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That Rivers May Know Peace (11) … On Bickering Over Supreme Court Ruling
Wike and Amaechi
This is the concluding part of this work first published last week Monday
In My Agony last week Monday, I laid out the basis for the strong skepticism that attended the rulings of both the Rivers State Governorship elections petition Tribunal and the Appeal Court, and why it was inevitable that both decisions could not stand the test of time.
That was grounded in the fact that the petition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governorship candidate, Dr Dakuku Peterside against Governor Nyesom Wike overlooked similar Supreme Court ‘s judgement on same issues and relied heavily on the smartcard readers’ use over the indispensability of the voters register. It was a judicial rebellion of sorts, for lower courts to jettison decisions of the apex court and expect same to contradict itself in favour of such lower courts.
For Instance, while the petition tarried before the lower courts, decisions had long been taken by the Supreme Court on the Lagos State Governorship appeal in favour of the incumbent governor. That ruling stated unambiguously that the card reader cannot be a substitute to the voters register, meaning, any over-reliance on the former, without tying it to the latter would amount to a fruitless legal voyage.
Another established legal condition for disputing election results, is the demand on the petitioner to disprove results polling booth by polling booth, unit by unit and ward by ward, etc. It must not be selective but comprehensive and all-inclusive. So, when lower courts’ decision on issues contrary to law, there are plausible indications that such rulings would fail before the apex court. How is such optimism misplaced or be misconstrued into having fore-knowledge of impending ruling?.
These are expectations that do not require exclusive knowledge of legal luminaries to look forward to. If therefore, the Supreme Court, after a thorough appraisal of the issues of law as against inadvertent over-reliance on facts, determines the petition before it in favour of Governor Nyesom Wike, why should Rivers State lose sleep? For how long would the strange politics of desperation, vendetta, violence, campaigns of calumny and meaningless name-calling be allowed to slow down the economy of the state and threaten the stability of the new administration?
Look at the huge resources and human capital the National Assembly and State House of Assembly re-run elections will draw out of the people and state. Do those now engaging in street-litigation, even after the Supreme Court decision stop to wonder that such re-run would have been avoided if the petitions had gone beyond Appeal Court to the Apex Court?
Is it not safe to say that the Senators, House of Representatives members and those of the state House of Assembly whose elections were annulled for same reasons as the governors were indeed short-charged, given what we now know? If their cases had appeared before the apex court, would there have been any re-run?
Politics, as a key ingredient of democratic culture should be played according to the rules. It requires people to give meaning to favourable electoral outcome, and nothing more paramount. Infact, history has shown that it is very difficult for a political party to influence electoral outcome through unconventional methods or rigging, in a place where it lacks majority support. The outcome of the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections are ready examples. So also was the governorship election in Bayelsa State.
So why can’t political litigants stop being bad losers and give peace a chance?
No day passes without alarms of planned murder, murder and imminent violence.
Infact, some opposition politicians have so demonised the state that only very few foreign investors would be courageous enough to arrive the state first, before finding the truth. Should their unfavourable political experience be reason enough to destroy or stagnate the state’s economy?
Shortly after the general elections which were predominantly won by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the opposition APC championed a campaign that the state was not secure enough to accommodate the governorship elections petitions tribunal and for which the court was moved to Abuja. But after every seeming victory, be it success of a motion or even rejection of the opponents’ motion, the litigants rushed to the unsafe state for thanksgiving, without molestation.
Another is the dangerous penchant of blaming unresolved murders on rival political parties without the needed valid evidence necessary for the law enforcement agencies to effect prosecution. For instance, the social media is awash with photographs of dead bodies, allegedly killed by political opponents. Why can’t the accusers volunteer the identity of the killers to the security agencies to ensure that the culprits are brought to book? What kind of Rivers image are they projecting to the outside world?
Is Rivers the only state where election result was upheld by the Apex Court? Akwa Ibom, Delta, Cross River, Abia, Lagos, Ogun and Nasarawa are some of the states where the Supreme Court adjudicated on petitions emanating from lower courts and in most cases upheld the election of the principals.
In the case of Rivers, the panel of Seven Supreme Court Justices, led by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahamud Muhammed, stated clearly, that the card reader, which the APC relied substantially on, was only a technological unnovation that was introduced to enhance the accreditation of voters for an election, with a view to identifying the actual owner of the voters’ card.
