A member of the National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal
sitting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Justice Sheriff Hafizu has said
Senator Godswill Akpabio was robbed of his victory in February 23
National Assembly election.
According to him, there was preponderance of evidence to prove
that Akpabio, now Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, defeated his
opponent, Chris Ekpenyong in the election for Akwa Ibom Northwest
senatorial district.
Justice Hafizu in a split judgement on September 11, 2019 held
that it was his view that Senator Akpabio overwhelmingly won the
election and ought to have been returned as the duly elected
Senator for Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
Engr Chris Ekpenyong of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was
declared winner of the Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District by
the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Senator Akpabio had challenged Ekpenyong’s declaration at the
National Assembly Elections Petition Tribunal sitting in Uyo, Akwa
Ibom citing unlawful cancellation of his collated votes by INEC to
give his opponent an edge in the election.
Delivering judgement on the petition Chairman of the Tribunal,
Justice W. O. Akanbi with the concurrence of Justice Ebetu
dismissed the petition and upheld the declaration of Engr Ekpenyong
as the winner of the February 23 National Assembly elections into
Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
However, in his dissenting judgement, Justice Hafizu held that
the contention of the Respondents that Senator Akpabio ought to
have called unit polling agents to prove his case was wrong since
Akpabio had not challenged the results of the units and therefore
there was nothing to prove.
According to Justice Hafizu, the case of Senator Akpabio centred
on cancellation of duly collated votes at INEC office which went
beyond the units. He cited the case of Dr William who had admitted
during trial that Senator Akpabio’s votes were altered in INEC
office in Uyo on the instructions of the Resident Electoral
Commissioner, Mr Mike Igini and said such alterations were
unlawful.
He said he found merit in the Petitioner’s case that his
collated votes which showed that he won the election was
surreptitiously and unilaterally cancelled by an INEC official so
as to hand over victory to Engr Ekpenyong.
Justice Hafizu also held that from evidence adduced during the
trial it was obvious that the Returning Officer had cancelled the
votes of Obot Akara Local Government Area due to an established
case of over-voting and said it was wrong for the same cancelled
result to be revalidated in INEC office in Uyo.
The Minority Judge held that the Witnesses paraded by the
Respondents were unreliable as they gave contradictory evidence
during trial. He cited cases of witnesses who had alleged that they
were abducted by APC thugs and forced to thumbprint for the party
only for card reader reports to put a lie to such claim, a
contention that the majority judgement glossed over.
According to Justice Hafizu, INEC was wrong to have cancelled
the 61,329 votes garnered by APC in Essien Udim Local Government
Area against PDP score of 9,050 votes. He said the unlawful
cancellation of the votes was a clear case of robbery since it did
not follow the due process of INEC guidelines.
The majority judgement also glossed over evidence that were
given in the case including certified true copies of results
released by INEC which were tendered by the Petitioners. It also
remained mute on the Police reports that the elections were free,
fair and credible.
Accordingly, Justice Hafizu voided the declaration of Engr
Ekpenyong as the winner of the election and declared his return
invalid. He also declared Senator Akpabio as the winner of the
election having garnered majority of the lawful votes and ordered
the Independent National Electoral Commission to present a
certificate of return to Senator Akpabio as the duly elected
Senator of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District.
Attendees and lawyers at the Tribunal openly applauded the
judgement of Justice Hafizu, describing it as sound and bound to
stand the test of time and devoid of any pecuniary consideration
but justice delivery. Supporters of Senator Akpabio jubilated and
congratulated themselves on the minority judgement.
Counsel to Senator Akpabio, Mr Adekunle Oyesanya, SAN praised
Justice Hafizu for his courage in giving the dissenting judge
represented the position of the law.
It would be recalled that a lawyer and human right activist,
Barrister Leo Ekpenyong had raised an alarm penultimate week in a
widely published article: “Judgement for sale” alleged that two
members of the National Assembly elections petition tribunal in
Akwa Ibom State had been compromised predicting that there would be
a split in the judgement the Akwa Ibom North-West Senatorial
District matter.