…demands run-off of governorship polls
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The All Progressive Congress (APC) governorship candidate in the March 9, 2019, general elections in Cross River State, Senator John Owan-Enoh, has tendered 17 exhibits to buttress his petition challenging the declaration of Governor Ben Ayade of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) as winner of the election.
Owan-Enoh had gone to court to protest that he was unlawfully excluded from participating in the governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
At the tribunal sitting on Wednesday, lead counsel to the petitioner, Awa Kalu SAN asked that the petitioner tell the tribunal what his plea was.
Senator Owan-Enoh said, “the second respondent in the case (INEC) declared the first respondent (Ayade) as the winner of the election in a manner that was irregular. Therefore, my plea is that the certificate of return issued him to be withdrawn and the second respondent should conduct a run-off governorship election in the state.”
Owan-Enoh denied there were factions of APC in Cross River State, insisting that APC is one in the country with one leadership structure that also recognizes one leadership in the state, led by Sir John Ochalla as the acting chairman.
When told that he eventually contested the March 9th election and he scored about 131,000 Owan-Enoh responded that the votes were ascribed to him as his party’s candidate by the 2nd respondent.
“In fact, I got a call from the State Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC on the election day around 12 noon, saying congrats distinguish senator, your name just came as governorship candidate of APC,” he said.
Asked if he voted in the election and had agents in the polling units, the APC candidate answered in the affirmative, but that his agents on made repeated calls to him that they were being hindered from participation on the basis that APC had no governorship candidate.
Counsel to the INEC, Ademola Adesina also took the APC governorship candidate through one hour of cross-examination trying to establish that the delisting of APC candidates was on the basis of a court order and when another order for stay of execution came, it was also obeyed.
Owan-Enoh insisted that after delisting APC candidates on the 22nd of February 2019, INEC, through the state REC only brought to his knowledge that he was re-listed as a candidate on the Election Day.
Owan-Enoh said, “I was duly nominated as the candidate of my party. After the order referred to by INEC in their letter of February 22nd which the relied on the delist APC candidates, there were other orders of superior court which the INEC did not obey. On the election day, all my agents were disallowed from participating by reasons that Owan was not a candidate in the elections”.
After a total of three hours of examination, cross-examinations and brief re-examination, the petitioner brought his case to a close and the chairman of the three-man tribunal, Justice Josiah Majebi requested that respondents that are expected to open their case the next day (today) also cooperate to help the tribunal work with the time schedule.
The Tribunal chairman noted that the case will continue daily until the respondents finish their defense.
The case is listed with number EPT/CAL/GOV/01/2019 with Senator John Owan-Enoh as the petitioner versus Governor Ben Ayade as first respondent and the Independent National Electoral Commission as the second respondent.
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