Olufemi Aduwo is the president, Rights Monitoring Group (RMG)/Executive Director/CEO, Centre for Convention on Democratic Integrity (CCDI) and member, World Bank MGDs Assessment Civil Societies Forum. He speaks with DEPUTY EDITOR DAPO FALADE on the recent tribunal judgments on the election petitions in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states, among other issues.


YOURS was one of the accredited observer groups in the last general election. What is your view on the verdicts of the elections petitions tribunals as they affect Akwa lbom and Rivers states?

Section 138 (1) of the Electoral Law (as amended 2011) stipulates that an election may be questioned on any of the following grounds: that a person whose election is questioned was, at the time of the election, not qualified to contest the election; that the election was invalid by reason of corrupt practices or non-compliance with the provisions of this Act; that the respondent was not duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast at the election; or that the petitioner or its candidate was validly nominated but was unlawfully excluded from the election. From what the law says, the issue of card reader is not one of the grounds and before the general election, we issued press statements to warn on the danger of the card reader that was unknown to the law.



You may be surprised to know that card readers were not used in the North during the last elections. Don’t get me wrong. What l mean is that more than 85 per cent of voters during the presidential election in the North did not pass through the card reader and many of the returning officers in the North were state civil servants, whereas that was not the position in the South.

You have not really talked about the Akwa Ibom and Rivers judgments.

Yes, I know; I was only trying to lay the background for you to know where I am coming from. The judgments in both states, as they affected the governorship election are laughable. For instance, four voters/witnesses said they could not vote and, because of that, the confused tribunal declared the votes in more than 1,900 polling units cancelled, whereas many other people also testified that election took place. That showed the tribunal was biased and l believe the appellate court would upturn such judgment.

In the case of Rivers State especially, the tribunal chairman was not only unfair by having the audacity to challenge the superior courts’ judgments on the issue of card reader as a ground to cancel an acceptable election. The juggling of judicial officers and members of the governorship elections petitions tribunals of Akwa lbom and Rivers states also showed that there was an alleged external influence. I am not saying an election cannot be cancelled by the court or tribunal if the ground is genuine. But, don’t forget that Rotimi Amaechi would perform better to retain Rivers State for the All Progressives Congress (APC) than become a federal minister because the allegation against him is overwhelming.



What has former Governor Amaechi got to do with the issue at hand, more so, when he said he was not indicted by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by his successor, Chief Nyesom Wike, to probe the financial spending of his administration?

Amaechi should be my age mate, or l am older than him. The man is being economical with truth. Before the Senate, he declared that he was not indicted by the judicial commission. Maybe, he does not understand what an indictment is. The chairman of the judicial commission, Justice George Omereji, recommended that Governor Wike should swing into action and ensure that billions of naira belonging to the state and stashed away in some places were returned, while those found culpable should be prosecuted.

l also read that both President Muhammadu Buhari and Senate President Bukola Saraki already have copies of the report of the Rivers State Judicial Commission of Inquiry, indicting the former governor. That was why many people wondered why President Buhari wanted Amaechi as a minister. My advice to the APC and Mr President is that we should be careful; the democracy in the country is young. It was a great mistake made by the then Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), a political party which did not realise the fact that our democracy during the First Republic was young, allowed self-interest to destroy the effort and we paid dearly for that silly mistake.

Are you now saying the Rivers election was free and fair and should not have been upturned by the tribunal?

Nowhere in the world can you have free, fair and credible election. l was a member of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) delegation that observed the 2009 United States presidential election and l was also in the United Kingdom in 2010 for the general election. You will remember the Al-gore versus Bush election; it was not free but it was acceptable.



Many people know that 1.9m voters did not truly vote for Buhari in Kano State. Why is the government silent on the killing of the Kano State Residential Electoral Commissioner (REC) immediately after the presidential election? Who killed the man, his wife and children?

A foreign mission claimed that more than 800,000 illegal votes were added to Buhari’s votes in Kano State. Don’t forget that the difference between former President Goodluck Jonathan and Buhari in the presidential election was less than 2.7m votes and the five PDP governors, who joined the APC gave more than 3.8 m votes to Buhari. I learnt that some APC stalwarts allegedly want to declare a state of emergency in Akwa lbom and Rivers states in case the APC did not get what they want through court by creating confusion. Nigerians will not allow that to happen again in this country.

