By Umani Uwemedimo
March 9th 2019 gubernatorial election in Akwa Ibom State is one election that would never escape one's memory in a hurry. Obong Nsima Ekere who was the APC gubernatorial Candidate in Akwa Ibom State, in collaborative efforts with Senator Godswill Akpabio and other of his cohorts had planned to use their Abuja connections to unleash mayhem on the people of Akwa Ibom State during the said election, after it had occurred to them that the Akwa Ibom INEC REC, Barr. Mike Igini is beyond compromise and financial hypnotization.
While their bid to financially hypnotize the INEC REC failed, Nsima Ekere resorted to finding solace in Adams Oshiomole, his National Party Chairman who later spewed out fifteen buses ladened with thugs to Akwa Ibom State for the sole purpose of perpetuating electoral violence for him. To also compliment this mapped out plan, he had also moved to bribe some acclaimed INEC staffs who at the tail end sat at the confine of their homes to produce concocted election results for him. Thus, he clamored incessantly how his mandate was stolen by Gov. Udom Emmanuel with the aide of the INEC REC. This is Foolishness at its peak.
Soon after the gubernatorial election, Nsima Ekere having been defeated across board by his star opponent, Gov. Udom Emmanuel to the world's astonishment, it was reasoned that he, Nsima Ekere would take a bow out of active politics. But his act of challenging the election's outcome which was postulated by political and electoral scholars as the best, most free, peaceful and fair election in the history of the state, has proven that he's yet to ascertain the fact that he has got no business to do with elections and maybe 'politics' in general. In reality, he should be in one of the streets of Lagos doing 419. That's only what befits him as a person.
Nsima Ekere before now had incessantly attributed his failure at the March 9th poll to the Akwa Ibom INEC REC, maintaining that if the authentic results were to be announced, he would win in 26 Local Governments, so he alluded to winning the election with a large margin, claiming his unit agents had the authentic results earlier announced by INEC and pasted in all the units in the state.
Even when the above was postulated by him and his paid media urchins drastically jumped into lampooning the INEC REC Mike Igini on a daily basis prior to it, an abysmal compunction was felt by majority of his supporters and indeed concerned citizens when he approached the Election Tribunal to call for total cancellation of the election in 29 Local Governments where he claimed election was not conducted. He maintained election was conducted in two Local Governments, Etim Ekpo and Essien Udim where he won with a great margin.
Before the pre-trials, they had protested on countless occasions for the governorship Tribunal to be relocated to Abuja. This they believed the Tribunal moving to Abuja would provide them an avenue where they could use their Abuja connections to influence the proceedings.
His petition challenging the election result as announced by INEC was sent to a lifeless realm when witnesses from the APC camp were cross examined by PDP, Governor Emmanuel's and INEC's Lawyers.
Hon. Akanimo Edet who was presented as the Etim Ekpo LGA APC agent added more pains to Nsima's injury when he maintained that there was no election throughout all the polling units in his local government. If this is to be believed, where then did Nsima Ekere manufactured the Etim Ekpo election result where he won with a wide margin?
To further expose the lying tendencies of Nsima Ekere and his APC camp, Hon. Chris Okorie who in the March 9th election was the State House of Assembly Candidate of the APC in Etim Ekpo LGA, when cross examined intimated the Court that election in his local government held peacefully. When he was asked who his local government party agent was, he exclaimed that he did not know who he was and at the processes of and after the election, he never met the same party agent in person, neither did they communicate on phone. He told the Tribunal that he does not know the party that won in his local government. You could now imagine how daft APC members in Akwa Ibom State are. A candidate of a party telling the world these stories. Indeed this shame is an enormous one.
While the APC members in Akwa Ibom State have proven their abysmal degree of daftness to the world, Nsima Ekere's petition was sent to the realm of lifelessness by the same people he hired as witnesses ( the two witnesses above). Nothing could be possibly deduced from their statements in relation to the petition at hand than 'contradiction'. The statements are contradicting to the petition, and here I've sensed a technical knockout against Nsima.
Nsima in his bid to compound more lies to the Tribunal Counsel had presented a strange Ward party agent Abasiono Udomfu, who according to him is a native of Ukanafun local government. When the acclaimed agent was cross examined, it was discovered that he was not the authentic party Ward agent which he confessed to. According to him, he was told to act on instructions but before now, he had told the Tribunal that PDP supporters with their thugs accompanied by security agents were seriously unleashing mayhem on the electorates. APC can never do without lies and deceit: this is the foundation in which the party was built. This too has compounded their woes at the ongoing Tribunal.
Things fell apart for APC, and their hopes got shattered the day Nsima Ekere, their gubernatorial candidate appeared before the Tribunal to also testify. While many believed that would provide a possibility for his petition to see the light of the day, the outcome became so catastrophic that everyone thought it was a dream. " Oga has messed everything for us", this some APC supporters who were sitting behind me murmured.
While he was cross examined, Nsima Ekere boldly told the Tribunal that there was no election in the 31 local government Areas of the State. His lawyers before then were battling the case with the petition he had submitted before the Tribunal whose stand was that election took place in only two Local government Areas, therefore pleading for the cancellation of the election in the remaining 29 local government Areas.
Lead Counsel to the petitioner, J. S. Okutepa, SAN on hearing the statement by Nsima Ekere immediately revolted against him. He bitterly lamented that Nsima Ekere's testimony has automatically altered and thwarted the little efforts he made in order to make the petition witness the light of the day. Nsima Ekere in return apportioned blames on his Lead Counsel, maintaining that Okutepa should have schooled him on what to say before that day. He expressed his hidden dissatisfaction in his Lawyers to an extent that he was begging the Tribunal Chairman to guide him and also offer him some protection. " My Lord, please I need some protection", Nsima Ekere screamed consecutively.
If this was why they had incessantly clamored for the relocation of the Tribunal to Abuja: to help them place an oxygen on a lifeless case, then it's indeed saddening to note that failure could contribute to one's foolishness.
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