For ardent followers of democracy in Nigeria, the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land, has ever remained the last arbiter for the Governorship seat of Imo State.
Unlike some states in Nigeria like Cross River where Governorship elections go without quarrels, no governorship election ever took place in Imo without the matter going to the Apex Court for final adjudication, before the state and the sitting Governor would have peace and concentration.
Right from Dr Sam Mbakwe, Imo Guber had ever ended in Court. Chief Evan Enwerem was so bombarded in Courts, even as short as his tenure lasted, that he was forced to remember his dead “twin brother”.
Chief Achike Udenwa had to wriggle out from Chief Bar Humphrey Anumudu’s grip from the court and Tribunal after the election of 2003.
During Dr Ikedi Ohakim’s governorship, litigations were elevated to another level that the then Governor had over twenty eight cases in courts. Senator Araraume dragged him to court which lasted years. After that came that of Chief Martin Agbaso which was still pending in court even as the 2011 elections were going on.
Infact, Ohakim had an average of one court matter every month for the 4 years he spent in Government House, Owerri.
Now, the incumbent Governor Rochas Okorocha is facing the same scenario, although his situation cannot in any way be compared with that of his predecessor, Ohakim.
One would say that Okorocha is lucky to have enough respite, as he could spend months at work before thinking of the next adjournment far in between.
But for his predecessor Ohakim, on Monday he goes for PPA case at Appeal Court, on Tuesday it was APGA at High Court, Wednesday it was one Bar Nwachukwu at Magistrate Court saying Ohakim was sworn-in an hour before May 29th etc. Infact, it was terrible!
However, it is pertinent to note that the same situation has continued in the state which as usual keeps Imo people on their toes, as the issue of Imo Governorship election of 2011 still remains unresolved. Unresolved because, the matter is still subject to judgment and must be treated, for all the parties involved to feel that justice has been done.
The main actors are the incumbent Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, immediate past Governor, Dr Ikedi Ohakim, and Senator Ifeanyi Araraume.
What is the bone of contention? The Governorship election in Imo State took place on April 26, 2011 with Ohakim, the then incumbent contesting under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Okorocha under All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, and Senator Ifeanyi Araraume under Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN.
After the election of April 26, 2011, no clean clear winner emerged, according to Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and in her own sense of judgment fixed another election on May 6, 2011 and called it “Supplementary election”.
However, the PDP challenged the outcome of the April 26 election at the Imo State Governorship Election Tribunal which sat at the State High Court premises. PDP claimed it won the election and asked that the Oguta results which it claimed it had in its possession, be authenticated by INEC and included and released.
But INEC refused PDP pleas, and the Tribunal basing her judgment on the May 6, “Supplementary election” outcome, declared the APGA candidate, Chief Rochas Okorocha the winner.
This was November 22, 2011. I cannot forget that date because it was the day God gave me a second life. Immediately the judgment was read, APGA thugs, under the instruction of a top Imo Government Official, descended on me like Bees on honey and reduced me to a pulp, after I was stripped and abandoned bleeding profusely, as they ran away thinking I had died. I think it was a miracle how I took such beating and those survived to tell the story today. Even my attacks were surprised when they heard I was still alive. I still see those attackers today, and have seen how better-off they are. God is our judge!
So, after the euphoria of this legal triumph at the Tribunal by the Okorocha regime, suddenly another participant in that election, Senator Ifeanyi Araraume approached the lower court to interpret for him if there is any thing like a “Supplementary election” in the Nigeria Constitution or the Electoral Act 2010. He went further to pray the court to cancel the election and call for a fresh one.
Therefore, being the sitting Governor who benefited from the Supplementary election of May 6, Owelle Rochas Okorocha asked to be joined in the Araraume suit as an interested party. And his prayer was granted, and therefore was joined in the matter with APGA.
In the same vein, the PDP who also participated in both the April 26, and May 6 elections urged the court to be joined with her candidate, Dr Ikedi Ohakim, which the Appeal Court obliged.
