When will the drama end in Kogi?

When_will_the_drama_end_in_Kogi

OLUSOLA FABIYI writes that though Idris Wada has finally assumed office as the governor of Kogi State, the courts may still have

OLUSOLA FABIYI writes that though Idris Wada has finally assumed office as the governor of Kogi State, the courts may still have to determine who will govern the state for the next four years

In the past few days, a confluence of events had happened in Kogi State. Expressly, Kogi has gone down in history as the only state that has produced three governors in a day. On Jan 27, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris was governor in the morning. But as soon as the Supreme Court delivered its landmark judgement later that day, which annulled the tenure elongation of five governors, including Idris, his son-in-law, Captain Idris Wada, was sworn in by the President of the Customary Court, Justice Ibrahim Atadoga. A few hours later, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Alhaji Abdullahi Bello, mounted the podium to take his own oath of office as the acting governor. Like the man before him, he held the Holy Koran and swore to be guided by God and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. But unlike Wada, he was sworn in by the state Chief Judge, Nassir Ajannah.

Without doubt, Kogi was in the midst of confusion as anarchy loomed. Several calls made to either of the two emergency governors to step down for the other were ignored. Bello, who had probably tasted the executive powers with the fortification of his security and increase in the number of aides and armed personnel around him, said he would not leave office in a hurry. On Monday afternoon, he signed a statement in which he said he remained the acting governor of the state. Bello, who was one of those that supported the emergence of Wada as the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, said that there was no truth in the rumour making the rounds that he had relinquished his position. He was reacting to the directive said to have been handed down to him that he should hand over to Wada at a meeting that Vice-President Namadi Sambo and the national leadership of the PDP had with him and Wada in Abuja on Sunday night. He said such a call did not arise and that it was meant to destabilise the state. Apart from that, he said the call was a calculated attempt to undermine his office.

He had support from the members of the Kogi stakeholders, who encouraged him to carry on. The stakeholders said that it was wrong for the leadership of the PDP to have dabbled into the affairs of the state. Led by a former member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Dino Melaye, the group accused the former governor of the state of being desperate to install Wada. The group said the meeting held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja was unnecessary.

But a few hours after Bello’s insistence that he would not leave office, the  chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, in a statement, demanded that Wada, who won the December 3, 2011 governorship election in the state, be sworn in. He said, “The Kogi State governorship election, which took place on December 3, 2011, is a concluded election and therefore, the governor-elect should be sworn in immediately.” Jega was, however, silent on whether Wada was to take a fresh oath or not.

New oath or not, Wada is now calling the shots at Luggard House, Lokoja. Will he be there for long or not. The answer to this question will depend on the case instituted by a former holder of the PDP governorship ticket in the state, Alhaji Jibril Isa.

Isa had said, “I will rather wait and allow INEC to take a position on the matter. Let the commission interpret the judgement. The Supreme Court’s judgment is subject to interpretation. I don’t want to take issues with anybody.  Yet, the January primaries of the PDP produced me, and based on that, many people think the judgement is in my favour.”

Maybe yes. Citing several sections of the constitution, the supporters of the Speaker averred that it would be difficult for Wada to remain on the seat. One of their arguments is that Wada cannot be governor because of Section 191 (2) of the constitution, which says where any vacancy occurs in the circumstances mentioned in subsection (1) of this section during a period when the office of the deputy governor of the state is also vacant, the Speaker of the House of Assembly of the state shall hold the office of governor of the state for a period of not more than three months, during which there shall be an election of a new governor of the state, who shall hold office for the unexpired term of office of the last holder of the office.

A lawyer, Emmanuel Oluomo, argued that since Idris and his deputy, Mr. Philiph Salawu, had a joint ticket; their tenure had expired together on May 28, 2011 by the judgement of the Supreme Court, so it was constitutional for the Speaker to be sworn in.  

He added, “Also, the constitution has no provision for governor-in-waiting. Recall that Dr. Andy Uba was not inaugurated in Anambra again after the expiration of Governor Peter Obi’s first term, though he won an election and was initially sworn in, the Supreme Court held that Obi’s tenure had not ended and he (Uba) had to step aside. Though his election was not nullified by any court, he was not brought back to the office on the basis of the said election when Obi’s tenure was constitutionally over.” 

Apart from this, he added that section 178 (2) of the constitution says election should be conducted not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of that office. The amended constitution became operational on March 11, 2011. Therefore, “Wada’s election was conducted on December 4, 2011, which was seven months after Idris’ tenure had ended going by the declaration of the apex court. Wada’s election is gone with the apex court’s pronouncement,” the lawyer added.  

He said if the courts eventually declare that the election of December 4, 2011 was valid, Wada might be the lawful candidate of his party because the only cogent and verifiable reason (which the constitution and Electoral Act require) provided by the PDP for swapping Isa with Wada, was that the tenure of Ibro had not ended but with the new development, that excuse would not hold again.

Supporters of Isa, however, believe that the apex court’s judgement has reverted the entire process to thestatus quo before May 29, 2011 and that the PDP primaries he (Isa) won on Jan9, 2011 is still the authentic process as it fulfils the dictates of the constitution in relation to the judgement.

Be that as it may, the court will still have to determine that position and decide if the Sept 22, 2011 PDP primaries, which were held after the expiration of Idris’ tenure and threw up Wada as a candidate, is still valid. Not only the people of Kogi, but all Nigerians are watching the unfolding drama in the Confluence State and everyone seems to be eager to know who carries the day in the Kogi power tussle.