Thursday, July 29, 2010

‘’ IS IT ABOUT THE UGEP MAN’’ (PART 11) BY OKOI OFEM OBONO-OBLA

There are certain aspects of Thomas OFEM's essay {Part 2} I have been itching to join issues which I do not touch when I wrote my rejoinder. These aspects are his assertion that Donald Duke was sold the dummy that Ugep people are proud and greedy and that this was responsible for his repression of Chief Obeten Okorn Obeten and his choice of Bassey Ewa over Obeten as the leader of the PDP in Yakurr.The other aspect is the claim by Bassey Ewa that my perspective on his stewardship as Speaker of the Cross River State House Of Assembly and Member of the House of Representative is absolutely untruthful.

I challenge Bassey Ewa to point out the aspect of my essay concerning his stewardship that his not true. I also challenge him to a public debate on his stewardship or his public service records. This is important because I know that Bassey Ewa desires to go for a second term. I proposed that Thomas Ofem should be the Moderator. I was a major participant in the events that played during his time as the Speaker of the House of Assembly particularly the turf warfare for political control of Ekori Politics that broke out in Ekori between his faction one hand and that of the duo of Barrister Ewa Mkpang and Micheal Ekpo Mbang on the other hand that culminated in the clash of 2nd July, 2006 that led to his arrest and incarceration on the order of then Governor, Mr. Donald Duke by the Commissioner of Police. The duo of Barrister Mkpang and Micheal Ekpo Mbang were also arrested and detained for several days until I (as Counsel) successfully challenged the detention in the Federal High Court, Calabar.

I was also the Lawyer of hundred of Ekori young people who were always subjected to police intimidation, harassments and arrest and detention at the instance of Bassey Ewa on accounts of their relationship and association with Barrister Mkpang and Michael Ekpo Mbang. I was the lawyer to Chief Obeten Okorn Obeten who was also arrested and incarcerated after the clash on the order of the then Governor Duke.

All these facts are well documented in court records and police archives. It is elementary that documents do not tell lies. They are more reliable and authentic than words from the vocal cord neither of man as they are neither transient nor subject to distortion and misinterpretation but remain permanent and indelible through the ages.

My account of his manipulation of politicians in Yakurr by making promises of influencing government patronage and appointments is notorious. I also made the point that he his focus was diverted because he was obsessed with emasculating the political clout and influence of other Yakurr Politicians in the PDP in order to establish his own political hegemony is a well known fact to any discerning person in Cross River State especially in the PDP. This weapon was effectively used by him to diminished the political relevance of other Yakurr Political leaders such as Chief Obeten Okorn Obeten and Honourable Etim Ayomobi to mention just but a few to his advantage.

I also opined that his tenure so far in the House of Representative is lacklustre. I do not know any project Bassey Ewa has attracted to his constituent since he became a Member of the House of Representatives in 2007. I do not know any meeting that cut across all shades of political interest groups and spectrum in his constituency he has convened since 2007.Indeed he has become anonymous in the House of Representatives. I have never seen him in on National Television making any contribution on the floor of the House of Representatives on any issue of national importance. I have never been privileged to hear Bassey Ewa talk about his position on constitutional amendment, revenue allocation, federalism, electoral reforms abuse of human rights and corruption. What is the position of Bassey Ewa on the current crisis in the House of Representatives that has led to the suspension of ten members? This is not good enough because he went into the House of Representatives with a track record and good pedigree as a Speaker of the House of Assembly (Four Years); Member of the House of Assembly (Four Years ) and as a Lawyer. It goes without saying that I do not make any false allegation against him. In any case, whatever I say amounts to my own personal opinion which I am entitled to hold. It follows that any body is free to disagree with my own perspective and opinion concerning Bassey Ewa’s record as a political leader in Yakurr since 1999 when he came into limelight.

