Can Prof. Dora Akunyili tip the scales against Senator Chris Ngige? That is the question that has dominated discussions since the Court of Appeal in Enugu ordered the Anambra State Election Petitions Tribunal to retry the petition filed by Akunyili against the election of Ngige in the April 2011 senatorial election for Anambra Central. With the appellant court’s verdict, the stage is set for the enactment of another round of the seemingly endless battle of supremacy between Ngige and Akunyili and their respective political parties, which began eight months ago.
The tribunal in Awka had found a technical way out of trying Akunyili and the All Progressives Grand Alliance’s petition when one of the parties, the Independent National Electoral Commission brought to its notice the fact that Akunyili and her party, APGA did not file Form TF 008, a vital form required for the pre-trial of the petition. Not satisfied with the responses of Akunyili and APGA’s counsel, the tribunal threw out their petition and moved on to look into other petitions.
The knocking out of that petition had not gone down well with the camp of Akuyili, which is insisting that had the tribunal looked into their case, they would have found sufficient reason to fault the election of Ngige and declare Akunyili the senator. The return of the case file to Awka by the appellant court has now given the APGA and Akunyili camp an opportunity to prove in court that it was they, not Ngige and the Action Congress of Nigeria that won the senatorial election.
But there are doubts if APGA and Akunyili have enough confidence in the tribunal in Awka to try the petition they lost at the tribunal before going to the Court of Appeal. APGA had declared that one of the tribunals in Awka was biased against it and its candidates that had appeared before it. The party had therefore written to the President of the Court of Appeal to disband one of the three panels of the tribunal, citing six examples where the panel had demonstrated bias against its candidates.
In the petition to the President of Appeal, the deputy Chairman of APGA in Anambra State, Chief Ifeanyi Udokwu said, “We believe that the panel is biased against us and cannot give us justice in the matters now pending before it. The Tribunal was set up to do justice and its power lies in its independence and integrity and in the confidence which this generates within the minds and hearts of the people concerned by its decisions. The attitude of the Panel to our party, as revealed by the manner in which it has treated some of our cases, leaves us with no doubt that it is not in the interest of our party and candidates to continue to present our cases before that Panel.” The President of the Court of Appeal has however refused to accede to the request of APGA.
But why doesn’t this epic political battle between Ngige and Akunyili want to end? Since March 16 this year the stakes had remained very high, with a lot of tension building up around the contest.
James Okike, an Awka based businessman said, “The two have wide support bases and tremendous goodwill to fly on based on their recent performances in public office. Either of them is good enough for the office. But unfortunately, only one can make it.” Okike who said he was thrilled by the election between the two politicians, recalls that the duo really gave a good account of themselves and voters and observers saw real election take place. “That the election was too close to call to the very last minute did not come as a surprise to me. The two were the favourites of the voters, who have over the years developed admiration for them. But I had expected the contest to end in the field, both of them having fought a good fight,” he said.
Everyone who was in Anambra State during the last elections would remember the grit and tension that followed the battle between Akunyili and Ngige.
The attention of the entire world was focused on that election, while journalists had a field day reporting every step and minute of the election even as the results came in. Though there was no governorship election in the state then, the battle for the Anambra Central seat covered up for that gap. At the end of the first ballot, no clear winner emerged. But the results showed Akunyili leading by more than 600 votes. Ngige overturned that advantage and went ahead to win with over 400 votes after results from wards where elections were re-conducted were finally announced.
Before the rerun, however, a drama played out during which the Returning Officer, Mr. Alex Anene, bolted away, citing a plot by APGA to bribe him. He resurfaced from hiding two days later to declare Ngige winner of the election with about 44 votes. But his declaration was overturned by the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who said Anene’s declaration could not stand because he had been officially noted to have absconded and that the sheets and venue he used to declare his result were not acceptable by the commission. While ACN vowed to stand by Anene’s result and proceeded to court to validate the returning officer’s declaration, Ngige, opted to go in for the rerun.
