Ahead of the judgment of the Court of Appeal on the Akwa Ibom State governorship election appeal cases which is expected to be delivered this week, the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, has perfected plans to corrupt the Court of Appeal panel hearing the appeals arising from the October 21, 2015 judgment of the Akwa Ibom State Governorship Election Tribunal several credible sources has informed SaharaReporters.
Mr. Udom Emmanuel according to high profile sources in Akwa Ibom State is determined to use federal allocations to the State to settle Justices of the Appeal Court handling cases arising from his election.
The arrowhead of this plot is a two-time senator from Akwa Ibom State, senior lawyer and a chieftain of the PDP, Senator Effiong Dickson Bob. The former senator is said to be close to many Justices of the Court of Appeal and senior members of the judiciary in Nigeria some of who were his colleagues at the Nigerian Law School Lagos in 1984. Mr. Bob, a former Attorney General of Akwa Ibom State was a member of the Senate from 2003 - 2011 and is currently the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the University of Benin in Edo State.
SaharaReporters investigation reveals that at some Justices of the Court of Appeal, were in Uyo the Akwa Ibom State Capital some days ago to attend the marriage ceremony of the daughter of Hon Justice Ita Mbaba of the Court of Appeal. The traditional marriage took place on 3rd December 2015 while the Christian wedding took place on 5th December 2015 at Qua Iboe Church No. 2 Abak Road in Uyo.
After the Christian wedding reception held at Shelter Afrique Playground in Uyo, Senator Bob and Justice Mbaba who is an indigene of Akwa Ibom State made arrangement for Governor Emmanuel to meet the Justices at the Le Meridian Ibom Hotel & Golf Resort.
"The Governor went on his knees at Le Meridian Hotel and begged the Justices to save him. He told the Justices that he was willing to part with any amount to retain his governorship seat," one source told SaharaReporters.
Investigation by SaharaReporters confirmed that at least four current and serving Justices of the Nigerian Court of Appeal (JCA) and one Justice of the Supreme Court were colleagues of Senator Bob in the 1984 set of the Nigerian Law School Lagos. They include: Hon Justices Theresa Orji Abadua, JCA; Hon Justice Mohammed Danjuma, JCA; Hon Justice Isaiah Olufemi Akeju, JCA; and Hon Justice Yargata Byechit Nimpar, JCA.
From 9th to 11th October 2015, the 1984 set of the Nigerian Law School Lagos converged in Abuja to commemorate the 31st anniversary of their called to the Bar. The three days event tagged "2015 NLS 84 Grand Reunion" took place at Chelsea Hotel and Transcorp Hilton, both in Abuja.
SaharaReporters investigation further reveals that the four Justices of the Court of Appeal listed above were honored at the event. Investigation further shows that one of the Court of Appeal Justices in the NLS 1984 set honored at the event, Hon Justice Yargata Byechit Nimpar, JCA, was a member of the Appeal Court panel that heard the senatorial election case of the Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
Senator Effiong Bob was the Chairman of the Local Organization Committee of the 2015 NLS 1984 Grand Reunion where Justice Yargata Nimpar and other Justices of the Court of Appeal were honored.
A source close to the former governor of Akwa Ibom State Godswill Akpabio informed SaharaReporters that at 9pm on Tuesday 8th of December, 2015 (two days to the Appeal Court judgment in the case instituted by Mr. Inibehe Okori of the All Progressives Congress against his senatorial election) Mr. Akpabio moved huge sums of money from Uyo to Abuja through the Akwa Ibom International Airport. A staff at the Airport who confirmed the movement to SaharaReporters stated that when Akpabio arrived at the airport, the Chief Security Officer (CSO) at the airport, summoned all the airport staff to a room and seized their phones.
"When Akpabio's convoy arrived, the CSO moved all the staff to a room where we stayed for about one hour thirty minutes. Our phones were taken from us. He only released us and our phones when the private jet that Akpabio travelled with had landed in Abuja. I saw people who accompanied Akpabio to the airport carrying some Ghana Must Go bags."
On Friday December 11, 2015 the Court of Appeal delivered judgment and gave a victory to Akpabio.
Emboldened by Akpabio's victory, the Akwa Ibom State Governor Mr. Udom Emmanuel is desperately trying to bribe the five-man panel of the Appeal Court handling the case against his election.
A source close to Mr. Emmanuel informed SaharaReporters that the governor on Saturday December 12, 2015 ferried huge sum of money in dollars and naira with the State Government owned private jet from the Akwa Ibom International Airport to Lagos State for onward delivery to some persons acting as fronts to members of the Appeal Court panel handling his election case.
"The Governor obtained a lot of money in dollars and naira from Zenith Bank in Uyo to settle members of the Court of Appeal panel. But the Governor is worried that the Chairman of the Panel refused to send someone to Lagos for his share of the money. The Governor has left Lagos for Abuja to handle the issue of the Chairman with the assistance of Akpabio and Senator Effiong Bob."
SaharaReporters has learnt that in the late hours of Sunday 13th December, 2015, Governor Emmanuel accompanied by Senator Akpabio, Senator Effiong Bob and another PDP Chieftain from Akwa Ibom State Senator Anietie Okon, moved huge sums of money in a convoy of four jeeps from the Akwa Ibom State Governor's Lodge in Abuja to an unknown destination," a source close to Akpabio told SaharaReporters that security personnel at the lodge were left behind and that only the Chief Detail to Governor Emmanuel was part of the nocturnal trip.
"Another problem is the issue of Rivers State. You know that Akwa Ibom and Rivers States had similar irregularities during the last election. Only one National Assembly election in Rivers State survived at the Appeal Court but no election has been nullified in Akwa Ibom. We are afraid that if the Rivers governorship election is nullified and that of Akwa Ibom is upheld it may open a can of worms," a source close to Udom Emmanuel told SaharaReporters
SaharaReporters confirmed that on Tuesday 8th December, 2015 when the case came up at the Court of Appeal in Abuja for hearing and adoption of brief of argument, Governor Emmanuel was accompanied to the Court by Senator Bob and they sat beside each other at the front row in the court room. When Mr. Emmanuel's name was called as a party in one of the appeal cases, he rose up and declared: "I AM HIS EXCELLENCY, UDOM EMMANUEL, EXECUTIVE GOVERNOR OF AKWA IBOM STATE."
Legal sources told SaharaReporters that Mr. Emmanuel's declaration was very inappropriate since he was not sued in his capacity as the governor and that it was wrong of him to introduce himself as a governor before the very court that his election is being contested. "It is either he intended to intimidate the Justices or he was sending a passive message to the Panel. The fact that he sat beside Senator Effiong Bob a very senior lawyer makes the whole episode more suspicious," one of the legal sources that witnessed the drama in court told SaharaReporters.
The April 11, 2015 governorship election in Akwa Ibom State was marred by rigging and violence and resulted in the death of several people. The Card Reader accreditation report issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that only 437,128 persons were accredited to vote at the election. The examination of the Voters Registers for Akwa Ibom State showed that only 448, 307 persons were indicated to have voted. However, INEC went ahead to declare a phantom votes of 1, 222, 836 and awarded victory to the PDP.
On October 21, 2015, the Akwa Ibom State Governorship Election Tribunal had nullified election in 18 out of the 31 Local Government Areas of the State. By Nigerian Constitution, the Court of Appeal must deliver judgment within 60 days of the judgment of the Tribunal. This means that the Appeal Court will deliver judgment before 21st December, 2015.
Independent observers from the European Union and the United States Embassy stated in their separate reports that there was no election in Akwa Ibom and Rivers States. The observers demanded an outright cancellation of elections in the two States.