With the governorship election in Akwa Ibom and a couple of other states going all the way to Nigeria’s highest temple of justice, the Supreme Court, expectations are high on where the pendulum will swing between the contending parties, particularly at what appears to be conflicting judgments emerging from the courts of appeal.
In the case of Akwa Ibom where the court of appeal upturned the verdict of the governorship election tribunal which ordered re-run in 18 of the 31 councils in the state by granting the prayer of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Umana Okon Umana for a re-run in the entire state, everyone is waiting with bated breath to see if the Supreme Court will uphold the judgment of the court of appeal. There are no doubts that the stakes are very high and both parties hired some of the best legal brains in the land to argue their case.
However, there are strong suspicion of alleged underhand methods to swing justice in favour of Governor Udom Emmanuel of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spearheaded by Senator Godswill Akpabio, a former governor of the state. These allegations have trailed the Akwa Ibom State governorship tussle and have recently re-surfaced with the ex-governor who is known for his uncontrollably exuberant behaviours reportedly making a huge offer of monies running into billions of Naira to ensure that Udom carries the day.
This former governor of Akwa Ibom State who is notorious for his outlandish lifestyle and weird display of wealth has been known to entangle many other wise God-fearing professionals and officers in government through corrupt enrichment. Akpabio often boasts that everyone has a price and that there is no one that money cannot buy. The question is whether he will succeed in pushing his immoral influence through the Supreme Court.
This unholy scheme, according to impeccable sources, is being perfected with the help of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He is being assisted by an Akwa Ibom-born lawyer turned politician, Senator Effiong Bob who was previously in the upper chamber of the National Assembly and now has an oversight function in one of the federal universities in Edo State. A top justice from Akwa Ibom State is also said to be privy to this evil plan. These men who hold federal appointments courtesy of the ousted Goodluck Jonathan administration are some of the hidden traitors who still owe allegiance to Jonathan and would do anything to help key figures in that administration like the former rude and unruly governor of Akwa Ibom State.
Recently, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Honourable Justice Dahiru Musdapher had called for a new judicial code of ethics that would reflect current realities and challenges to tackle judicial corruption in the country, in order to ensure that “judges and the judicial system remain politically neutral and rise up to safeguard our fledging democracy,” and to “immunize the entire judicial system against all identified iniquities.”
According to him, “Metaphorically a corrupt judge has been described as more harmful to the society than a man who runs amok with a dagger in a crowded street. The latter as you know can be restrained physically. But the former deliberately destroys the moral foundation of society and causes incalculable distress to individuals while still answering ‘honourable’.