So, it was this approval given to the PDP and its candidate, Ikedi Ohakim to be joined in the suit by the Appeal Court, that APGA and Okorocha went to the Supreme Court to appeal against. Unfortunately, this joinder issue had lingered since for months with various adjournments, until the ruling was fixed for October 31, 2013.
However, at the Supreme Court in October 31, 2013, there was another motion which needed to be addressed before the Okorocha appeal could be entertained. And that motion was from APGA, the Owelle Okorocha’s former political party under which he rose to power.
The Governor had after winning the election dumped APGA and joined the newly-formed All Progressives Congress, APC. Okorocha had described APGA as a village meeting or cultural organization that cannot carry his political weight now, because of his higher political ambition. He said he needed a political party with wider circulation. And therefore, APC was it.
These comments irked APGA top hierarchy who appeared at the Supreme Court that October 31, 2013 to ask the Court to remove APGA from the litigation as the party has parted company with its erstwhile candidate, Chief Okorocha.
The Apex Court agreed to APGA’s prayer. The party was represented that day by its National Secretary Alhaji Shikanfi, who personally submitted the application in Court. Therefore, the APGA Counsel withdrew from the case.
In the same vein, the Lawyer to the ACN, asked also to be deleted from the case, saying that with the birth of APC, ACN had ceased to exist. This development thus leaves Okorocha, PDP, Ohakim, Araraume and INEC in the matter now.
Having deliberated on the motion before it that day, the Supreme Court thereafter fixed January 24, 2014 as date to rule on the Okorocha appeal against the Appeal Court joinder of PDP and Ohakim.
After the January ruling, if the court joins PDP and Ohakim, there are two options left in this scenario. One, the case either continues at the Appeal Court or goes to the Supreme Court for consolidation, since it is a constitutional matter, which only can be entertained by the Apex Court.
Secondly, if the Supreme Court fails to join PDP and Ohakim, the matter will still go ahead, with Okorocha and Araraume as individuals, since their political parties have all withdrawn from the matter.
Meanwhile, the Apex Court has the right to call the parties involved for the ruling any other day than the January 24, 2014 date, since the counsel have submitted their addresses to the court. So, January 24, 2014 is not sacrosanct for the ruling.
Already legal pundits argue that the Imo State case is a water shed in Nigeria electoral history, and must be seen to a conclusive end, for reference point and posterity sake. It was said that it must be concluded before the next election.
The argument is that since Nigeria is about entering another election, the issue of “Supplementary election” in Imo State must be sorted out as a guide to future occurrences, incase such a situation is ran into again in 2015 elections by any other state and the Federal Government.
This development however, gladdens the heart of Imo people, no matter the side of the divide you stand on the contentious issue.
For those supporters of Gov Okorocha, they want the matter done with, so that their principal can know his fate and focuse on his job and his next plan of action in 2015.
In the Ohakim camp, the thinking is also for the case to come and go so that they will know if they are going back to office, or not, and know what steps to take before the 2015 election kicks-off.
Araraume’s camp also wants the final conclusion of the litigation so as to know whether they may try their luck again in another election and put their man in office.
And then there are those who are neither here nor there. Their main concern is for the final resolution of the matter. They do not care whether it went to Okorocha, Araraume or Ohakim. All they care about is food on their tables and money in their pockets.
Indeed, there are those who just want the political environment of the state to be charged so that they could be made coordinators and foot soldiers of those who want to contest Governorship election in 2015.
For them, they prefer a new guber election, so that they could have more “Oso”. They are even already counting their loses this Christmas season, as the long adjournment to January is an indication that Governorship hopefuls for 2015 will put their plans on hold, until Supreme Court does final justice on the Imo Guber Supplementary imbroglio. This means less “Oso” from the Aspirants this Christmas.
But while we keep our fingers crossed, it is pertinent to note that it is not over yet, until it is over. As usual, the fate of Imo people now hangs in the balance, as the Supreme Court holds the aces.
The situation is like a man whose pregnant wife entered the delivery theatre. You don’t laugh yet, until the Doctor comes out to give you the good news. Let us wait and see. No matter which camp you belong to.
