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Dr Effiom Ekeng, the member representing Akpabuyo constituency in the Cross River State House of Assembly is twice lucky. He won his election in March this year, in the Assembly but after the election as annulled by the tribunal, he regained the seat last Friday.
He spoke to TNN over the telephone on the journey to his judicial victory and how his party, the PDP stands now in his constituency.
Excerpts:
When your election was annulled by the tribunal, how did you feel about it?
Really, really, I felt bad because I know that the tribunal did not do the most justice to what they ought to have done as regards the outcome of the election.
Why did you think so?
When the tribunal refused to accept the presentations made by INEC that conducted the election and witnesses that were directly affected in the various polling units and we felt bad about that. I felt bad and every other person on our side felt bad about it.
So, you think there was a travesty of justice, you think…
(Cuts in) really, really, really, really, really. It has shown in the entire process. We called many witnesses, and my opponent on the other side did not call any witness. He was the only witness in his own case and we called witnesses, people that came with wounds of gun shots to the tribunal, they presented themselves, they showed medical certificates and all that, they showed photographs of how bullets from the gun shots were retrieved from their bodies, but the tribunal turned deaf eyes, I mean closed eyes and deaf ears to those people. It was painful.
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What do you suspect happened, do you think some waters went under the bridge?
Really, really
Do you think the tribunal was bought?
(Cuts in?) The tribunal was bought. They did not give proper and fair judgment and it’s been vindicated by the judgment of the appellate court that has unturned their own judgment.
For instance, let me show you a clear example. They went and hearkened on the margin of lead, that I led with 503 votes, then the areas that they said election was not conducted, most of those areas election took place and the same APC people went there and disrupted the election. In a case where the chairman of the local government, Emmanuel Bassey went to his polling unit, a polling unit where I won with and ordered that the security men there should leave. In fact, they beat up the security operatives, police in the polling unit and went with his own men who went there and shot people even in a broad day light. So what are we saying? People were shot in that polling unit.
Did you say this to the court?
We said it to the court. We presented the people, they showed the wounds in their bodies, when they were taken to a traditional medicine practitioner to retrieve the bullets in their body. And even after that, we still took them to University of Calabar Teaching Hospital for treatment and all those things were pleaded.
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So, what does this mean to you now?
Well, really, it’s a triumph over… how do I call it? The bought over or sale of justice. If you want me to say so because I feel that the justice in the lower court, in the tribunal was, no justice was done. Let me even tell you, a member of the APC that was shot came up and said that yes, he is a member of the APC and he showed his membership card and he mentioned the position he is holding in the party in the local government, but that he disallowed the ballot box to be taken away because he wanted the election to be free and fair and he wanted the ballet to be counted there for a winner to emerge. The next thing he saw was that some men came in and started shooting them with guns.
Okay?
Yes.
And who were the men that came to shoot?
The men that came to shoot them with guns were the men that were hired by the chairman of the local government. Yes, they were those who came to shoot and they all know. You see, as I speak to you now, a top official of my local government cannot walk freely in his own polling unit area. In fact, he has even changed his polling unit, voting point to another. They said a new polling unit that they created, because of the fear of what they did in his former polling unit.
Okay, so at that point when the court of appeal annulled the judgement of the tribunal, what were the things that were going through your mind?
In fact, it’s just like something was uncovered on my face. I now saw that judgment or justice has segments; you have segments where justice is denied, you have segments where justice is delivered. So the tribunal denied us justice but the appellate court gave us justice.
Let me tell you something. We have 129 polling units in Akpabuyo Federal Constituency, and the law says that the rerun election can only be allowed when substantial number of polling units, when election has been cancelled, a substantial number of polling units, and now, what happened there was that out of 129 polling units, they came up to argue for eight polling units and out of these eight polling units that came up to argue, they said that election did not hold. It was proved beyond reasonable doubt that election held in those polling units and then one of the polling units they did over voting. Then three of the polling units, they themselves, the APC members disrupted the election because I won in those units and with all that it was a clear evidence that was shown before the tribunal and then tribunal still accorded them that they can gain from their mischief. You can imagine that, how can they earn from their mischief? They were the people that went and caused problems in these polling units. In fact if I go down to tell you, a typical example is Ekpene Ikot Edem Nsa, in Edeme Udo ward, where we have the GM of one government agency and I won there with over a hundred votes margin. The man collaborating with some persons in that area and paid some boys 200,000 to go and disrupt the election at the point of counting the votes.
