Appeal Court and ‘The Ben Johnson Way’

At a colourful ceremony in Owerri on Monday, attended by President Bola Tinubu, former President Olusegun Obasanjo and several others, Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma was sworn in for a second term in office. I join in congratulating the governor and I genuinely wish him success. Especially now that he has legitimately earned the votes of his people. But it is also on record that Uzodimma came fourth in the election that brought him to power for his first term in January 2020. His controversial mandate was secured after a judgement that has done enormous damage to the reputation of the apex court and many of the Justices. And he was appropriately dubbed ‘Supreme Court Governor’, after admitting that he earned his victory ‘The Ben Johnson Way’.

For those who may have forgotten, on 24 September 1988 at the Seoul Olympics in South Korea, Canadian athlete, Ben Johnson, won the 100 metres final with a then unprecedented record of 9.79 seconds. Three days later, the Olympic Doping Control Center found that Johnson’s urine sample contained a banned substance. Not only was the gold medal withdrawn and his record wiped but the shame and disgrace that followed has endured till today. So, despite the best efforts of Uzodimma’s media minders after he inadvertently made that disclosure, the only enduring interpretation to ‘The Ben Johnson Way’ is that the governor cheated his way to power in January 2020. While that is now ancient history, we should be concerned that the judiciary is encouraging ‘The Ben Johnson Way’ to power in Nigeria.

Following last week’s judgement of the Supreme Court that affirmed the election of Caleb Mutfwang as Governor of Plateau State, it is now established that the Court of Appeal which is ordinarily supposed to promote the rule of law, is at the core of democratic perversion in the country. Simon Lalong, the immediate past

Governor of Plateau State, may be a gentleman (and he is a man I admire), but given the judicial circumstance under which he arrived at the National Assembly, he has earned the sobriquet ‘Appeal Court Senator’. Same for several other lawmakers from the state.

The sordid drama started last November when a Court of Appeal panel, led by Justice Elfrieda Williams-Dawodu, unanimously nullified the election of Governor Muftwang on grounds that he was not validly nominated by the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Based on that, victory was awarded to the defeated All Progressives Party (APC) candidate, Nentawe Goshwe. And on the same grounds, the court nullified the elections of several PDP members in national and state assemblies’ elections with their defeated opponents in APC and Labour Party (LP) awarded their seats…