What exactly is your grouse against the judiciary in respect of the judgments?

With due respect to the Bench, it is a fact that it is not all benchers that are men of honour, though not only in Nigeria. You will recall that the late Justice Kayode Eso, (an erudite legal luminary), in an unpublished Panel report, recommended many judges for dismissal. But former President Olusegun Obasanjo did sack many of them. So, you will still have bad eggs on the Bench working hand-in-hand with their collaborators at the Bar. Let us assume that the tribunal is the final court in the case of Rivers in respect of the governorship and House of Assembly elections and both the governor and Speaker of the state legislature were sacked, what then happen? There will be anarchy.

I heard that the APC is determined to have three oil-producing oil states in the South-South: Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa, through the tribunals. The consequence of such an action, if it is true, may be devastating as it will affect the image of the government in the comity of nations and the people’s confidence in the judiciary will evaporate. Such act will be a dangerous signal and a bad omen for the judiciary in the country. The Eso Panel had noted this ugly situation long time ago; a corrupt judge is more harmful than a man who runs amok with a dagger in a crowded street. When a tribunal is giving a judgment that is opposite to a superior court’s position, as it was done in the Rivers State governorship case, then there is room for doubt. It is a high time psychiatry test was made compulsory for public officials in this country.

What has informed your hard stance against the tribunal?

One of my major grouse with the members of the tribunal has to do with its verdict on the issue of card reader as it affected the election in Rivers State. If the court finds the issue of card readers inconsequential in the Jimi Agbaje vs Akinwunmi Ambode case in Lagos State, why did the same issue become consequential in the case of Rivers State? Why should a tribunal have the audacity to contravene a judgment given by a superior court? Ask the observers the mess that happened in Kano, Katsina, Kaduna and many states in the North during the elections, where civil servants from the states served as returning officers. It is clear that the South-South and South-East zones are PDP enclaves. l was in Rivers for the World Bank assessment exercise a few weeks ago and we visited rural areas in the state. I can assure you that the PDP government is on ground in the state. Let me advise the APC leadership and its members to manage what they have and allow the nation to move forward, rather than taking actions that can cause chaos.

The present Federal Government has been in office for five months now. What is your assessment of the administration?

Some people are becoming restless and confused because the government’s direction remains unknown. Mr President did not hide it that past government officials were corrupt, stashing away the nation’s resources in foreign banks. To be precise, Mr President recently appealed to world leaders, in whose domain stolen funds and assets are being kept by corrupt individuals, to help return such. You will recall that the Swiss Ambassador in Nigeria met Mr President immediately he was declared winner and he told the president that the newly discovered Sani Abacha loot is waiting for repatriation. He encouraged Mr President to put forward the necessary demand documentation. l don’t know if anything has been done in that direction. With due respect, Mr President did not prepare for the office and APC did not believe the party will win. Don’t forget that the leadership of the ruling party is a collection of strange bedfellows. What brought them together was not an ideology; it was the quest for power by any means necessary and how to wrestle power from former President Jonathan. That was the only inspiration behind APC. After the elections, all the promises both the APC and Buhari made were disowned. But you and l know that there were promises of millions of jobs that will be created; there were promises of social welfare programmes and nobody is talking about them anymore. I belong to the class of people who expected nothing from Buhari government, for we shall not be disappointed.

Read More: http://www.robminds.com/politics/why-tribunals-verdicts-on-rivers-aibom-wont-stand-aduwo

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Lol! After the elections, all the promises both the APC and Buhari made were disowned. But you and l know that there were promises of millions of jobs that will be created; there were promises of social welfare programmes and nobody is talking about them anymore. I belong to the class of people who expected nothing from Buhari government, for we shall not be disappointed.

Meself bliv say it won't stand

Mr man u are a politician nt INEC off as u claimed all ur comment is one sided 2 me u are among of pay as u go or say observer all ur views /comment is too politicking. I beg go sleep Wailer