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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The legal dispute over the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom State has taken another dimension following allegations by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Mr. Uwemedimo Nwoko that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) forged the judgment of a Federal High Court which declared Michael Enyong as the lawful governorship candidate of the Party.
The Senior Lawyer specifically alleged that the electoral body fraudulently imported strange words into the judgment delivered by Justice Fadima Murtala Aminu in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1295/2022 delivered on 20 January 2023 in Abuja to favour a particular candidate.
Nwoko who made the revelation on Monday at the Court of Appeal in Abuja after the day’s proceedings, explained that the electoral body in a letter to the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] twisted the judgment of Justice Aminu to the effect that the Court found as a fact that INEC monitored the primary election that produced Michael Enyong.
The letter dated February 1, 2023 with Reference Number INEC/LD&C/C&J/2022/T/359 was authored by INEC Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony and was entitled Re: Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1295/2022 between Hon. Michael Enyong vs INEC and others.
The INEC Secretary had in the letter quoted the judgment as ordering INEC to recognize and publish the name and details of Enyong as the lawful candidate validly sponsored by the PDP having emerged as winner of the party’s primary election of May 25, 2022 “monitored by INEC for the Akwa Ibom State gubernatorial candidate for the forthcoming general elections”.
However, the Senior Lawyer who exhibited certified true copies of the judgment said that there was no where in the judgment that the issue of monitoring of the primary election by INEC was mentioned.
He said that a petition had already been written to the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahood Yakubu protesting importation of strange words into the judgment with a view to getting those who twisted the judgment for fraudulent reasons be fished out for punishment.
Nwoko who represented Mr Umo Eno who is contesting the governorship ticket with Enyong expressed optimism that justice will be done in the alleged judgment forgery.
At Monday’s proceedings, counsel to Enyong Mr. Seperibo Peters had sought to move an application to stay proceedings in a matter before a Federal High Court but later withdrew the application following the discovery that an appeal had been entered at the Court of Appeal in Abuja in respect of the same matter.
Justice Olubunmi Oyewole who presided over a three-man panel of the Appellate Court in a short ruling on the withdrawal of the application subsequently struck it out.
Meanwhile, no date has been fixed for hearing of the appeal challenging the Federal High Court judgment that recognized Michael Enyong as PDP gubernatorial candidate.
