SIR: Pictures of insecurity in Ukanafun Local Government Area, about 30 minutes’ drive to Aba, are grim.
From January 2, when a tussle over village headship at a village called Okoyo led to death of the village council chairman and a youth leader, crimes claiming mostly lives of humans have become daily doings and deadly looming at the doorsteps of those still lucky to be counted among the living. At the weekend of Easter, no fewer than four persons, including Ime Atakpa, the Secretary of Ukanafun Local Government Council, were gruesomely killed. On a Sunday before the Easter, the proprietor of Sure Foundation Polytechnic, Idongesit Udom, was abducted by gunmen, while leaving his house for a church opposite his house. As at the time of filing this piece, the sexagenarian Goliath-framed engineer and retired manager with Exxon Mobil is still in the captivity of men of the underworld with no access to the outside world other than his abductors-guided telephone conversation for the purpose of securing ransom as a condition for his freedom.
The carnage in Ukanafun is a reality equivalent of Hollywood horror. So far, no fewer than 20 lives have been lost in the area since that first Monday of 2017. When it is not youth restiveness, it is cult clashes or armed robbery or politically motivated assassination. The locale and nativity of the perpetrators may not be readily ascertained but when crimes have been severally carried out successfully in a certain place and nothing is done or seen to be done to prevent reoccurrences, the place becomes greener pasture for criminals everywhere, a fertile and friendly land to nourish seedlings of crimes and even amateurs in the business of crime consider it a field to perfect professionalism in the nebulous businesses of gunning down lives.
If nothing is speedily done to put paid to pangs of jigsaw-puzzle currently plaguing the people of Ukanafun, then no one needs the power of clairvoyance to predict that the 2019 general election would be a poll where winners and losers would emerge in pool of blood.
When Okon Uwah, a former deputy speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly was clubbed to death in broad daylight on March 18, 2015 in the same Ukanafun while embarking on house-to-house campaign for the last general election, it took Chief Don Etiebet’s alarming condemnation and the then well-lubricated APC publicity machinery for the rest of the Nigerian society to respond with expected stimuli to the death. In an ideal sophisticated society, forces propelling orderliness and normalcy does not start and end with governmental institutions. It involves the civil populace.
It took the death of Atakpa for Governor Udom Emmanuel, who visited the deceased family compound, where the grassroots politician was gunned down in the early hours of that Easter Sunday, for the public to notice the government’s sensitivity. The governor’s on-the-spot step to see things for himself was a right-footed effort and commendable only to the extent of portraying the governor as a leader that has exceptional care for those that worked for his victory at elections. Atakpa is gone but justice on account of his loss should not be lost.
If those saddled with the task of securing lives and properties in Akwa Ibom have risen immediately to the challenge of insecurity in Ukanafun at the dawn of those devilish acts, it is most likely that crimes in the area would have died as they arrived. Let Udom, the governor mount a search and personally lead the team for safe rescue of Udom, the proprietor of Sure Foundation Polytechnic. Let the governor change frequent songs of sorrow in Ukanafun to songs of joy.
The Executive Governor of Akwa Ibom State Mr Udom Emmanuel and the Hon Minister of Youth and Sports Mr Solomon Dalung believe that the future of Nigerian sports lie in grassroots development.
Yesterday at the magnificent Godswill Akpabio International Stadium over 20,000 students were present to watch the commencement of the first ever Akwa Ibom State Youth Festival declared open by the Governor with the sports Minister as special guest of honour.
Governor Udom charged the students to see the competition as a common spring board to fame and a brighter future, while the sports minister commended the Akwa Ibom State Government for leading other states of the federation in what will determine the future sports fame of the country. He said that it was only investment in the youth that will make him miss a top flight match in London involving the Super Eagles of Nigeria. The Minister promised to do everything in his power to help Akwa Ibom sustain ” this laudable and far reaching project”.
Governor Udom, in his speech, said that by exposing the students to the best sporting facilities at an early age, his administration was giving them wings to soar to greater heights.
This, he said gave rise to his establishment of sporting centres in each of the ten federal constituencies of the State, of which one has been completed in Itu and another nearing completion in Eket federal constituency.
