Former governor of Anambra State, now senator representing Anambra Central in the upper legislative chamber, Dr. Chris Ngige and the immediate past minister of Information and Communication, Prof. Dora Akunyil, are old political war-horses.
In the aftermath of last April election their paths crossed over the winner of the Anambra State Central senatorial election.
Allegation of electoral fraud was leveled against Prof Akunyili by the returning officer of the election, Dr Alex Anene, who disappeared at the peak of the collation of results only to resurface in the dead of the night in a hotel in Awka to declare the result of the election in favour of Ngige, and alleging attempt to bribe him by agents loyal to Akunyili, with a promise of a house in Lagos, a brand new car and scholarships for his children if he will accept to declare their principal, Akunyili winner of the election.
The fraud or inconclusiveness of the election, depending on what side one wanted to take,? forced the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,? to cancel some wards in the election, ordering for a re-run which eventually saw the candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Ngige, coasting home to victory and consequently sworn in as a senator for the zone.
Akunyili initially declined? dragging? Ngige before the election petitions tribunal to contest his victory,? but? when her party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, did , she? gave her party her full backing, attended? all the court? proceedings, and pulled all the strings to retrieve her ‘stolen’ mandate from Ngige.
Akunyili followed her suit religiously until last October when the Anambra State Election Petitions Tribunal led by Justice Onajite Kuejubola (Panel I) struck it out. Counsel to INEC, Osita Nnadi (SAN) had asked for the dismissal or striking out of the petition on the ground that the petitioners failed to file Form TF008.
Akunyili who was on hand to speak had said she would appeal the ruling of the tribunal, and also made good her threat by approaching the Appeal Court in Enugu, challenging the decision of the tribunal.
On November 16, 2011, the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu ordered the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Awka to reitry the application. The court ruled that the appeal was meritorious. It therefore, set aside the judgment of the lower tribunal and insisted that it had right to reverse itself on an issue it had already resolved.
Ngige who was in far-away Washington DC, when judgment was given, reportedly said that there was no cause for alarm.
Justice Onajite Kuejubola- led panel will today, (Tuesday) commence hearing on the matter, with a view to determining who between Ngige and Akunyili should sit in the red chamber as representative of the people of Anambra Central.
Though Ngige was chosen by the electorate after a fierce electoral contest between him and Akunyili, the issue of determining the people’s authentic representative, has shifted to the judiciary.? For both, this may be a long, hard road to travel given the likelihood of the case returning to the Court of Appeal.