In a lead judgement delivered by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the Apex Court maintained that Wike who contested the April 11, 2015 state governorship election on the platform of the PDP was denied fair-hearing by the lower courts.
According to the learned Justice Kekere-Ekun, “I am of the view and I do hold that the tribunal and lower court were unduly swayed by the INEC directives on use of the card reader. As held by this court, the INEC directives and manual cannot be elevated above the provisions of the Electoral Act so as to eliminate manual accreditation of voters. This will remain so until INEC take steps to have the necessary amendments made to bring the usage of the card reader within the ambit of the Substantive Electoral Act. It was for this reason that I resolved these two issues in favour of the appellant” Justice Kekere-Ekun added.
Citing sections 138(b)2 and 153 of the Electoral Act, the Supreme Court noted whereas INEC is conferred with powers to issue regulations, guidelines and manual for smooth conduct of an election, it said, ‘ so long an act or omission regarding such regulation or guideline is not contrary to the provisions of the Act itself, it shall not on itself be a ground for questioning the outcome of elections.
‘It follows therefore, that the inclusion of non-compliance with the manual for election officials, as well as INEC’s general approved guidelines, in the circumstances of this case is improper. This issue is also resolved in the appellant’s favour.
How are these points ambiguous as to attract such public vilification of the Justices by bad losers? Have they forgotten so soon that the same Supreme Court truncated Governor Nyesom Wike’s attempt to challenge the relocation of the Rivers State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal to Abuja? That the same Supreme Court ruled in their favour that the Appeal Court has powers to relocate such court given the circumstances?
In that instance, they sang the praise of the Supreme Court and fashioned pet names: “Hope of the Nation”, Defender of the Defenceless’, Beacon of Democracy and ‘Last hope of the common man’.
But now that the pendulum has swung in their disfavour, they have chosen to litigate on the streets with prominent members of the bar being conscripted into the shameful charade.
Beyond their façade, can one truly discern what political sages pontificated on ages ago?. That man is moved to action, not so much for his intellect of reason, but for his desire and appetites. Did that also explain Prof Sagay’s recent goofs of amnatra over the Apex Court’s decision?
Enough is enough. Politicians must know when and what to play politics with. They must realise that no man’s ambition is worth anyone’s blood as averred by former President Goodluck Jonathan, and showed he meant what he had said.
My Agony is that with what we now know, if the petitions on the National and State Assembly elections had gone beyond the Appeal Court, the obvious miscarriage of justice, resulting in re-run, would have been avoided.
This is the fact.
Soye Wilson Jamabo
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DEPLOY YOUR CAPACITY, TECHNICAL KNOWHOW TO REVITALISE SONGHAI FARMS, FUBARA TELLS TASK FORCE
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has said that diversifying the economy of the State has become inevitable because of the need to solve the problem of food shortages while also providing jobs for the teeming unemployed youths.
These, he said, are the reasons why great care has been taken to critically look at the prospects of revitalising the Songhai Integrated Farms, which is located in Bunu Tai, in Tai Local Government Area of the State.
Governor Fubara insisted that if the problem associated with food shortages is tackled with good intent and purpose, about 40 to 50 percent of current problems of economic hardship plaguing the country and its people would have been solved.
Governor Fubara made the assertion while inaugurating the Chairman, Mr Biedima Oliver, and members of the task force saddled with the responsibility of supervising the revitalization of Songhai Integrated Farms by its partners: Vitalcrop Ventures Limited and Imagine Adama Limited, at Government House in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
Other members of the task force included, the Rivers State Commissioner for Agriculture, Engr Victor Kii; Commissioner for Finance, Barrister Emmanuel Frank-Fubara; Dr Ayebaesin Beredugo; and Mr Maurice Ogolo.
The Governor explained that it took him time to approve the constitution of the task force being inaugurated because of the ugly experience with the previous group that shown such interest.
Governor Fubara stated that a process was initiated and driven halfway into the handing over of Songhai Farms on concession to an interested partner who latter showed a total lack of the needed capacity to undertake such task.
He said, “As a matter of fact, if few of you could remember, we even conceded the place to an investor who came in after he had made his presentation, and we, believing that he has the capacity, we said okay to him, and we had already signed up.
“But something happened. He came back to tell us that he wanted us to give him a N5billion bank guarantee. We then asked him, why? If we have the N5billion, why do we need you to come and even revitalize Songhai Farms? We would have put that N5billion there ourselves. For that reason, we cancelled that arrangement.”