He said his “administration sees sports development as a valuable gift to our children and youths,” and urged “participants to endeavour to make maximum use of this opportunity, and make it a visa to the land of stardom.”
The Governor, who called for more attention to the business side of sports, said sports in the today’s world was a goldmine and not mere entertainment.
“Beyond the story of this festival, our youths should be launched to the glory of the money-spinning venture of sports,” he asserted.
Governor Emmanuel who was accompanied by the State’s first lady, Mrs Martha Udom Emmanuel posited that the secret of world sports stars, “is hidden, first and foremost, in early exposure to world-class facilities particularly at an early age”.
He lamented the poor run of the country in the last Olympics and the nonparticipation of the national soccer team in the recent African Cup of Nations, and promised to raise stars to lead Nigeria back to glory ways in global sports.
Emmanuel thanked the Minister of Sports for his readiness to support the state in grassroot sport development, praying that “this( efforts) be a feeder to our national teams in the future and make us retake our rightful place in different sports”.
The opening ceremony featured invitation relay, march past of the participating teams, calisthenics display, oath taking ceremony and the lighting of the Festival torch by national and commonwealth sprints sensation Miss Aniekeme Alphonsus.
The week-long event featuring competitions in 20 sports at secondary and primary school levels will end on Sunday March 26.
Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel will, tomorrow, be invested as patron of Ati Annang Foundation. His wife, Martha, will be formally inducted as a member of the foundation.
According to organisers, the award is to appreciate their commitment to the development of Akwa Ibom State.
A statement by the International President of the organisation, Sir Udo Kierian Akpan and Chairman, AGM Planning Committee, Pastor Paul Udofia, said the investiture ceremony, which coincides with the 2017 Annual General Meeting, will hold tomorrow at Regina Pacis Hall, Ifuho, Ikot-Ekpene.
The statement added that the AGM will be unique as the governor and his wife are expected as special guests of honour, while the Deputy Governor, Moses Ekpo, will be guest of honour.
Chief host is former Governor Godswill Akpabio and Speaker of the House of Assembly, Onofiok Luke, Deputy Speaker Felicia Bassey, Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Sir. Etekamba Umoren, and other “corporate titans and high profile dignitaries are expected as guests”.
There is disquiet in the All Progressives Congress (APC) over some governors’ visits to Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike and Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel, who are of the Peoples Democratic Party. (PDP).
The APC governors, who visited their PDP counterpart, are: Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara), Aminu Waziri Tambuwal (Sokoto) and Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi).
The governors also jointly hosted Wike in Sokoto- an action that sent political circles guessing that a major plan was on.
A minister protested to the APC leadership in the Northwest over the trips, The Nation learnt yesterday.
Some Presidency officials are also said to be disturbed by the signal which the visits generated.
Some APC leaders were “shocked” that Tambuwal and Bagudu visited Wike before the last legislative election rerun in Rivers State, spending a day with him.
The two governors teamed up with Yari, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), to spend Christmas in Akwa Ibom.
Wike reciprocated the visits last weekend when he went to Sokoto. The Rivers State Governor was at the Sultan’s palace where he said the Niger Delta would not be part of any move to dismember Nigeria, adding that Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable.
A source, reflecting on the development, spoke of “unease in the APC on the shuttles by Tambuwal and others to Rivers and Akwa Ibom states”.
“Some of our leaders are uncomfortable with snippets from these trips”, he said, asking not to be named.
“The timing of the first visit to Rivers State made some of our leaders to be suspicious. It was like paying a solidarity visit to Wike ahead of the Rivers State rerun elections.
“Some leaders have been suspecting that the three governors might be the arrowheads of a political realignment in the country.”
There have been talks of a new party ahead of the next general elections. The direction and planners of the “mega” party remain unknown.
The source quoted the angry minister as saying; “We heard what you people are planning.”
A party leader said: “Some of us have been angry with these governors because our members are going through hell in these states.
“There is nothing wrong in exchanging visits or comparing notes, but we saw the trips as missteps at a time we are seeking redress or justice for our members in the affected states.
“Of what use is an APC governor’s romance with a PDP governor in whose state APC members were attacked and maimed or where policemen were beheaded?”
