formidable candidate against the anointed one.
"The tenure interpretation case is still in the courts and we believe firmly that it will be in our favour, as the provisions of the constitution is crystal clear on the matter of tenure," explained Obienyem.
Supporting the governor's position, the Peter Obi Campaign Organization said there could not be any vacancy at the Anambra State Government House since Obi was yet to complete his tenure of four years.
According to the group, last week's pronouncement of the Supreme Court had no implications on Obi's tenure since the case was not instituted by Peter Obi nor his campaign organization, but by the state.
"Governor Peter Obi expected that INEC would not go ahead to conduct a gubernatorial election in Anambra State in 2007, given the clear and unambiguous provisions of section 180 (2) of the 1999 constitution. Governor Obi only initiated legal action as a response to INEC's call for nomination of governorship candidates, which action convinced the governor that INEC was bent on conducting a governorship election that would contravene the provisions of section 180(2)," said the organisation in a statement issued by Nnamdi Ugo.
Continuing, he said: "The Peter Obi campaign organization wishes to say that, contrary to what was erroneously reported by some media houses, Governor Peter Obi has never asked for the elongation of his tenure. His plea is clear and precise: He wants an interpretation of the number of years provided in the constitution for his office, period."
The group appealed to Nigerians to shun violence, saying Governor Obi had always championed the rule of law and due process in governance.