Amaechi Vs Omehia

Amaechi Vs Omehia: The Next Big Thing In Rivers State

Senior Fyneface

Somehow, the Omehia/Amaechi case is not entirely new to the Supreme Court. Aspects of it had reached the apex court for interpretation within the last seven months. Twice the Supreme Court directed the Court of Appeal to hear the matter expeditiously and on its merit. Now, on September 25, it would be the turn of the Supreme Court to hear the matter also expeditiously and on its merit.

The big question: Who was the lawful candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the April 14, 2007 Governorship election in Rivers State- Chibuike Amaechi or Celestine Omehia? The Supreme Court would seek to answer this crucial question at the September 25 appointed date.

The party’s ‘impressive’ performance in the polls led to the emergence of the incumbent Governor Celestine Omehia, but it is being hotly challenged by the immediate past Speaker of the state House of Assembly, who was duly elected at the party’s primaries as its flag bearer but was substituted “in error” by the PDP leadership in Rivers state on the orders of the former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. The substitution, which generated the ongoing political crisis in the state, was done without the due process of either informing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).

Omehia had specifically petitioned the apex court to discountenance Amaechi’s appeal on the ground that the issues raised therein were already overtaken by events, the April 14, 2007 gubernatorial election having been conducted and concluded. But a full panel of the apex court on 3^rd October, 2007, disagreed with him and held that Amaechi’s appeal was valid because the few grounds of laws therein were sufficient to sustain his appeal and that the quest for its leave with respect to grounds of facts could neither taint the entire appeal nor stop the court from considering it on its merit.

The court said it was mindful of the fact that the case, being a political one, had unnecessarily dragged and that the interest of justice could only be served if it was heard expeditiously. According to Justice Aloysius Katsina-Alu who presided over the seven-member panel that heard the case in Abuja, “We are inclined to take this appeal expeditiously as conveyed in the hearing notice served on the parties in this case.”
Amaechi who is urging the Supreme Court to hold that the Court of Appeal erred irreparably in law in its decisions also asked the apex court to quash the decisions of the lower court.
In doing so, Amaechi would be relying on the ruling of the Federal High Court that set aside Exhibit D which was the instrument of substitution of his candidacy. The court had held that the decision to substitute Amaechi’s name while he was appearing before it was subjudiced.
Amaechi would be relying similarly on the ruling of the Federal High Court that procedures for the replacement of a candidate by a political party as specified by Section 34 (1) & (2) of the Electoral Act were not followed in his case.
It is noteworthy that when the appellate court ruled that it was the business of the party to field any candidate of its choice, it suggested that the argument of what should be cogent and verifiable would lie primarily in the reason that the PDP gave for its action. Interestingly, the Appeal Court dismissed the argument that Amaechi’s victory at the primaries entitled him to the party’s flag bearer-ship, meaning that party primaries were of no real consequence in selecting candidates for the last elections.
Also, the appellate court held that there was evidence that Amaechi was indicted by an administrative panel. This ran contrary to an earlier ruling by the Appeal and Supreme Courts in the case of the former vice president Atiku Abubakar and Obasanjo/PDP where it was clearly decided that kangaroo administrative panels have no locus standi to indict any elected officer.
The next big thing in the tumultuous political arena of the state obviously would be the Supreme Court’s judgment on Amaechi’s appeal and needless to say that it would greatly influence the kinetics of Rivers state politics either positively or negatively.

Supposing the apex court rules that Amaechi was actually the rightful owner of the PDP gubernatorial ticket in the last April election? Such a ruling would be bad news for the current government in the state. In fact, it has been speculated that the rush to conduct Local government elections in the state may be connected with the fear by Omehia and the PDP that the former Speaker may likely win the case. And if he ultimately collects back the PDP ticket, one of two things could happen in the political equation.

The first option would be that the former Speaker will assume the office of the governor of Rivers state right away since the party whose ticket he had, emerged winner of the April 14 governorship election.

The next option may be to conduct a fresh election where Omehia would not be a candidate and Amaechi would run on the platform of the PDP. Even if Omehia decamps to an inconsequential party to grab the gubernatorial ticket, he and the PDP would need to amend the Electoral Act to enable all the registered parties conduct fresh primaries so the he can have the chance to pick another party’s ticket. This approach may be very unlikely as the PDP obviously may not want to loose Rivers state under whatever guise. However, the rush to organise council polls in the state may be an indication of the serious consideration both Omehia and the PDP had given to the possibility of a fresh governorship election as a fall-out of Amaechi’s anticipated victory at the Supreme Court. So it may be part of their proactive initiative to quickly conduct council polls to disorganise Amaechi’s very strong political structure at the local government level and install their own men and structures.

The most worrying factor in the entire equation is that presently, political crisis in Rivers state has entered a desperate phase that even the oddest possibilities are now being considered as a do or die alternative. If Amaechi ultimately grabs the PDP ticket at the Supreme Court and moves to take his position as the rightful governor of the state, there is the very likelihood that opponents in the PDP may work on the fragile peace holding in the state to completely crumble it to the point that only an emergency rule would be reasonable. This is an interesting aspect of the entire game and the sitting governor may be the favoured if this happens as such scenario would deny Amaechi the opportunity to serve his mandate.

There is another interesting option that may be feasible in the entire saga. Despite all the war chanting by both sides, supposing the PDP strikes a peace and reconciliation deal with Amaechi and convince him to return to the party and reign in peace as governor of the state under the party? This is another possibility that cannot be ruled out. After all, in politics, there is no permanent enemy, no permanent friend or brother. Whatever happens, not only would the pronouncements of the apex court alter the political equation in Rivers state, it would also definitely advance legal practice in Nigeria especially in election-related matters as had been pointed out by political and legal analysts.

SENIOR FYNEFACE, ELELEWON STREET, GRA II, PORT HARCOURT (senior_fyneface@yahoo.com)