The Department of State Services (DSS) last week gave indications that some politicians are under watch.
The politicians include those who are making “inciting” statements.
It could not be immediately ascertained if the governors in question are under watch.
But one of the governors had complained that his telephone conversations were intercepted by security agents.
Another source close to one of the governors added: “Of recent, we observed that some agents of a minister have been abusing our boss online over some of these visits.
“It is unfortunate that friendly visits are being turned into other things. Some of these governors have been friends before getting into office.”
APC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi said: “My reaction will be that I think we should not read too much political meanings to all these trips. Governors socialise, regardless of party affiliation.
“If governors decide to visit each other and socialise, I don’t think the party has the authority to stop them. I think we should not read any meaning into it.
“But if the party has reasons to suspect gatherings are contrary to what the party stands for, the party will meet and take appropriate action. At this moment, there is no basis for that.”
Alhaji Imam Imam, Tambuwal’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said: “There is nothing political at all with all these shuttles. The commitment of the governor of Sokoto State to APC is not in doubt at all. Tambuwal is fully committed to APC. Our commitment to the President, the leadership of the party and all APC structures is unshaken and undiluted.
“We work within the confines of APC. Nobody should link us with 2019. During political season, we will engage in politicking. But this is a period of governance; we are now focused on governance.”
Imam added: “Tambuwal believes in inter-state trade. So long as states cooperate among themselves, the potential for the nation’s economic growth is large. When we visited Rivers, we had discussion on youth empowerment and sports; when we visited Aba, Abia State, the governor sold the idea of marketing Sokoto leather to them. When we went to Kano for inspection of projects, we interacted with some businessmen and one of them is now establishing a fertiliser plant in Sokoto.”
Ofurumapepe in Ijaw language means, the great white shark. The shark is strong and rugged. It remains afloat and never swallowed by the tempestuous sea. The Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson, adopted it as his sobriquet when he sought a reelection. He emerged victorious.
In the same spirits, when Bayelsa State was invited recently to participate in an Under-20 football tournament sponsored by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Emmanuel Udom, a new team assembled to represent Bayelsa decided to name itself after Dickson’s sobriquet, Ofurumapepe.
There was something spectacular about the Ofurumapepe football team. The team was solely sponsored by Dickson’s Special Adviser on Youths, Ibarakumo Otobo. Otobo took it as his personal project. He did not wait for funding from the government. In fact, his passion to empower the youths and develop their talents compelled him to found the team.
Again, the team was brought together after rigorous screenings. Youths from all the local government areas, indigenes and non-indigenes residing in the state were given an opportunity to compete for shirts. The best among them were selected to form the Ofurumapepe.
The result was resounding. They played fantastic football similar to the ‘tiki-taka’ soccer of known clubs like Barcelona FC and Arsenal FC. Indeed, they thrashed all their opponents losing only their first game because of late arrival. Niger Delta Report gathered that at Uyo, where the tournament was held, Ofurumapepe was a spectacle.
Among the 18 teams including teams representing Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Kano, and Akwa Ibom states, Ofurumapepe made Bayelsa proud by emerging as the winner of the Governor Udom Under-20 Football Tournament. They brought the cup home.
The Coach of the team, Mr. Gwegwe Ada, said the feat would not have been possible without Ototo. He said the special adviser took full responsibility of all the expenses incurred by the team.
Ada said: “If it is not for him, I don’t think this trophy will be here. He footed all the bills. He had shown love to the youths of Bayelsa. One individual came to the rescue to sponsor a team to represent the state. It is a welcome development.
“We named the team after the governor’s title, Ofurumapepe. The governor answered Ofurumapepe and won his election. We decided to answer the name. We went and we conquered. We promise that we will continue to make Bayelsa state proud”.
He said the team had been selected to represent Nigeria in international football tournament and appealed to Dickson to support the team to ensure brighter future for the youths.
“We are appealing to individuals, multinational companies to come and support us. We know the crime rates in the society, cultism, sea piracy. We can take the boys out of the streets through grass root sports development”, he said.
In his remarks, Ototo said he was proud of the achievements of the team. He said persons who kept evading responsibilities by saying there was no money in Dickson’s government were ungrateful.
