Many people are still in shock over the Supreme Court’s decision to unseat Chief Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as Governor of Imo State, in favour of Senator Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had in March last year, declared Emeka Ihedioha as the winner of the Governorship election in Imo State, consequent upon which Ihedioha was sworn in as Governor on May 29, 2019.
The result was however challenged by three other contestants, which were all dismissed both at the tribunal and at the Appeal Court.
However, on January 14, 2020, the Supreme Court found merit in the case of one of the petitioners, Hope Uzodinma, stating that results from over 300 polling units were wrongly cancelled, and went ahead to credit all those results to Hope Uzodinma.
On basis of that, Hope Uzodinma who was originally placed fourth on the INEC result’s table sheet, now jumped to number one position, and was accordingly declared winner of Imo Governorship election by the Supreme Court.
Since then, opinions were divided among legal luminaries and others who are not lawyers, and they have been racking their brains, arguing on the Supreme Court’s decision. While some were in support, others were against the verdict.
We will not align ourselves with any of these camps knowing fully well that what they are doing is mere academic exercise, which will not change anything. The Supreme Court has spoken, and since it is the highest court in the land, and its decision, rightly or wrongly, is final. Anybody not satisfied can only appeal to God.
The only thing we know and believe for certain is that what they told us as the outcome of last year’s elections where many people emerged as leaders, was never the true reflection of our democratic expression.
Apart from the militarised atmosphere that pervaded the entire process, there were also cooked up figures on all sides, as results that emanated from the exercise, but which hardly were in tune with the realities on the ground. That was why many contestants took the results of those elections as declared by INEC with a pinch of salt, and headed to the courts to challenge them.
These courts had variously spoken. They had assumed the position of the electoral umpire, where some people who did not even take part in elections were declared winners of the exercise!
This decision by virtually all the contestants to challenge INEC’s results in the courts therefore, is a vote of no confidence on both our electoral system and those superintending over it, which means that there is something fundamentally wrong with the entire system. The implication is that something serious and urgent must be done, if the entire system will not collapse, or breakdown.
Everybody knows that a lot of things are wrong with our electoral system, but we continue to go around the issue, playing the ostrich, pretending that everything is right, while many things are wrong.
Nigeria is now at her breaking point, progressively descending to a state of hopelessness, as far as the electoral system is concerned. Many people have lost interest in the ballot box, the centrepiece of democracy, which is unfortunate.
Attention has now shifted to the courts as alternative to the ballot box. This explains why there are thousands and one election petitions in the courts, as every loser had petitioned the courts.
Now, we have started to mess up our judiciary, to make the verdicts of the courts look stupid and silly. If it is not due to the intimidation of judges by the executive arm of government, it will be corrupting the system itself. On many occasions, our judiciary and the courts have turned from being the defender of the weak and the oppressed, to becoming instruments at the hands of the powerful for the interest of the powerful. The poor no longer has any place in the system.
Our judiciary has become so corrupt that there is now the general belief that for one to obtain justice at the courts, he must have his pockets fully loaded, or must have a very powerful connection in government. Nobody trusts the courts any more to deliver unbiased judgment. The time when “law is blind” seems to be over. Everything is now cash and carry. That’s how bad the situation is, and we are fighting corruption, which is unfortunate.
Let us therefore rise to the challenge. Let us no longer play the ostrich. Let us no longer pretend that everything is okay, when they are not. We must reform our electoral system NOW to save our fledgling democracy. If not, sooner or later, we will find ourselves at the wrong side of history. By then, we will have nobody to blame, but ourselves.
