Three years after the 2007 elections, the legal battle over who occupies the House of Representatives seat in the Uyo Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State still lingers.

On Friday, Dimeji Bankole, the Speaker of the House, is expected to appear at the Federal High Court in Abuja to explain why he swore-in Emmanuel Obot as the Uyo representative, disobeying a court order which restrained him from doing so.

On June 17, Justice Abdullahi Kafarati gave an order restraining the Speaker and the Clerk of the House from swearing in Mr. Obot, who is in a legal battle with Bassey Etim over the seat.

The court said the certificate of return issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to Mr. Obot was invalid.

It ordered the House to maintain the status quo until the hearing of the case.

However, on August 12th, Mr. Bankole swore in Mr. Obot.

Mr. Etim called the Speaker’s decision “unacceptable, unfortunate, and fraudulent.” He said, “The matter is a pre-election case, for which the final arbiter is the Supreme Court”.

A cloudy issue

However, the issue is not as clear-cut as it seems. Court records show there are two contradictory letters from the Supreme Court in circulation at the National Assembly about the matter.

One letter confirmed that there was a valid pending appeal before the Supreme Court, which would have restrained Mr. Bankole from his action. Another letter claims that there is no such appeal pending before the court, allowing the House to swear in a new representative.

However, analysts say Mr. Bankole should have been more cautious about taking sides in a legal dispute. Speaking to reporters in Abuja at the weekend, Victor Okangbe, a constitutional lawyer, said the action may have undermined the democratic process in the House of Representatives.

“The position of the law is very clear for citizens who subvert the administration of justice,” he said. “Because the law must take its course, you cannot ignore an order of the court - no matter how small the jurisdiction of such a court.”

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