He said: “We are all salary earners. So what do people do with their salaries? I passed through a lot of difficulties. Some people even discouraged me not to engage in it. They told me that in football you only spend money and don’t get returns especially in Nigeria.
“But I told them that I was not doing it in order to benefit but I want the youths to benefit. I made a vow that if I assume any good position in government, I will do my best to ensure that the youths of the state are taken to the permanent site.
“I am happy that Bayelsa has become champions. The opportunity given to the players to showcase their talents and skills is the key factor. I want to advise all the coaches in the state and the management board of the sports council, whenever you are making selections, ensure that the right persons are selected.
“You cannot select people who are not qualified because of the positions of their brothers. I have brothers who are footballers but they are not in the team. I ensured that qualified people were selected and you look at the outcome”.
He described the team as one of the best teams in football. He said he spent five days in Uyo to pep up the players and relate with them. He said the programme was in line with his personal project, Operation Leave the Streets.
He added: “This is one of the best team I have ever seen in this town because their ball possession was exceptional. I never knew the state could produce a team of this nature. I am a grass root person. I spent five days in Uyo to be with the them and to encourage them.
“I want the youths to leave the streets because when they are out of the streets, we will find no reason to bring military men to come and secure our states. Our state will be secured. Our leadership should engage in these things.
“You don’t just condemn them. Have you asked yourself a question, how many persons have you used your position to take out of the streets. You are condemning militants but what have you done to help them.
“I want to use this opportunity to appeal to the youths of Bayelsa to shun violence. All vices should be kept in the dark and we should come to the open to pursue real life”.
Mr. Ekerete Udoh is the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to Akwa Ibom Governor Udom Emmanuel. In this interview with Kazeem Ibrahym, he speaks on the efforts being made by the governor to diversify the economic base of the state away from oil and what the people should expect from the administration in terms of infrastructural development.
You had an interesting career in journalism. Can you tell us about it?
I have been in journalism for about 31 years. I pioneered a genre in Nigerian Journalism in 1985 called Romance and Society. I became possibly one of the youngest columnists in any national newspaper. That was the Sunday Times which as at that time was the highest selling weekly in Nigeria under the editorship of Chike Okafor. I started writing a column called ‘Stories that touched the heart’. A year later I was invited to join Concord and that column ran in Concord for almost 10 years. Sometimes in 1989 I got invited by a very good friend of mine who today is the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu. He asked me to come join him to set up a magazine called Hints. The Hints magazine was by far in the 90s the most successful, popular and profitable magazine in this country.
Dr. Ibe Kachukwu was the publisher and I was the editor. I have written columns in practically in every national newspaper in this country. I don’t think there is anyone that I have not contributed or written columns. Until about a year and half ago, I was a columnist with This Day. I wrote that column for five years. It is called Diaspora Perspectives which was like a bridge across the Atlantic.
In late 1996 I left for United States. I decided to pursue other things. Of course, I updated my skills because in life you have to constantly update your skills. Even if you had a bachelor somewhere else you still needed to update your skills. Journalism, being what it is, I have never left the media.
I set up a newspaper in New York which was called the Diaspora Style and it became, without sounding immodest, the most powerful newspaper that dealt with issues concerning the African Diaspora community. We ended up being media partner to the Obama campaign because in United States there is what we called the ethnic media. In the USA, I think there are about conservatively 10 to 15 million Africans who went to USA, became citizens and they are all part of the United States. My magazine was targeted at that particular audience and there is no political party whether Democratic or Republican that will not reach out to any solid constituent because 15 million people can swing an election.
What party did you have affiliation with in the U.S.?
I am a registered Democrat and my sympathies are for the Democratic Party. In spite of the fact that I lived in the United States, I was not disconnected from Nigeria. I was always coming to Nigeria. At a point in time, people didn’t know whether I was living in America or not. I was always here and I bought into the vision of former Governor Godswill Akpabio. I did a lot of media relations for that government, particularly from the Diaspora angle. I was the media consultant for four years.
At what point did you finally return home?
