Ending the Enugu Debacle
With a Federal High Court ruling on the governorship dispute between Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and Senator Ayogu Eze in Enugu State, sanity may have begun to return to the turf, writes the THISDAY Politics Desk
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works and Senator representing the Enugu West Senatorial District, Senator Ayogu Eze, was the ebullient type before the December 8, 2014 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary election. He not only moved with a lot of swagger and panache in what many described as a dress rehearsal of how to carry himself as the governor of Enugu State.
He beamed with smiles each time his colleagues hailed him as “Excellency”, his preferred greetings. His contributions on the floor of the Senate each time the Upper Chamber was beamed on television always came with a lot of bravado that bothered on vociferousness.
However, all those had since disappeared since the return of the Senate from the short break for party primaries, where he lost the PDP governorship ticket to his Enugu North kinsman and a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, otherwise called Gburugburu.
How the Cookie Crumbled
Signs that things were not going Eze’s way became clearer when he failed to emerge the preferred choice of Enugu North (Nzukka zone) political stakeholders during their meeting with Governor Sullivan Chime at the Enugu Government House in September 2014. The stakeholders unanimously chose Ugwuanyi, among the many contenders. Eze broke ranks with Chime’s camp and joined the opposite camp.
Grapevine, however, had it that he was offered a return ticket to the Senate after the political storm occasioned by the Ekweremadu-Chime face-off was settled on the basis of mutual sacrifice by both camps, but he turned it down. It was gathered that he said claimed to have had a spiritual revelation he was the next governor of the state. Thus, he threw his hat into ring for the governorship ticket.
Chairman of the PDP National Panel for the Enugu gubernatorial primary, King Asara Asara had held a pre-primary meeting with aspirants at Allen Hotels on arrival at Enugu on the day of the nomination, where he assured them that the Panel was in the State to conduct a transparent primary.
He therefore urged them to cooperate with the panel. It was at that point that Eze informed members of the panel that he would not participate in any primary unless it was conducted with the list of the ad-hoc delegates elected during the November 1 Ward Congresses, which “certified true copy” he said he had obtained from the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The panel chairman, however, explained that a list of delegates for the state was handed over to the panel by the national secretariat and that he had no powers to jettison it. He warned that there would be confusion should he rely on a list each aspirant believes to be the “authentic” list of delegates. Eze then said since the panel would not use his list, he would consult with other aspirants and his supporters on the next move. Asara and other members of the panel proceeded to the Nnamdi Azikiwe stadium to conduct the primary which had in attendance the ad hoc delegates and all statutory delegates, including Chime and Ekweremadu. The panel returned Ugwuanyi as the winner of exercise, which lasted far into the night, having polled 937 votes.
Enter the Parallel Primaries
Another primary election, Professor Onyeke announced himself as the winner. He claimed to have held at the Dragon Club House at the 82 Division of Nigeria Army, Enugu. Yet another contestant, Chief Sam Onyishi, a transport magnate and the owner of Peace Motors, issued a press statement announcing he would not participate in the primary, but that he would challenge the exercise in court over what he termed “irregularities and lack of transparency”.
On his part, Eze took the state by surprise by announcing himself winner of a parallel primary less than 30 minutes after the meeting with the Asara led panel. He said he polled 530 votes ahead of Sam Onyishi who came close. Others were Hon. Eugene Odo: 25; Chinedu Onu: 31; Onyeke O. Onyeke: 20; Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi: 15 and Chief Anayo Onwuegbu.
It is noteworthy that no other contestant, statutory or elected delegate, party official, member of the PDP electoral panel, DSS or INEC official attended Eze’s primary at Filbon Hotel.
These ‘result’ was contained in a widely circulated statement, stating “I was heading to the venue of the primary election when these frustrated delegates called me to address them at Filbon Hotel, New Haven, Enugu, where they had already assembled to ponder their next move. Once I arrived at the venue, they insisted they must conduct the primary. They went ahead to elect me the PDP candidate.
“The electoral panel commenced their work at the so-called primary election venue…They filled the stadium, venue of the supposed primary election, with non-party members. It was an assemblage of passersby, touts, cheerleaders and office messengers who were hurriedly railroaded to the venue as a face saving measure.”