With the final results from the field received and declared by a new Returning Officer, Prof. Charles Esimone, Akunyili got kicking. She rejected the results and alleged massive rigging at the areas where the rerun was carried out. She also alleged intimidation of her supporters.
Pressed by journalists, she said she would not congratulate Ngige. On whether she would challenge the outcome of the election at the tribunal, the former minister of Information and Communications, said she would need to take time off and then consult with her family before taking a decision.
As the time given for filing of petitions was running out, and Akuniyili hadn’t filed her petition, her party, APGA took the matter up before she later joined forces with them. The matter has since then moved twice from the tribunal at Awka to the Court of Appeal in Enugu. In the meantime, Ngige is sitting well in the Red Chambers of the National Assembly, while Akunyili waits in the wings to see if what she lost in the filed could be retrieved in the court room.
Having said much about the history of the tussle between the two medical experts turned politicians, the question comes back. Can Akunyili turn the tide against Ngige?
Mr. Ogugua Okoye, a member of APGA and supporter of Akunyili is very hopeful that the former National Agency for Drug Administration and Control director- general would win at the tribunal if the petition if the tribunal would look at the merit of the case. He said a lot had taken place in Idemili South and Idemili North local government areas where Ngige has his support base. “If they look at it very well, some of those votes he got there will be nullified,” Okoye stated.
But Mr. Okezie Okafor, a supporter of Ngige, would rather pose a question as his response: “Does Dora (Akunyili) think she can match Ngige in any open and free election? If not for Peter (Obi, the Governor), who gave her Anaocha, would she have even smelt anywhere near Ngige. She should rather give up. Okafor says if the petition is properly tried, “the huge question votes” Akunyili got from her Anaocha local government where she and the governor hail from would be nullified.
The long running battle between them perhaps was not envisaged when early in April the two nearly ran into each other in a toilet at Onitsha, where they had gone to feature on a local TV station while campaigning.
Akunyili, warmly embraced Ngige on that occasion, and declared to Ngige, “If it is not me, it is you,” in an apparent show of sportsmanship. As the battle goes on in Awka again, the people are waiting to know who will laugh last between their illustrious son and daughter.
The tribunal in Awka had found a technical way out of trying Akunyili and the All Progressives Grand Alliance’s petition when one of the parties, the Independent National Electoral Commission brought to its notice the fact that Akunyili and her party, APGA did not file Form TF 008, a vital form required for the pre-trial of the petition. Not satisfied with the responses of Akunyili and APGA’s counsel, the tribunal threw out their petition and moved on to look into other petitions.
The knocking out of that petition had not gone down well with the camp of Akuyili, which is insisting that had the tribunal looked into their case, they would have found sufficient reason to fault the election of Ngige and declare Akunyili the senator. The return of the case file to Awka by the appellant court has now given the APGA and Akunyili camp an opportunity to prove in court that it was they, not Ngige and the Action Congress of Nigeria that won the senatorial election.
But there are doubts if APGA and Akunyili have enough confidence in the tribunal in Awka to try the petition they lost at the tribunal before going to the Court of Appeal. APGA had declared that one of the tribunals in Awka was biased against it and its candidates that had appeared before it. The party had therefore written to the President of the Court of Appeal to disband one of the three panels of the tribunal, citing six examples where the panel had demonstrated bias against its candidates.
In the petition to the President of Appeal, the deputy Chairman of APGA in Anambra State, Chief Ifeanyi Udokwu said, “We believe that the panel is biased against us and cannot give us justice in the matters now pending before it. The Tribunal was set up to do justice and its power lies in its independence and integrity and in the confidence which this generates within the minds and hearts of the people concerned by its decisions. The attitude of the Panel to our party, as revealed by the manner in which it has treated some of our cases, leaves us with no doubt that it is not in the interest of our party and candidates to continue to present our cases before that Panel.” The President of the Court of Appeal has however refused to accede to the request of APGA.