When the financial services expert Mr. Udom Emmanuel was appointed the Secretary to State Government and the speculation started making the rounds that he was likely going to be the next governor of Akwa Ibom State, I said to myself the time had come for me to come back home fully and finally to be a part of what I believed was going to be a mass movement of people with ideas, people that are going to think outside the box. The governor and I are from the same part of the world. We are from the same community and I felt it is a thing of joy that an astute manager of resources was going to be the governor of Akwa Ibom.
So, I came back late 2013 and when the then SSG Mr. Udom Emmanuel put himself in the ring, I joined the campaign as a Director of Media and Publicity. We crisscrossed the entire 31 Local Government Areas of the state. Thank God the good people of Akwa Ibom saw certain qualities that would move this state forward in him and they entrusted their fate in Mr. Udom Emmanuel. At the end of the successful election, the governor was kind enough to believe that I could add a little bit of value and invited me to his media team as the Senior Special Assistant on Media/Chief Press Secretary to the Governor. So far, it has been a wonderful ride.
Do you think Governor Udom Emmanuel is fulfilling some of his campaign promises to Akwa Ibom people?
Absolutely so; the governor came in with a five-point agenda. The major part which was based on industrialisation, the governor has done that part with enthusing zeal. Shortly after he was sworn in, Governor Udom Emmanuel set up technical committee on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) headed by Mr. Gabriel Ukpe as the Chairman and others. They have signed numerous Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs). The governor is of the opinion that you have to diversify. Why we are where we are today is because our leaders in the past refused to diversify because of the monies from oil. The governor is of the opinion that you cannot run an economy that is based on one product.
The governor has done a lot in agriculture. If you look at what is going on in the country, even payment of salaries of workers is a huge problem to some state governments. Governor Udom Emmanuel has done so well in the sense that Akwa Ibom is one state in the country where salaries of workers are not being owed by the government. He has achieved that by deploying his skills as a financial services expert. He has also maintained some of what the immediate past governor started like the free and compulsory education. Kids under one to five years are still given free medical care. The aged and pregnant women are also given free medical attention.
There is a new turn in governance. He has done over 250 km of roads in the state. A lot of places that were affected by flood water, the governor has addressed that and made it motorable. The governor is also embarking on a lot of capital projects. The governor deserved to be commended and applauded.
How would the governor eradicate poverty in the short run since those industries are for long term period?
I am sure you have been following the governor’s activities. The small scale loans the governor is giving to farmers and market women. That is still ongoing. That is a vital area that can immediately impact the lives of the people. Akwa Ibom is one of the few states that have given small scale loans to people across the board.
Pensioners of Local Government recently protested over unpaid gratuities while the state government claimed it does not owe the pensioners. Why?
The governor came out to address the world that he does not owe any worker. It is just the machination of certain elements that still do not want to believe that the 2015 election is a settled affair and some of those elements still believe that the more they agitate for certain things that would never be may be the more they would draw some mileage out of it. The state government has nothing to do with payment of salaries and pension of local government workers.
Are you now saying the protest was politically motivated?
Absolutely so, I will not mention the name of any political party but the protest is orchestrated by certain elements.
We also heard that the governor has banned protest across the state, how true is that?
Another lie from the pit of hell. Another manufactured subterfuge. The governor wouldn’t say that. We are living in a democratic environment where you have the freedom and right to agitate for certain needs. What the governor said was if you are being used by certain element to cause public disaffection and that it is illegal assemblage, then you have broken the law. You know we cannot live in a chaotic society where anybody can wake up in the morning and begin to block the road.
For you to protest there must be police permit. That was not done. It was just a rented crowd of certain elements and the governor as the chief security officer of the state said he won’t allow people to cause public disaffection. So, the governor didn’t say that he is banning protest but illegal protest is what the governor is against. I don’t think there is any government in the world that will fold its arms and watch people cause public disaffection.
Controversies have continued to trail the Channels Television’s interview Mr. Udom Emmanuel, the Akwa Ibom State governor granted the TV station where he mentioned that the state’s government does not interfere with the allocations meant for local government areas in the state.
Udom, who was on Sunrise Daily, a television programme of Channels TV, had said: “Akwa Ibom government has never touched the local government funds. Not just my administration, even the previous one did not touch it. We don’t even know how they share it. It is only when they have problems that we get to know.”