Governor Fubara said now that two separate companies have come together to indicate interest and given the assurance of having the needed capacity to drive the process, he is delighted to see them meeting that expectation.
Governor Fubara pointed to the expectation of the people who want to see the Songhai Farms back on stream on a sustainable basis.
That expectation, he insisted, is also what his administration wants to see actualised within its lifespan.
He noted, “We want to see food sufficiency, because we know when Songhai Farms comes on board, there will be food, which is one of the problems we are having in this country. If we are able to tackle the issue of food, 40 to 50 percent of our problem will be solved.”
Governor Fubara also stated that although he believes in the presentation made by the group and has taken their assurance to heart, but warned that he would not tolerate a repeat of what happened before.
The Governor said, “I hope your story will not be (end) halfway too. I hope you have the capacity and all the technical knowhow to handle it. It is not when we start now, after we had finished inaugurating the task force, you will come back to tell us that you need $2million. If we have $2million, we won’t need you. We will invest it by ourselves.”
Governor Fubara, however, praised the capacity of the Chairman of the task force, Biedima Oliver, saying that incidentally, he was one of the personnel that convinced the then administration to develop the Songhai Farms, and had worked with the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) to manage the project.
He said, “He knows and understands the workings of Songhai, and now that we are making you the chairman of the task force, we want to believe that you will make that place come back to life.
“I don’t have any doubt in your capacity. A few things you’ve touched, you turned them to gold. Please, bring it back to what we used to see in Songhai. Bring it back with the help of your committee.”
Governor Fubara assured that his administration will remain committed to providing all the necessary support that they may require to make their assignment a success.
He added, “So, I hereby inaugurate you. Your task is very simple: Do everything within your powers and with our support to make sure that Songhai becomes operational to the benefit, not just the people of Tai, but to the entire Rivers State and Nigeria as a whole”.
In his acceptance speech, the Chairman of the Task Force to Supervise the Revitalization of Songhai Farms with Vitalcrop Ventures Limited and Imagine Adama Limited, Mr. Biedima Oliver, expressed appreciation to Governor Fubara for the opportunity and confidence reposed in them to revive Songhai Farms.
Mr. Oliver assured that they will deliver the expected goal on Songhai Farms, and doing so on time and on target so that the good people of Rivers State can eventually be happy and also benefit from the huge investment.
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has declared that all the policies and programmes of his administration are tailored towards the protection of interest of Rivers people, especially the youths.
This, he said, is borne out of the importance his administration attaches to youths’ development and empowerment as leaders of tomorrow.
Fubara, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Nelson Chukwudi, disclosed this when he received the youths of Emohua Local Government Area under the auspices of “Emohua Youths For SIM” on solidarity visit to Government House, Port Harcourt, last Friday.
He said that his administration has put in place modalities that will boost the livelihoods and well-being of Rivers citizens, which youths of Emohua will also benefit when they materialise.
The governor, who spoke through the Rivers State Head of Service, Dr. George Nwaeke, pointed out that the recently awarded Elele-Omudiaga-Egbeda-Ubimini-Ikiri-Omoku Road, the ongoing Emohua-Kalabari Road, reinstatement of illegally sacked workers of Emohua Local Government Area and the approval for electrification of the area, are part of deliberate measures to open up the area to make life conducive and more meaningful for the people.
According to him, “Everything about the governor is putting the interest of Rivers State first. He is looking at and taking action on those things that we need to do to restart the wheels of progress in Rivers State.
“There are many things the governor has planned and is already doing that will boost the life and welfare of every citizen of Rivers State, but most importantly the youths.
“Growing up, I learnt that Egbeda is one of the biggest communities in the whole of Ikwerre, and it’s predominantly an agrarian community. They have food in Egbeda, they have food in Ubimini, they have food in Omudiaga and other natural resources. The whole world is tilting to agriculture, and this is the way to go.
“The Elele-Umudioga-Egbeda-Ubimini-Omoku road, when completed, will open up the area for real development. Your food and everything you produce there will now have value, they will no longer be thrown away. In all these, you the youths are going to be the utmost beneficiaries.”
He added, “Same will be applicable to the Emohua-Kalabari Road which will also, trigger development in the area, and you will be the greatest beneficiaries. When the LGA is also electrified, you will be having 24 or 20 hours of electricity, and those things the youths can do with electricity, you can stay at home and create wealth for yourself and children.
“All the totality of what the governor is doing, when they are completed, or even as some are completed now, the youths are going to be utmost beneficiaries.”
