Our Correspondent|10 August 2018
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State is set to lose out in the by-election for Obudu State Constituency this Saturday as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) goes ahead to recognize the party’s candidate against a Court order.
This is because the name presented to the electoral body was done by the Godwin Etim-John led executive that has a court injunction against it parading themselves, in which INEC is aware and having being served.
A chieftain of the APC in the state, Barr Effiong Bassey, posited that for INEC to go ahead with the candidates presented by the APC of which an order of the High Court Calabar would not only be illegal but a nullity (An academic exercise).
According to him, there has to be a foundation for something to stand on, as one cannot build something on nothing.
The Court Order issued by Justice Ashu A. Ewah of the State High Court is still effective to date and has not been vacated, this has caused APC's participation a nullity…
The court order is still in force.
The Ex-Parte motion brought before it by Dr. Matthew Achigbe and Barrister Osim for themselves and on behalf of aggrieved aspirants vying for various State Executive Office of the APC Cross River State chapter as claimants, against Hon. Godwin Etim John, Martins Achadu, Chief Francis Ekpenyong and four others as defendants for themselves and on behalf of all persons who in the purported Cross River State Congress of All Progressive Congress of 19th May, 2018 where purportedly elected into various state Executive office of the Cross River State Chapter of the APC.
The APC and INEC were the 8th and the 9th defendants in the suit, with suit number HCA/15/2018.
The pending Court Order restrained the first defendant, Hon. Godwin Etim John and other defendants, up to the seventh defendants, “jointly or severally, their agents, privies, servants, supporters, hirelings cohorts or assigns etc from parading or allowing themselves be paraded, or acting in any capacity as state executive officers of the All Progressive Congress, Cross River State chapter and hereby further restrained from exercising or performing the duties, functions or demanding, taking/ receiving or enjoying any benefits, rights, privileges, perquisites etc pertaining to any of the offices of the state executive committee of the APC pending the hearing and determination of the motion on Notice filed alongside this application on the 25/5/2018”.
The Order further maintained, “that an order is hereby granted restraining the 8th and 9th (INEC) defendants whether by themselves, their agents, members, employees, staff, privies, servants, etc from acknowledging, recognizing and/or in any manner whatsoever dealing with the 1st to 7th defendants (or any of them) as state Executive Officers of the All Progressive Congress Cross River State chapter…”
1. " A court order must be obeyed even if such order is perverse until such a time that the order is set aside by a competent court".
Labour Party V. INEC 2009 (AWLR)
(pt 478) JSC by Justice Ogbuagu.
2. FG v. ZEBRA (2008) 1 MJSC @ page 5. It states, "it was held that a public body or authority (INEC) must act within the law and not violate it";
Barr Bassey a member of APC gave an insight into the precarious situation that may befall the APC in the state as it concerns the Obudu State constituency election.
His words, “we are aware that there is a pending Court Order restraining Hon. Godwin Etim John led factional Exco from parading themselves as elected members into the various state executive office of the Cross River State chapter of the APC. We are also aware that INEC as a party to the suit were also restrained from recognizing any of the factions.
That order of Court has not been vacated to date. More so, there is another suit before the vacation court, Suit No: HC/329/2018.” On same subject matter. Although the State Chapter of APC Cross River has been recently dissolved by the National Working Committee of the Party, calling for fresh Elections.
The danger of flouting court order is severe, what ever is done, including the presentation of a candidate in the up-coming Election in Obudu is a nullify.
Having been restrained by a Court and the order still subsisting, all act done or purportedly carried out by the APC does not hold water. The same court order prevented Etim John and Achigbe's factions from participating at the last National Convention.
He said.
“whatever the Etim John Exco have done or are doing including the presentation of a Candidate in the upcoming election in Obudu is a nullity, the pursuance of their illegal recognition will be nullified by the court”.
Some legal practitioners also believe, if APC emerges victorious in the Obudu Bye-election, the pending Court Order which had barred the factions from performing any duty of the party may be relied upon as a technical ground of nullification against the APC being that the candidate of the party in the elections did the internal process, bought nomination form through the embattled factional chairman.
NegroidHaven… Truth in view of Africa's liberty!