Some of the indigenes, who took to the Facebook to vent their anger on the governor, asked why in many local government areas in the state the chairmen complain of having a zero allocation every month.
For instance, an indigene of the state, Bassey Inuabasi, said: “Am still dazed with the whole interview. Governor Udom evaded many questions and started talking about people telling him to fight his predecessor then when he refused to fight, he was called a stooge.
“All Udom needs to do is to use Sen. Udo Udoma and Sen. Ita Enang to get closer to the President and ask for support. He can take a cue from Ayade of Cross River State.”
Another indigene, Gordon Aglass, said: “Methinks it’s now up to the local government chairs to fight for themselves as just within three days both the former and the present governors have been making a fool out of them by blatantly lying against them on the funds the Constitution rightly gives them control over.
AKWA Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel yesterday reflected on the preparation for the proposed Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) national convention, assuring members that the exercise will be devoid of rancour.
He noted the reaction of some Southwest PDP elders to the zoning adopted for the convention, saying the distribution of party positions reflected equity, justice, fair play and understanding of reality.
Emmanuel, who chairs the Zoning Committee, said the best interest of the party would be served through the steps taken by the committee.
The governor spoke with reporters in Lagos on activities of his administration in the last 11 months, the PDP convention, why he declined to host the convention and strategies for averting predecessor/successor crisis.
Emmanuel spoke on the heels of renewed threats by Southwest PDP elders, led by Chief Bode George, who insisted on zoning of the chairmanship to the region.
But the former deputy national chairman yesterday warned that the party might not be able to avert a parallel convention, unless the position was zoned to the Southwest.
George, who spoke with reporters in Lagos, said the non-resolution of the conflicts before the convention might weaken the party and deprive it of the strength to play its opposition role.
Stressing that a divided house is a defeated house, he added: “In its present precarious situation, if the PDP does not stabilise, there will be no alternative platform to tackle the government. The Acting Chairman, Senator Modu Sheriff, wants to renege on his promise to leave on May 21. That is one aspect of the problem.
“The position of the chairman has also been zoned to the North as if the Southwest does not matter. Some elements in the Southwest are also trying to dismantle the structure and throw away our heritage into the dustbin. You don’t zone laterally. That is why I usually say it is ‘Turn by Turn Nigeria Limited.”
George said the Ekweremadu Committee recommended zoning of the presidency to the North, wondering why the PDP Governors’ Forum also supported zoning of the chairmanship to the North.
He added: “It is sacrilegious. It is a cultural suicide for the Southwest to throw away the chairmanship. Other zones have held the position. Why not Yoruba?”
George maintained that Sheriff should vacate office, adding that his word should be his honour.
He stressed: “Sheriff should tread the path of honour. His statement brought calmness to the party when he took over. He should fulfill his promise to avoid a parallel convention. If Sheriff says he will remain as chairman, then the presidency will come to the Southwest.”
However, Udom ruled out any crisis in the PDP, saying there will be no parallel convention. He explained that the zoning committee recommended that the chairman should come from the North, based on the state of the party and prevailing reality.
The governor assured that the crisis would be resolved before the May 21 convention in the interest of the party.
He added: “We will not allow selfish interest and sentiments to derail our plan for the PDP.”
On why he declined to host the convention, Emmanuel said: “I am not in the best form to host the convention. I want to show the level of hospitality services in Akwa Ibom. I am not prepared.”
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Udom is scheduled to declare open the 2016 Annual General Meeting of the League Management Company (LMC), organisers of the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL).
The leadership of the LMC, as part of their pre-AGM activities, were scheduled to pay a courtesy visit to Governor Udom.
Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital is hosting the second and final leg of the NPFL Super4 which ends tonight. Akwa United, Enyimba International, Nasarawa United and Warri Wolves are the four teams participating in the tournament.
“The AGM will consider and approve our budget for the season, review and where necessary, update the Rules and Framework of the league and also consider our strategic development plans,” LMC Chairman, Shehu Dikko said ahead of the meeting.