While acknowledging that youths are the true leaders of tomorrow and any government that fails to carry them along in the scheme of things is doomed to fail, the governor assured them of his administration’s commitment to always address issues concerning youths and ensure that they are part of his government.
He commended the youths for toeing the path of truth by identifying with his administration, urging them to sustain the tempo and shun evil, as his government will ensure that the trend whereby politicians turn youths to beggars are over.
He said, “Youths are, indeed, the leaders of tomorrow. The time of youth is a very important time. It a time that your parents or whoever is your leader at that time have to make the greatest investment in you. And any Government that decides to only carry the elderly, chiefs aling and abandon the youths is bound to fail,” he asserted.
“But I am happy that Governor Fubara has concentrated his energy on everything that will benefit the society, especially the youths.
“And based on these, I want to thank you for recognising what is good and calling it good, for shunning what is evil, for saying the Governor is standing for you.
“Let me tell you, you are on the right direction. Let me tell you again, Rivers State is the bride of Nigeria. The whole Nigeria is looking at what will happen here. As they look here and see you standing on the path of truth, this is a very important step that you have taken to right all the wrongs of the past, to make Rivers State stand on the tripod of justice, peace and security. That is what we are going to gain through the governor, taking all the wise actions that he has already initiated.
“The projects the governor is embarking on are meant to prepare nets for the youths to fish and put food on their table, hence you should continue to follow him.
“The SIMplified Movement brought upon by the governor will ensure that Rivers youths stop the habit of going to bow down before politicians, pledging loyalty before they can eat.”
Earlier, spokesman for the Emohua Youths for SIM, Comrade Ovamale O. Ovamale, had said that the visit by youths from the 14 political wards in Emohua Local Government Area was to thank the governor for the award of the Elele-Omudiaga-Egbeda-Ubimini-Ikiri-Omoku road, the approval for electrification of the area and reinstatement of sacked workers of Emohua Local Government Council, of which the youths were mostly affected.
According to him, “Siminalayi Fubara of recent has given Emohua Local Government road that links Elele to Omoku, which comprises over four communities in the local government.”
“Emohua Local Government has also been in darkness for eight years. No community in the local government that has light. But, of recent, because of the passion and love the governor has for the people of Emohua, he has approved the electrification of the local government.
“Also, the illegal sack of Emohua Local Government workers, for which the youths were mostly affected and without the approval of the Local Government Service Commission, the governor, in his compassionate nature, has reinstated them, and that is why we said we must come and thank His Excellency”, he said.
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has assured that his administration will collaborate and continue to consult widely in delivering a liberated State experiencing enduring peace.
Fubara said, in doing so, he would not operate as a dictator but as a member of a team that has the best interest of the State at heart and determined to leave a lasting legacy that can be celebrated.
The governor spoke during the formal presentation of Certificate of Recognition and Staff of Office to the Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom, King Ateke Michael Tom, as first class tradition ruler, at Government House in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
Fubara stated that, during the Sixth State Executive Council meeting, N80.8billion was approved with 50 percent contract value paid already as the Government awarded the construction of the Elele-Egbeda-Omoku Road.
He said the project will be funded from the savings from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to underscore his administration’s prudence without also borrowing to complete the project.
“We are at a crossroad in our State where we all need to stand for what is right. It happens once in a life time. So, for now, be one of those people that will be in the course to liberate and free our dear State.
“And I know strongly that having the support of a peace-loving Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom, having the support of the wonderful Council of Chiefs, having the support of the great people of Rivers State, we will bring peace in our State. We will do those things that are right to develop our State.
“We will continue to consult. We will not act as dictators. We will act as people who know that one day, we will leave, and when we leave, the way we have acted will speak for us. We will not force people to talk good about us. Our legacy will be a signature for how we led”, the governor said.
Fubara explained that he acted within the ambit of the law to upgrade the traditional stool upon which King Ateke Tom sits in recognition of his efforts in promoting peace in Okrika, and indeed, the State, and urged him to continue to do justice to everyone.
In his speech, Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Hon Charles Amadi, congratulated King Ateke Tom for being formally presented with the Certificate of Recognition and Staff of Office as first class traditional ruler.
Also speaking, former Transport Minister, Chief Abiye Sekibo, thanked the governor for fulfilling his promise of upgrading the traditional stool of Okochiri Kingdom, and pledged the support of Kirike Se people to his administration.