Nigeria: Tanbuwal, Judiciary Under Fire over Eyiboh

The people of Eket Federal Constituency, the oil basin of Akwa Ibom State, have taken on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, and the judiciary arm of government over their alleged roles in depriving the constituency of their genuine representative in the lower chamber of the National Assembly.

The constituents claimed at the weekend that June 30, 2011 will go down in Nigeria's “tortuous political history as the day of infamy in the House of Representatives. It was the day the current Speaker of the House, Aminu Tambuwal, swore in a usurper, Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, to purportedly represent Eket Federal Constituency (EFC).

AkanimoReports says this constituency comprises Eket, Esit Eket, Ibeno, and Onna Local Government areas. Articulating the seeming collective views of the constituents, Dr. Felix M. Edoho, a renowned scholar based in Missouri, United States of America, said, “it is ironic that Tambuwal issued unearned certified warrant to Eyiboh to parade himself as representing EFC that rejected him wholesale at the poll. Worse still, Tambuwal also become a participant in the unholy scheming of a usurper to disenfranchise the EFC and thwart the sacred mandate of the people bestowed on Mr. Bassey Dan Abia, Jr, in both the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries and general election”.

According to Edoho, “by that act of insensitivity to the sacred mandate of the people, Tambuwal has announced to the world that his tenure as Speaker of the House will be characterized by infamy. At the same time, Tambuwal casts himself as a person who can never be trusted to be even-handed as a Speaker in handling potentially combustible issues, such as electoral mandate.

“The issue here is not Abia, Jr. vs. Eyiboh, or vice versa. The larger issue revolves around the sovereign mandate of a Federal Constituency in legitimate electoral processes. Framing this larger issue puts the Akwa Ibom State PDP, National PDP, and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) squarely on trial for disenfranchising the people of EFC and nullifying or at least compromising the sacrosanctity of their electoral mandate.

“Why has there not been any press release by the Akwa Ibom State PDP repudiating the unnecessary meddling and unsalutary action of the Speaker? Why is the deafening silence of the PDP establishment?

If the PDP stalwarts were not engaged in nocturnal scheming to protect the ineffectual and discredited establishmentarian incumbency, why are they not vigorously defending the sacred mandate the EFC gave to Abia, Jr? The PDP is a Leviathan in Nigerian politics. Among others, it controls Akwa Ibom State, Federal Government, and the National Assembly.

“As a Leviathan, could the PDP establishment have allowed Speaker Tambuwal behave as a loose canon and swear in a usurper to sit in the People's House? Why on earth was Speaker Tambuwal in a hurry to swear in a usurper? If the Speaker were intent on erring, why didn't he err on the side of the people of the EFC who exercised their democratic right to choose whom to represent them through legitimate electoral processes?

“And if Speaker Tambuwal were so much concerned about conferring the benefit of the doubt, why didn't he give it to Barrister Abia, Jr., who labored for the people's mandate and was justifiably rewarded at the party primaries and general election? Finally, if Speaker Tambuwal were interested in fairness, why did he not at least maintain the status quo ante until the appellate court rules on the case? For EFC, Speaker Tambuwal has dealt yet the second blow of political lynching, disenfranchisement, and victimization”.

Continuing, the erudite scholar and spokesman for the Eket people said, “the first lynching, disenfranchisement, and victimization of EFC were judicial in nature. They occurred in the hands of Justice Abdul Kafarati whose ruling exemplifies an apogee of miscarriage and desecration of justice. How can a judge rule that someone who was defeated in the primary twice and did not participate in the general election was a winner of the election under democratic governance?

“The legal logic underlying this ruling has no precedent. It is what makes ordinary people suspicious of the system. The ruling deprived Barrister Abia, Jr. of his electoral mandate and conferred it just like that on a smarting usurper, Hon. Eyiboh. How then could Hon. Eyiboh magically become a representative of the people of EFC who rejected him at the primary and did not vote for him at the general election?

The PDP establishment conducted the first primary in Eket that was won resoundingly by Abia, Jr. Eyiboh complained and protested that his delegates were harassed at the poll and were not allowed to vote. To accommodate and placate him as an incumbent, an ill-advised act of magnanimity which is now placing the PDP establishment on trial, another primary was scheduled but this time in Uyo.

“Again, Abia, Jr. won overwhelmingly. His victory in the second primary reaffirmed Abia, Jr. as the authentic flag bearer of the PDP poised for the general election, which he also won resoundingly. It must be noted that Abia, Jr. had no hands in scheduling of the primary in Uyo. Left for him, the PDP did not need to conduct another primary simply because his opponent was an incumbent. As a party faithful, he abided by the directive of the State PDP who scheduled the primary. Still, the delegates went to Uyo and voted for Abia, Jr. with greater margin than the first primary!

“Interestingly, in the political cum legal game of usurpation of another's mandate, Eyiboh neither challenged the resounding victory of Abia, Jr. at the PDP primary nor his subsequent victory at the general election. He hung his case on the fact that the primary was held in Uyo rather than in Eket. And Justice Kafarati sided with him on technicality. What the judge ignored, however, is the fact that the delegates of EFC were not deterred by the distance, simply because the venue of the primary was relocated to Uyo. They bore the burden of traveling to Uyo provided they choose the person they wanted to represent them in the People's House, and that is Abia, Jr.”

“Unfortunately”, he went on, “Justice Kafarati allowed himself to be misled into believing that two primaries took place: one in Uyo, conducted by the PDP and another one in Eket, conducted by Eyiboh. This erroneous belief led the judge to conclude that Eyiboh who conducted his primary election at the headquarters of the constituency is the candidate of the party.

“As a member of PDP, could Eyiboh, as a candidate for election, have conceivably conducted his own primary outside the supervisory authority of his party? Isn't the party responsible for conducting primary elections? If so, who then supervised the primary election Eyiboh, as a candidate? How many delegates voted for him versus his opponent? If Eyiboh, as a candidate for election, could conduct his own primary, what then stopped him from standing for general election, or perhaps conducting his own general election and seeing himself elected?

“This is why the ruling handed down by Justice Kafarati is repugnant to the doctrine of fairness. If Judge Kafarati were really convinced that Eyiboh was cheated out of the process, and in the interest of fairness and justice for the EFC, he could have simply ordered another primary and another general election in the EFC. The people of EFC would not have minded going through yet another (third) primary and general another general election to defend their sacred mandate”.

The Eket people are arguing that by nullifying thir electoral mandate, Justice Kafarati eloquently tells Nigerians that party primary is inconsequential. By imposing a usurper on the people, he rips apart the foundation of grassroot electoral politics. It is an inadvertent invitation to unserious candidates to make ineffective showing at the electoral process.

“After defeat, they seek out the Kafaratis to nullify the people's mandate and impose them on their constituencies. That will be a dangerous precedent, because such imposition divorces accountability from electoral mandate, rendering electoral process an exercise in futility. It is indefensible and unconscionable to impose on EFC Eyiboh who was defeated at the primary and did not stand for general election. By sharp contrast, Abia, Jr. won both the PDP primaries and general election. He is the authentic representative of EFC.. Eyiboh is an opportunistic usurper who will not earn the respectability of the people he is alleged to represent. By swearing him in, Speaker Tambuwal has done a monumental disservice to the People's House”, they said.

ENDS

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