Anambra State: Andy Uba and INEC loses again.
Plans by Andy Uba to re-emerge as a gubernatorial candidate in 2010, after Peter Obi’s tenure expires is getting dimmer by the day. Earlier today, the Appeal Court in Abuja ruled that INEC had no right to disqualify Dr. Chris Ngige as a candidate in the April 2007 elections.
In a brazen attempt at forcing Emmanuel Andy Uba on Anambra State as a gubernatorial candidate, INEC chairman Maurice Iwu had disqualified every other strong candidate against Andy Uba, even though the Federal High Court had instructed INEC to include them on the ballot. In the case of Chris Ngige, INEC was specifically instructed to include his name on the ballot, but in disobedience of the court order INEC rushed to the Appeal Court to file an appeal against the judgment. The commission also asks the high court to grant a stay of execution.
The lower court denied INEC prayers to grant a stay, but in desperation, INE decided to interpret their legal actions as a stay of execution. They went ahead to disallow Chris Ngige of AC from running against Andy Uba. As reported by the Saharareporters and international election observers, no elections took place in Anambra State on April 14 2007. However, INEC declared Andy Uba the winner of the “election” and went ahead to swear him as ‘governor’ of Anambra State.
After two weeks in the saddle, the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment granted Peter Obi a proper interpretation of his tenure, leading to the automatic removal of Andy Uba as the ‘governor’ of Anambra State. Since his removal, Andy Uba has been telling indigenes of Anambra State that he will be coming back as the “governor” in 2010 as soon as Peter Obi’s tenure expires, even as the Supreme Court made it clear that his election ought not to have taken place in the first place and as a result, null and void.
With the Appeal Court judgment, a brand new election must take place in Anambra State in 2010.
INEC was lampooned by the Appeal Court for engaging in an frivolous “academic exercise” by filing an appeal on the two grounds that a request for a stay of judgment and a filing of an appeal based upon another Appeal Court judgment on the powers of INEC to screen candidates which had already been overturned by the Supreme Court in the case of INEC v. Atiku constitutes a stay of execution of the federal high court ruling.
The case now moves back to the Electoral Tribunal in Anambra State, which now has a clear case of exclusion to expedite, barring any shady deals.
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