Even as fresh questions are being raised over last week�s judgment by the Supreme Court which led to the removal of Sir Celestine Omehia as the Governor of Rivers State and the swearing-in of Hon. Rotimi Amaechi as his replacement, indications emerged at the weekend on what might have informed the apex court�s decision.
Highly-placed sources told THISDAY last night that the Supreme Court justices refrained from ordering fresh elections in the state because they feared that the PDP might bar Amaechi from contesting. He had been expelled by the party for resorting to legal action after his controversial substitution by the PDP on February 2, 2007.
The party did not state reasons for his disqualification then, although it was annou-nced at the Court of Appeal last month that Amaechi�s disqualification was based on an indictment by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
But the EFCC indictment came on February 20, two weeks after Amaechi�s substitution.
�The Supreme Court justices were wary of a situation similar to the Ifeanyi Araraume case in Imo State when the PDP disobeyed its ruling that he was the authentic candidate of the party for the governorship election,� the source said.
The PDP had substituted Araraume with Engr. Charles Ugwuh as its candidate, but the Supreme Court ruled that the substitution did not fulfill the requirements of the 2006 Electoral Act, which stated that �cogent and verifiable reasons� must be given for the substitution of candidates.
The party subsequently expelled Araraume and withdrew from the governorship race in the state by failing to field any candidate.
�The Supreme Court believed that the PDP wilfully disobeyed its judgment by failing to field Araraume under a guise, and it clearly did not want a situation where its ruling would be wilfully disobeyed through some other manipulations. That is why it stated unequivocally that Amaechi was the candidate and should be sworn in,� the source explained.
Lagos-based lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), however disagrees with the Supreme Court over its ruling. Fawehinmi, in a press statement made available to THISDAY yesterday, said the order �installing Amaechi who never contested the governorship election as governor of River State� was wrong.
According to the radical lawyer, the assumption of office by Amaechi is a �judicial imposition� on the Rivers State people who he said did not vote for Amaechi on April 14, 2007.
Fawehinmi said: �I have no quarrel with the decision of the Supreme Court in so far as it nullified the election of Celestine Omehia on the ground that he was not the appropriate candidate of that party.
�My disagreement with the judgment is the order made by the court that Rotimi Amaechi who never contested the governorship election should be sworn in as governor of River State.�
Gani further submitted: �I consider the assumption of office by Rotimi Amaechi as a judicial imposition on the electorate of Rivers State who when they were voting on April 14th April, 2007 did not have in view or consideration Rotimi Amaechi who was not a candidate in the eyes, in minds and in the hearts of the electorate of Rivers State.�
According to the legal practitioner, the essence of democratic elections is that the electorate should decide who should be their leaders.
�On April 14 2007, the electorate of Rivers State decided through their votes that Celestine Omehia should be their governor, he campaigned as the candidate of PDP for that election. Now that his candidacy has been adjudged by the Supreme Court as illegal, he could not be the governor of that state. Simply put the Rivers State electorate cast their votes for an illegal candidate, consequently their votes for Celestine Omehia counted for nothing. I have no quarrel with that.�
Fawehinmi further stated: �The electorate of Rivers State did not have the opportunity to vote for Rotimi Amaechi as he was not a candidate for the 14 April, 2007 election of Rivers State. Simply put no vote in law could be attributed to Rotimi Amaechi when the election was held.�
He further cited Section 177 of the 1999 Constitution to buttress his argument saying that, the section provides that no governorship candidate could be validly returned as an elected governor where there are more than two contestants unless he has the highest votes cast in that election according to section179(2) of the constitution.
�Rotimi Amaechi could not have satisfied the constitutional provisions in section179 (2) as he did not contest the governorship election of Rivers state on April 14th, 2007.�
By the judgment of the Supreme Court, Gani expressed regrets that the electorate of Rivers State were denied the opportunity of electing their governor and that Rotimi Amaechi was imposed on them by judicial fiat and not through the ballot.
Gani said that in his own opinion, the appropriate order was for the court to have ordered a fresh governorship election in Rivers state with Amaechi as the PDP candidate as it �is only by this that the electorate of Rivers state would not have been denied their constitutional right to choose their governor.�
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), in a statement by its acting President, Mrs, Ladi Iliya, said it was particularly grateful to the Supreme Court which in this landmark judgment which decided to dwell on ‘substantial justice without regard to technicalities’.
The NLC commended the people of Rivers State �who have been forced to live under an illegal government, insecurity and an endless curfew. We commend Mr. Amaechi for his tenacity, single mindedness and courage, and hope that he would bring these qualities as well as transparency to bear on his administration.”
“The people of Rivers State have suffered much and the new governor needs to heal wounds and move the people towards a better life,� the statement said.
NLC also called on all workers and Nigerians to support the Supreme Court judgment and assist the new administration in Rivers State to take off smoothly.
“This judgment is one more nail driven into the coffin of arbitrariness and impunity, which has seized our body polity. In this wise, we call on all those aggrieved or short changed in the fatally flawed 2007 elections to remain steadfast in their pursuit of justice,” it said.
According to the NLC, the Supreme Court judgment and the inelegant role of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the elections once again raises the issue of how long the Prof. Maurice Iwu leadership of INEC will be allowed to remain in office. �Clearly, free and fair elections will be impossible in the states where elections may be re-conducted if the Iwu-led INEC is the body charged with their conduct,� it said.
Former Vice-President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, commended the judgment on his return to the country yesterday after spending three months abroad, reportedly to undergo treatment for his leg injury which he sustained in a domestic accident last April.
Speaking with journalists at the airport, Atiku hailed the Nigerian judiciary for bold verdicts it had given recently on the disputed April elections at various levels.
He said the decisions by the Supreme Court, the election tribunals and courts so far have shown that �politicians no longer needed the military to sort out politics when they mess things up. We have gone past that stage.�
He praised the judiciary as the last hope of the common man, adding that he felt justified in his consistent and unbending trust in the country�s judiciary.
Among notable associates on hand to receive him at the airport were former governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Lawal Kaita, the Director General of Atiku Presidential Campaign Organisation, Senator Iyorchia Ayu, former national chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Audu Ogbeh, former Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi and the National Publicity Secretary of the Action Congress (AC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
Oct292007