Several sources have confirmed that the Supreme Court of Nigeria has set November 14, 2011, as a date to deliberate on the dispute of last April's gubernatorial election. It is the day, according to analysts, that the Court will determine if the dispute should go to trial or not. As a reminder, the disputants in the matter are Godswill Akpabio and Senator Akpan Udoedehe. When contacted at his home in Abuja, the Senator said that he has a strong confidence in the judicial system of Nigeria to be fair and equal, therefore, he will abide by and honor whatever decision the Supreme Court will issue in its ruling. He hopes Godswill Akpabio will be humane enough to do the same.
If the Supreme Court rules that the Appeal Court in Calabar erred by ruling in favor of Godswill Akpabio, then the matter will be returned for trial at the Tribunal in Uyo, where evidence from both sides (PDP and ACN) may be presented before the judges for final outcome as to which of the candidates (Akpabio or Udoedehe) won the election.
On the other hand, if on Monday (November 14, 2011), the Supreme Court sides with the ruling of the Appeal Court in Calabar, Godswill Akpabio will then be confirmed as the Governor of Akwa Ibom State and the case will end there, no further appeal could be made by any of the parties involved.
It is important to note that Tuesday, November 15, 2011, would be the last day for the Supreme Court to hear the case. In other words, if the matter does not come up before the judges by Tuesday, the case would have to be thrown out by the Court as incontestable. Inside sources have confirmed that the reason the case is set for hearing a day before it could have been thrown out by the Supreme Court is because Godswill Akpabio was playing hide-and-seek and difficult-to-reach by making it difficult for the Court messengers to serve him the notice (summon) on the case. Akpabio and his group knew that if the matter is dragged on until November 15, then it would be all over, hence, the cat-and-mouse-game.
ACN lawyers, after several failed attempts to serve the notice of hearing to Akpabio, had to come up with an ingenious way to deliver it. It is reported that one day when Akpabio was finally tracked down to his office, the messengers waited until he emerged from the office. The messengers finally threw the envelope in front of Akpabio. According to some witnesses, when Akpabio saw the envelopes dropped in front of him, he panicked because he thought it was a bomb-parcel; one of the messengers was almost shot. Witnesses said after Akpabio finally realized that he has been served the court notice for response to ACN’s petition, he swore never to respond to it. What he did not know at the time was that the messengers had arranged and video-taped the entire incident, which they presented to the Court, as proof that he had been served the notice. According to sources, Akpabio's lawyers advised him that a response to the case must be filed immediately; otherwise the matter would automatically be ruled in favor of ACN and Senator Akpanudoedehe.
Knowledgeable sources said the Supreme Court could have refused to listen to the matter, if it wanted to. But the decision by the Court to listen to the case is a testimony to the truth that Nigeria is too big a country for a common criminal like Godswill Akpabio to manipulate and hold it to ransom by thinking that he could use the money stolen from the people's treasury to pay-off and corrupt those who swore under oath to uphold truth and justice.
At this juncture, many people could care less on which side of the pendulum the decision of the Court will swing to in favor. What matters is that at least the people will be given the opportunity to state their own side of the story as to whether the election conducted on April 26, 2011, was fair or not fair; this was what the people seek at the Tribunal at Uyo, but was denied; this was what the people seek at the Appeal Court in Calabar, but was denied. Let's thank God for persuading the Supreme Court of Nigeria to hear the voices of the masses. November 14 is the day; let's pray that it will be the day of joy for 5million Akwa Ibom people, who have religiously and devotedly been praying for it to come.
Written by
Thompson Essien (503-661-6368)
The Voice of the Poor Masses
Defender of the Oppressed
Social Critic
A native of Ibibio nation of Ubium Republic extraction, now living in the safe and beautiful city of Portland, Oregon, where no AKPF, ADUMA, ADV, and Akwa Ibom State politicians can reach.
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