All the 20 Premier League clubs, representative of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the Directors of the LMC as provided for in the Governance Structure will be attending the meeting.
The event will be rounded off with the final games of the Super 4 at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium.
An uneasy calm pervades the atmosphere at Uyo and other parts of Akwa Ibom State as people are waiting anxiously for the verdict of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal to be delivered in a few days’ time.
The April 11, election which produced Emmanuel Udoma as the governor from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is the subject of petition before the Akwa Ibom State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal led by Justice Sadiq Umar sitting in Abuja. Although, the tribunal commenced sitting in Uyo, it had to be moved to the Federal Capital Territory(FCT) owing to the unfavourable security atmosphere in the state capital.
Although Nigerian politicians are not known to easily conceeding or accepting defeat even when an election is adjudged transparent, free, fair and credible, the same cannot be said of Akwa Ibom State, considering what transpired in the state prio to the election and on the election day.
The PDP candidate, Udom, was declared winner in an election alleged to be most controversial in the history of elections in the country. The election was allegedly marred with violence, killings, harassment of voters, hijacking of election materials and unprecedented rigging, making international and local observers to pass an unanimous verdict that ‘it was a sham and recommended a complete cancellation of the exercise.
Umana
The All Progressives Congress (APC), which is the main opposition, also came out strongly to decry the conduct of the exercise. The party said there was no election in the state as it accused the former governor, Godswill Obot Akpabio, of allegedly deploying state machineries to rig the election and overturn the popular wish of the people. As a result of this, the APC and its candidate, Umana Okon Umana, challenged the victory at the tribunal, seeking a cancellation of the purported election.
The thrust of the petition filed before the tribunal by the petitioners was that elections did not take place in many parts of Akwa Ibom State. The party alleged in its petition that high level of violence, arson and intimidation were employed by the PDP government to perfect rigging during the governorship election and stressed that the essence was to prevent voters from exercising their rights. Expectedly, the APC supported its allegations with evidences to prove that the election was not free and fair.
For instance, the petitioners had on April 27, obtained the Certified True Copy of the polling unit by polling unit accreditation data for the whole state from the 3rd respondent Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja. These were part of the evidences tendered and admitted as Exhibit 317 by the tribunal. The petitioners had contended that whereas Exhibit 317 gave an aggregate figure of 437, 128 of accredited voters, the first respondent announced a phantom figure of 1, 122, 836 votes, which when interpreted amounted to a differential of 685,708 votes.
During the sitting of the tribunal, the APC called more than 35 witnesses, whose account of alleged election irregularities were shocking to prove its case. They all recounted before the tribunal how results were announced for many polling units in various local government areas despite the fact that no election took place in such units.
One important submission of the lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), while making his final submission in support of the petitioners’ final written address, was that, “no election known to law, no election known to mankind, no election known to civilisation was conducted in Akwa Ibom State”.
Many pundits and keen observers of political developments in the state have since described the submission of Olanipekun as a valid summation of the sordid events of April 11, in Akwa Ibom State.
The high points of Umana’s case before the tribunal included a video evidence, which catalogued a lot of manipulations, snatching of ballot boxes, thump printing of ballot papers by persons suspected to be PDP members and non-availability of result sheet at many polling units.
For instance, the clips showed in the courtroom revealed some INEC ad hoc staff (Youth Corps members) stamping ballot papers behind INEC office, days after the election while another clip of the video showed a PDP local government chairman presiding over a massive operation of ballot box stuffing using thugs.
Another clip showed a police truck and an Akwa Ibom State Transport Corporation bus allegedly used to cart away election materials and intimidate voters, who dispersed in fear for their lives while another clip showed bandits caught with election materials and interviewed by those, who stopped them.
There were also revelations in the video clips, which allegedly revealed how the spurious figures were tallied and written on forms by purported agents of the PDP.
For instance, a former Deputy Speaker, Hon. Uwem Udoma, told the tribunal that election did not take place in the 125 polling units in Abak Local Government Area.
A Youth Corps member, Chidinma Nwogbo, who was posted to the state and served as a presiding officer gave a chilling account of her ordeal in the hands of persons suspected to be thugs working for the PDP during the election. Chidinma told the tribunal that she was stripped naked by thugs in Uyo while the election materials under her care were carted away by the thugs. She tendered her torn NYSC crested vest and the jacket given to her by a spirited member of the public.
