A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Niyi Akintola SAN, has condemned an earlier opinion

 Chief Niyi Akintola SAN

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Niyi Akintola SAN, has condemned an earlier opinion credited to his fellow SANs; Olisa Agbakoba and Femi Falana, that the sitting governor of Abia state, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu is no longer a governor in the eyes of the law. Akintola said, hence the governor's lawyers have submitted the Appeal Notice to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), that is it wrong for INEC to issue Return Certificate to Mr. Uche Ogah. He added that with the 'immediate effect' statement of the Federal High Court, is of no effect pending the Appeal and Supreme Courts' decision on the matter. 

 The foremost lawyer further said he was disheartened by the contradictory and self- serving statements of his fellow Learned Silks, saying that their position in Amechi versus Omehia and on Peter Obi, the former governors of Rivers and Anambra States, is contrary to their take on the current Abia issue involving Ikpeazu and Ogah. Specifically, he pointed out that both the constitution and the electoral act were unambiguous on the matter. 

He argued that Uche Ogah did not participate in the real election, neither did he win the party primary to be considered as governor of Abia state in the first place. "In the first place in the eyes of the law, the order of the court to INEC to issue certificate of return 'with immediate effect' was over taken by event; the event being the governor's appeal against the jugdement which is clearly according to the law. So, the fact that an Appeal has been filed and served, and they have acknowledged it, it is unconstitutional and other wise wrong for INEC to issue certificate of return to Ogah, and for anybody to be saying what is simply an aberration to the Nigerian law. "In fact, even if INEC was not formally served and they have advance notice of the governor's rejection and appeal against the judgment, INEC is bound by the law to wait for expiration of the days acknowledged in the constitution before they will issue certificate of return to Mr. Ogah. 

The law is unambiguous on this and all the lawyers in this country know this. "Without mincing words, this is the problem with most of our colleagues, in times like this when their objective and professional opinions are needed for such an important issue that will become an essential precedent in our legal development, they just cannot keep their political affiliations apart from the simply truth, even when they are not direct counsel to the matter in question. 

Most of the time, they bring their interest to bear in the analysis of events. "The Electoral Act and the Constitution has said that you must have participated at every stage of the election before you can become governor. Did Mr. Ogah win the primary or participated in the general elections, what are we talking about? What surprises me is that these respected SANs speak fallacy on some important issues but when you bring their statements on the same issue in the past, it is totally contradictory. 

It is disheartening that most of them don't speak with the voice of intelligence when it is mostly needed." The SAN also said, "That matter is already in court and INEC has acknowledged it has the notice of appeal. So, it is needless and an aberration for someone to be saying the governor has been removed and that Mr. Ogah be sworn-in. 

And speaking of the Amaechi's case, the constitution has clearly stated that no one can become a governor unless he or she participated in all the election process. The issue is nolonger that it was the party that contested election. So, both the Presidency, the Attorney General of the Federation, the NJC, NBA and all the judicial and legal professionals in Nigeria should not support this aberration because it will bounce on us eventually." Speaking in the vein, another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mallam Yusuf Ali, said the judgment of the High Court was very clear when it said the governor should vacate his office, but that if the governor has expressed dissatisfaction with the judgement and had appealed, that it was absolutely wrong of INEC to issue a return certificate to the other candidate. 

Therefore, INEC's action is a contradiction to the tenets of the law as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act. "On this basis, I totally disagree with the statements created to Agbakoba and Falana, in saying that Governor Ikpeazu is no longer Abia governor in the eyes of the law."