I have been demanding accountability from all politicians in Cross River State. I single-handedly fought Donald Duke to a standstill throughout his eight Years as Governor. It is on record that I went to Court to stop Governor Donald from collecting loan from the Banks under the aegis of State Development Bond Law (which constitutionality) I challenged in the High Court. The case went to the Court of Appeal and was commended by Justice Chukwuma Micheal Ene (now of the Supreme Court) for my dogged fight against the culture of impunity and corruption. I was the vanguard of the fight for enthronement of good governance in the Yakurr Local Government Council which culminated in the sacking of Godwin Ettah on the 2nd July, 2001 by irate youths mobilized by those of us who believe in accountability and god governance. I was commended by the Administrative Commission of Inquiry constituted by Governor Duke to probe the crisis headed by a Judge of the High Court for my crusade against corruption in Yakurr. I opposed the diversion of the allocation of revenue from the Federation Accounts to the Local Government Councils in Cross River State by the then Governor Duke. I opposed the establishment of Tinapa by Governor Duke on the ground that it will be a white elephant project. Gladly I have been vindicated because the project is presently mired in controversy and is undoubtedly a drain pipe despite the fact that more than N12 Billion was allegedly invested into the project. I have also fought against corruption and Human Rights abuse at the national level. I also took part in the struggle to end military dictatorship in Nigeria in the early 1990s as a young lawyer. I was recognised for that small contribution by the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, University of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America in SEPTEMBER, 1997. It is therefore not correct to give the impression that I have any thing against Bassey Ewa that is personal.

I want to state right away that I will not want this debate to degenerate to a personal matter so I will strive avoid to personalized it despite the subtle attempt by some body to personalized in order to divert attention, I will therefore advise every one of us to avoid red herring, mud slinging and devote attention to the fundamental issues which Thomas Ofem has ably raised and canvassed in his essays. One aspect of the under development nature and character of Nigerian politician the tendency of politicians to avoid issues particular when they urge to render account of their stewardship, even during electioneering campaign issues are avoided like the plague and swept under the carpet. Our politicians do not respect the people and because of this they hold the people in absolute contempt as they do not think that they are accountable to the people in the first place. They know quite well that elections in Nigeria are essentially staged managed and rigged and therefore they do not actually need the votes of the people to get into which ever elective position they desire, it is a notorious fact that elections held in Nigeria were fundamentally flawed and massively rigged since 1999.

I can say categorically and boldly that majority of membership of the house of assembly and representatives did not win any election because I was involved in the litigation that arise after the electioneering as counsel to candidates that were aggrieved that challenged the conduct of the election in various. I was involved in the Governorship election petition cases in Cross River State, Edo and Abia states. I also took part in the Presidential Election litigation in the Supreme Court of Nigeria. I was involved in the litigation concerning the seat of the house of representatives for Abi/Yakurr federal constituency, I will not want to dwell much on this case because it is still a subject of litigation, but suffice to say that the 2007 election was a total sham and this fact is well known to everybody including those who benefited from the shenanigan that was that election.

It is on record that in the entire Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency, voters were never accredited. This is borne out of the fact that the voters register in almost twenty wards in the Constituency were never ticked with the Red Ink as required by the Manual Prepared by the Independent National Electoral Commission which says that the Polling Clerk must check the name of a voter that presents his Voter’s Card against his name in Voters’ Register and then ticked it, before the ballot paper would be given to him to vote for the candidate of his or her choice. This fact was established by the Petitioners who petitioned the National Assembly Election Tribunal for the nullification of the declaration of Bassey Eko Ewa as the winner of the House of Representatives Election held on the 28th April, 2007 on the ground that the election was not conducted in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2006. The First Tribunal that heard the Petition found that there was no voting in more than Twenty Wards in the Constituency but curiously dismissed the Petition because it claimed that the Petitioners did not join the Polling Clerks as Respondents to the Petition. This was totally absurd because the Petitioners had joined the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as a Respondent to the Petition. These Polling Clerks were servants and agents of INEC and therefore at Law it was not necessary to sue them since they are agents of a disclosed Principal.

The Court of Appeal on the 10th December, 2008 set aside the Judgment of the Tribunal and ordered a Retrial of the Petition. I will talk about the second limb of the Trial which started on the 26th February, 2009 and ended on the 19th May, 2009 in the Second Tribunal that was constituted to hear the Petition after the Court of Appeal ordered a retrial. I will hear about what transpired in the retrial and the subsequent appeal to the Court of Appeal next time.

It follows that if the Tribunal found that voters in Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency were not accredited on the 28th April, 2007 and that there was no voting it invariably means that people from these wards did not vote in the first place, yet Basey Eko Ewa was declared winner of the election, and today somebody who patently lacks legitimacy is said to be representing those of us from this constituency, I think I have substantially digested from what I had in mind. I will pause here for now but will surely keep on track when I make my contribution to this debate.

• Obono-Obla is a Barrister, Human Rights Activist, Essayists & a Traditional Ruler.