In another place called polling unit in Eneyo ward in Ikot Otu Abasi, I won there with over a hundred votes margin. A man that is a commissioner in SUBEB went there and said he cannot face the governor with that kind of result that will come out from that place. He ordered some boys to go and disrupt the election and the ballot papers and everything were carried away and put in his vehicle and he drove off.
Did you also present these before the tribunal?
We presented all those things before the tribunal.
And called these names?
We called the names. We said people came. In fact, in primary school in Offiong Umo, the witnesses testified that it was the chairman of the local government that ordered some men to come and shoot them. So, what else do you want? And then again, in some areas like the riverine areas of Ikang axis where the election materials, men and materials were mobilized to Ikang water front, there was no proper arrangement for security. No security personnel, no security boat to take the personnel, the INEC personnel across the water to go and conduct election. When there is serious activities of the militants in the high sea there, how will they now expect that these people will go there and conduct election? Even as I am talking to you today, if election is to be conducted in those areas, except you go with a high level of security, military personnel and maybe military gun boat, you cannot penetrate those areas and conduct election. And in any case, two of the polling units are already in the control of Cameroun, in Ine Nwakoffong and Ine Nkan Okure; those two polling units are right now under the control of the Cameroun territory.
And they are supposed to be in Akpabuyo?
They are supposed to be in Akpabuyo. With the ceding of Bakassi, you know it took to some point of Akpabuyo. So you cannot go there and conduct any election.
What it means is that Akpabuyo is now firmly under the control of the PDP.
Yes.
What does this portend for the 2023 elections?
It’s been a litmus test. What has happened has been a litmus test, we went for the election, they said oh the governor is of APC, he is going to get Akpabuyo for APC. We went for the election, it was proved wrong and they went to the tribunal and did all that they did and we went to the appeal court and the appeal court has upturned the ruling of the tribunal and my brother, Akpabuyo or Cross River is PDP’s stronghold I can tell you that.
How do you think this will affect the back to South agenda?
We have gone beyond the back to south agenda. We have gone beyond that. We have gone beyond back to south agenda.
How?
What I mean by going beyond that- we are of PDP. The opportunity was given, we in the south produced over nine aspirants for one position. Are you with me?
Very well.
And eventually we lost, because we were not coordinated. And somebody came from another zone. The man took advantage of our weakness, weakness in cooperation, because we did not cooperate with ourselves; he took advantage of it and won the primary. So, we are no longer talking of back to south because the back to south to an extent was like it was personalized. Some persons believed that the back to south must be to him, Mr. A or to him Mr. B or to him Mr. C. So we have gone past that. We now have a candidate in PDP and we are working to ensure that our candidate wins the election.
And you are very sure that your candidate of the PDP will defeat the APC with a seating governor?
My brother, we will compare what a sitting governor has done today and what the PDP did before he came in. You know, you remember that he was of PDP.
Yes.
Okay. So we will compare and contrast.
You have been in the house of assembly since February, I guess.
Since March 15.
Since March, so between then and now how have you been treated in a house of assembly that you are now an opposition member?
(Laughs) You see the English man says that he that is down fears no fall. We know that we are in opposition, and you know that by the verdict of the federal high court in Abuja, we are not supposed to be in opposition. In fact, we are supposed to take over the control of the Cross River State House of Assembly, if not for the fact that the APC had gone for appeal and which anyway let me not go into much details, they have gone on appeal so when, the appeal will sit from November and after that, let it not be prejudice.
(Cuts in) So, would you say you are getting fair treatment from the APC leadership of the house of assembly?
Well, in the house of assembly, we are house of assembly. I can only tell you what we feel on the floor of the house, that we are members of the house, but aside the house whatever thing that has happened there, I cannot tell you.
In terms of your allowances, in terms of your constituency allowances.
I said what happens in the house of assembly is house of assembly, but what happens outside don’t worry about that, I don’t need to discuss that, please.