Ayogu’s claims did not go down well with party supporters. They questioned the source of his ballot papers and other election materials as printed cards, not PDP official ballot papers and result sheets were used. The Enugu PDP also petitioned the Police urging them to “arrest and prosecute Eze for uttering and forgery of the PDP Result sheet in accordance with the dictates of the law.”
Angry party members had also wondered how the Senator could describe a gathering that had Governor Chime, Senator Ekweremadu, and other party leaders as “passersby, touts, cheerleaders and office messengers”.
As someone that participated in the making and amending of laws relating to the conduct of elections in Nigeria, they challenged him to cite provisions of the 1999 Constitution, Electoral Act or the PDP Constitution and Guidelines for primary elections that empower delegates, however authentic they appear, to conduct primary elections of a political party.
A lawyer and former Legal Adviser to the state chapter of the PDP, and statutory delegate to the governorship primary, Nnanyelugo Chidi Aroh likened Eze’s parallel primary election to “a student arrogating to himself the roles of planning an examination, preparing a question paper, writing the examination, marking the answer sheet, and awarding himself the first position”. According to him, there is “nothing like parallel primaries, for it is either a primary or it is not a primary.”
And the Legal Fireworks
Eze’s claims to the PDP ticket obviously prompted Ugwuanyi search for legal solution to the political debacle. His quest for the gubernatorial ticket suffered a setback when an Enugu State High Court granted an order on December 9, 2014 restraining him from parading himself as the governorship candidate of the party pending the hearing and determination of a case filed in suit number E/499/2014 by Ugwuanyi.
The Court presided over by Justice R. O. Odugu however ordered that: “The 2nd Defendant/ Respondent (INEC) is hereby restrained from recognising or accepting the 1stDefendant as the person elected at the said gubernatorial primary election conducted by the 2nd Defendant in Enugu State on 8th December 2014;
“And/or the gubernatorial candidate of the 2nd Defendant for the February 2015 general election in Enugu State or forwarding the name of the 1st Defendant to the Independent National Electoral Commission as the gubernatorial candidate of the 2nd Defendant for the February 2015 general election in Enugu State pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice already filed in the suit.”
But Eze in a determined push for the ticket took his case to the Federal High Court, Abuja. In his Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/2014, he prayed the Federal High Court to restrain “the PDP, the National Working Committee, NWC, and INEC, by themselves, agents, officers, officials, privies or representatives and other person whatsoever, deriving authority from them from submitting, forwarding or sending the name of any other person other than himself, as their duly elected governorship candidate for 2015 governorship election in Enugu State, pending the final determination of the substantive case.”
He argued through his counsel, Yusuf Ali (SAN) that PDP had conducted ward congresses in Enugu State on November 1, 2014 as a result of which a list of delegates for the conduct of primary election for the governorship candidate of the party emerged.
According to him, the list was sanctioned and authenticated by the Federal High Court, Abuja, in suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/816/2014, which judgment was delivered by Justice Ademola on November 24, 2014.
The Senator maintained that he emerged the governorship candidate of the party based on the correct delegates list sanctioned by the same court, adding however, that the defendants were bent on sending another name other than his name to INEC as their chosen governorship candidate for the election.
He further prayed the court to determine, among other things, “Whether having regard to the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended, Sections 85 to 87 of the Electoral Act 2011 as amended, the electoral guidelines for primary elections 2014, the defendants could jettison, set aside, refuse to use or in any other manner, ignore the result of the ward congresses held on November 1, 2014, where ad hoc delegates from the 260 wards of the state were elected at the primary to elect the governorship candidate of the PDP for the general election.”
Onyishi also approached the same Court and demanded outright cancellation of the primary. He, through his counsel, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), prayed the Court to make an interim order restraining the PDP from submitting Ugwuanyi’s name to the INEC. But Justice Evoh Chukwu turned down the request.
It was at this point that Eze and Onyishi’s publicists allegedly went to town with the story that the Court had restrained the PDP from forwarding Ugwuanyi’s name to INEC.
The PDP was quick to dismiss the story. Publicity Secretary of the party, Dr. Okey Eze