Obong Victor Attah, a former Governor of the state testified that there was no voting in his unit, ward and local government and went ahead to tender video CD to prove his testimony.
Also testifying before the tribunal, a forensic expert, Abdullahi Dauda disclosed that out of the 140, 832 finger prints on ballot papers matched (scanned and analyzed) by his team, over 100,000 were non- human prints. Abdullahi noted that his team of experts, which carried out the investigation, also discovered about 13, 000 cases of multiple thumb printing.
The non-human prints could possibly have been more as another member of the forensic team, Sanusi, alleged that INEC did not allow them a free access to the election materials. He also alleged that constant incursion by the Attorney-General of the state was another issue his team had to contend with.
Another witness, Chief Peter-King Atarah, testified that there were no election materials in all the polling units in Nsit Atai area of the state contrary to results announced by INEC for the area. The same thing was reported by other witnesses, who testified before the tribunal concerning other areas in the state including Eastern Obollo, Nsit Ibom, Obot Akana.
In one of the exhibits tendered, it was shown that in Etim Ekpo area of the state, out of the total number of 45922 accredited to vote, 45965 voted, which amounted to manipulation of figures.
Observers expected a sitting governor, such as Udom Emmanuel, to put up a spirited fight to save his “mandate” during the proceedings. But this did not happen. The first respondent and his team of lawyers earlier in the month only called few witnesses and closed their defense.
For instance, none of the 19 witnesses called by the first respondent, Udom Emmanuel, and the four called by the second respondent, the PDP, was accredited during the election. Although they had claimed in their written statements on oath that they were accredited.
The cross examination by counsels to the petitioners revealed that none of their names was ticked in the voters register. This showed that they were not accredited for the election, which may mean that they were not credible witnesses. In addition the PDP, which is the second respondent, did not call any of their collation agents to challenge the evidence of the petitioners’ witnesses.
Even the PDP State Collation Agent, Emmanuel Enoidem, who deposed to about 20- paragraph statement on oath and was listed as their prime witness, neglected his statement and was never called as a witness to defend the victory.
The first respondent, Udom Emmanuel, had attempted to deny the existence of the figures of accredited voters contained in the table in paragraph 29 of the petition in paragraph 13 (a) of his reply to the petition, he, however, led no evidence on it during trial. None of the respondents also made any effort to contradict the figure in Exhibit 317 nor discharge the evidential burden of proof on them to explain the differential of 685,708. All they did was to argue that Section 49 of the Electoral Act allows for manual accreditation and that the recent Court of Appeal decision in APC v. Agbaje & Ors (unreported) cross-appeal no. CA/L/EP/GOV/751A/2015 negated the petitioners reliance on card reader as a basis for seeking the nullification of the ‘election’.
Other effort made to protect the victory of the governor was when the second respondent , the PDP subpoenaed INEC to bring seven big bags allegedly containing Incident Forms, which they said were used for accreditation to the Tribunal. This was never completed as the content of the bags were never tendered throughout the sitting of the tribunal and as at the time the members adjourned to give verdict. Even when the tribunal reminded the second respondent that it had not tendered the Incident Forms, it still never did.
For an election to be adjudged free and fair and acceptable in any democracy, certain ingredients are important and pertinent: mode of accreditation, the pattern of voting, collation, recording on all relevant INEC Forms duly signed by party agents and security officials, sorting and preservation of ballot papers and report of law enforcement agencies among others and where the matter is before a tribunal, the arguments and facts placed before the panel. There must be full adherence to each of these ingredients for there to be an election.
The people of Akwa Ibom deserves change. They deserve truth and justice and with high hope on the members of the tribunal for the preservation of their will as expressed on April 11, 2015. So as the tribunal gradually wind down to judgement day, all eyes are on the panel to do justice when they make their final pronouncement base on the strength of the case presented before them by the parties bearing in mind that their verdict may become a reference point in the history of election petitions in the country. Can Umana get justice from the tribunal, only time will tell.