But why doesn’t this epic political battle between Ngige and Akunyili want to end? Since March 16 this year the stakes had remained very high, with a lot of tension building up around the contest.
James Okike, an Awka based businessman said, “The two have wide support bases and tremendous goodwill to fly on based on their recent performances in public office. Either of them is good enough for the office. But unfortunately, only one can make it.” Okike who said he was thrilled by the election between the two politicians, recalls that the duo really gave a good account of themselves and voters and observers saw real election take place. “That the election was too close to call to the very last minute did not come as a surprise to me. The two were the favourites of the voters, who have over the years developed admiration for them. But I had expected the contest to end in the field, both of them having fought a good fight,” he said.
Everyone who was in Anambra State during the last elections would remember the grit and tension that followed the battle between Akunyili and Ngige.
The attention of the entire world was focused on that election, while journalists had a field day reporting every step and minute of the election even as the results came in. Though there was no governorship election in the state then, the battle for the Anambra Central seat covered up for that gap. At the end of the first ballot, no clear winner emerged. But the results showed Akunyili leading by more than 600 votes. Ngige overturned that advantage and went ahead to win with over 400 votes after results from wards where elections were re-conducted were finally announced.
Before the rerun, however, a drama played out during which the Returning Officer, Mr. Alex Anene, bolted away, citing a plot by APGA to bribe him. He resurfaced from hiding two days later to declare Ngige winner of the election with about 44 votes. But his declaration was overturned by the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who said Anene’s declaration could not stand because he had been officially noted to have absconded and that the sheets and venue he used to declare his result were not acceptable by the commission. While ACN vowed to stand by Anene’s result and proceeded to court to validate the returning officer’s declaration, Ngige, opted to go in for the rerun.
With the final results from the field received and declared by a new Returning Officer, Prof. Charles Esimone, Akunyili got kicking. She rejected the results and alleged massive rigging at the areas where the rerun was carried out. She also alleged intimidation of her supporters.
Pressed by journalists, she said she would not congratulate Ngige. On whether she would challenge the outcome of the election at the tribunal, the former minister of Information and Communications, said she would need to take time off and then consult with her family before taking a decision.
As the time given for filing of petitions was running out, and Akuniyili hadn’t filed her petition, her party, APGA took the matter up before she later joined forces with them. The matter has since then moved twice from the tribunal at Awka to the Court of Appeal in Enugu. In the meantime, Ngige is sitting well in the Red Chambers of the National Assembly, while Akunyili waits in the wings to see if what she lost in the filed could be retrieved in the court room.
Having said much about the history of the tussle between the two medical experts turned politicians, the question comes back. Can Akunyili turn the tide against Ngige?
Mr. Ogugua Okoye, a member of APGA and supporter of Akunyili is very hopeful that the former National Agency for Drug Administration and Control director- general would win at the tribunal if the petition if the tribunal would look at the merit of the case. He said a lot had taken place in Idemili South and Idemili North local government areas where Ngige has his support base. “If they look at it very well, some of those votes he got there will be nullified,” Okoye stated.
But Mr. Okezie Okafor, a supporter of Ngige, would rather pose a question as his response: “Does Dora (Akunyili) think she can match Ngige in any open and free election? If not for Peter (Obi, the Governor), who gave her Anaocha, would she have even smelt anywhere near Ngige. She should rather give up. Okafor says if the petition is properly tried, “the huge question votes” Akunyili got from her Anaocha local government where she and the governor hail from would be nullified.
The long running battle between them perhaps was not envisaged when early in April the two nearly ran into each other in a toilet at Onitsha, where they had gone to feature on a local TV station while campaigning.
Akunyili, warmly embraced Ngige on that occasion, and declared to Ngige, “If it is not me, it is you,” in an apparent show of sportsmanship. As the battle goes on in Awka again, the people are waiting to know who will laugh last between their illustrious son and daughter.
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