2023: Akwa Ibom Voters in Limbo over Guber Candidates

With the plethora of court cases against the major governorship candidates in Akwa Ibom State, Etim Etim writes that the people are waiting with bated breath for the outcome of the cases before throwing their weight behind any candidate 

With three of the four main governorship candidates in Akwa Ibom State embroiled in serious and career-threatening lawsuits at the Federal High Courts in Uyo and Abuja, voters in the state are waiting with bated breath for the pronouncements of the courts before making informed choice. For now, the voters do not seem to have a clear sense of who would be the standard bearers of the three parties until these cases are disposed of.

The only contender that is certain to run the race to the end is Senator John James Udoedehe of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP). He has no scandal or court case hanging on his neck.  Until last March, Udoedehe was the Secretary of the defunct National Caretaker Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He defected to NNPP last May when it dawned on him that the leadership of the party would not offer him the governorship ticket.

But even before Udoedehe left APC, the party in the state was torn apart by a crisis arising from a leadership tussle between him and Senator Godswill Akpabio. It broke into two main factions which resulted in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not monitoring the governorship primary conducted on May 27 by the Akpabio-led faction.

Mr. Akanimo Udofia, a wealthy oil industry contractor, was announced the winner of the Akpabio-backed primary. INEC, however, refused to validate the result, stating that it did not monitor the primary as the Electoral Act 2022 directs.

Other aspirants, notably Senator Ita Enang, former Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari, and Austine Utuk, a businessman, quickly protested and filed lawsuits against Udofia and APC at the Federal High Court, Uyo, challenging the purported emergence of Udofia, among other claims.

Their cases have been progressing steadily and both have been reserved for judgment next month. However, in late September, Senator Enang got wind of information that Udofia had surreptitiously filed another case at the Federal High Court, Abuja, asking the court to compel INEC to recognise him as the APC governorship candidate. Enang was not made a party in the suit. Worried that Udofia could secure a surprise court judgment behind him, Enang wrote a letter to the Chief Judge (CJ) of the Federal High Court, Abuja, notifying him that he had already sued Udofia and APC in the Federal High Court in Uyo, and praying the CJ to ensure that he (Enang) be made a party to any such case Udofia might have filed in Abuja.

The Federal High Court in Abuja presided over by Justice Emeka Nwite, finally made a judgment for October 6 on whether to compel INEC to accept Udofia as the authentic candidate.

 A few weeks earlier, this same judge had given a similar order, compelling INEC to recognise Akpabio as APC candidate in Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District even though INEC did not monitor his primary and had refused to validate his nomination. Coincidentally, Akpabio is a major backer of Udofia.

So, when Ita Enang got wind of the impending judgment on October 6, he quickly filed an application at the court in Abuja, seeking to be joined as a party in Udofia’s suit because, as he said in his application, “he is a necessary party in the case.”

 At the Federal High Court in Abuja, Enang made his arguments on two sittings — October 17 and 24 on why he should be joined as a party in the Akan Udofia case. 

“My Lord, as a trustee of the legal profession, having been in law practice for 38 years, I have not seen a situation where a party who has appeared in a matter, truly defended an action before the same court sitting in a different Judiciary division (Federal High Court, Uyo), would come and surreptitiously file a matter of the same purpose and issues in another division of the same court, and ask the same court to make a declaration forwarding his name to INEC in the same matter he has fully defended and is adjourned for judgment by the same court,” Enang told the court.

He commended the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court for Order 4, Rule 3 of the court practice direction on election matters, which states that parties must file affidavits of non-multiplicity of suits. 

Enang drew the attention of the court to the error committed by the plaintiff, counsel to Akan Udofia and APC when he said, “may it please My Lord to know that counsel to the APC, knowing fully that this case is pending determination in Uyo division of your court and Akanimo Udofia, the second plaintiff in this matter, knowing that this case is pending judgment, having defended himself in the matter as was brought before the court and having filed processes in the effect has also filed an affidavit of non-multiplicity of suit. The consequence of this crime is that both of them must go to prison for committing perjury.” 

Enang has also tendered evidence to show that Udofia was a PDP member who had participated in the PDP governorship primary that was held in Uyo a day before the APC primary. After the feisty arguments by both parties, Justice Nwite reserved judgment on whether Enang should be joined as a party in the case. Facing two lawsuits in Uyo and Abuja, Udofia, therefore, has an uphill task to clear before he could even become a candidate.

In the PDP, the battle is no less fierce.  Its governorship candidate, Mr. Umo Eno, is battling for his political life and reputation at the Federal High Court in Uyo in Suit number FHC /UY/ CS/110/2022 filed by Mr. Akan Okon, who also contested in the PDP primary. The presiding judge is Justice Agatha Okeke, who is also hearing the Enang’s case against Udofia.  Okon is asking the court to disqualify Eno as the PDP governorship candidate because he allegedly forged the two WAEC certificates which he submitted to INEC.  Okon came second in the primary conducted on May 25 in Uyo. Adopting his written address on the last day of the court sitting, Okon’s lawyer, Mr. Okey Amaechi (SAN), told the court that having established his case beyond reasonable doubt and on the established standard of proof, the court should nullify the purported nomination of Umo Eno as the governorship candidate of PDP and order that he (Okon) should be substituted as the candidate of PDP having come second in the primary election.

Okon is contending that the June 1981 and December 1983 WAEC certificates presented by Eno as the basis for his nomination as the PDP flag bearer were forged, breaching the qualification provision for nomination. He presented several pieces of evidence and called many witnesses. 

Eno has denied this charge and has also provided evidence and called witnesses. The case has gripped voters’ attention in Akwa Ibom, especially since PDP has always governed the state since 1999. Judgment has been reserved for November 28.

Justice Okeke is also hearing a criminal case filed by the EFCC against Senator Bassey Albert Akpan, a ranking Senator who defected in June from the PDP to Young Progressive Party (YPP) to run for governor. The case was filed about three years ago and has been making its way slowly through the court. First FHC, Lagos, and later transferred to FHC, Uyo. 

Senator Akpan is charged for allegedly receiving luxury vehicles from a Lagos businessman, Mr. Jide Omokore, as bribes when he (Senator Akpan) was the Commissioner for Finance under Akpabio’s administration.  In the court, Senator Akpan argued that they were gifts, not bribes. But the EFCC is arguing that the vehicles were bribes from Omokore in exchange for lucrative contract deals he got from Senator Akpan. Both parties have called witnesses and provided evidence. Akpan is being defended by Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN). Again, the people are anxiously awaiting judgment.

With the plethora of court cases against the major governorship candidates in Akwa Ibom, Senator Udoedehe of NNPP who has no scandal or any court case is taking advantage of his opponents’ many legal troubles to make a strong case to the voters to support him. He has since started his campaigns and has unveiled a 10-point Agenda, which dwells mostly on poverty reduction, job creation and improving the social welfare of the citizens. As Udoedehe is touring the state and campaigning vigorously, his opponents are slugging it out at the courts, while the Akwa Ibom people are eagerly waiting for the verdicts which could change the permutation  for next year’s election.

Etim writes from Abuja