BREAKING NEWS:

Supreme Court Sacks  PDP  NASS  Members

Reports  that  have  just  reached  WOOD PECKER  REPORTS Blog hold that the Supreme  Court  of Nigeria  has  today sacked  all the  legislators representing  the  federal  constituencies  and the  senatorial  zones  under the  canopy  of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP).Consequent  upon this  development,  the brand  new senators for Anambra  State  are Chief Chris Ubah (Anambra South), John Emeka (Anambra North) and Chief Annie Okonkwo(Anambra Central). Some  of the  causalities  of this  landmark  judgment  include Stella Odua(Anambra North)  and Andy Ubah(Anambra South).The senator  representing Anambra Central, Uche Ekwunife,  had  long  been sacked  by the Court of Appeal  on the  grounds that  the  primary election that  threw her  up as  candidate  of the PDP  in that  zone  was  flawed. The INEC had already   arranged for a rerun poll in Anambra  Central   to elect a  new  senator  on the 5th March  before the Supreme Court  threw spanners  into the  works  thus  sacking  all  the NASS  members  who did not  contest on the platform of the OGUEBEGO faction  of the  PDP.
It Is pertinent  to recall  that  the PDP in Anambra state  was   divided  down the  middle  during the    primary  election in the  2015  poll. There was the EMEAKAYI  faction  and the Oguebego  faction. Woodpecker  Reports  is  still investigating the cause  of the  Supreme  Court  annulment  of  the   victories  of the PDP  members. However,  there  are   cogent  and  verifiable  reasons  to    believe  that  the    annulment  of  the    election  of the  affected   PDP  members  in the National Assembly  is probably  traceable  to  pre-election  litigations  which  have  finally  taken  its toll .
This Apex Court judgment is still oven fresh and its full ramifications are  yet to manifest. However, a cross section of  analysts   want to  know  how this  judgment  will  affect  the   elected  members  of  Anambra   State House  of Assembly, that  is,  those  who  emerged  from the  Emeakayi  faction. Will  they  automatically  lose their  seats in the House  of Assembly?
The  judgment   is also a   nostalgic  reminder  of the  Supreme  Court  judgment  on  October 25th, 2007  when the Supreme Court declared Rotimi Amaechi the  elected  governor  of Rivers  State , even though he did  not  participate  in  the  governorship  poll.
What transpired  on that  occasion was that  Rotimi Amaechi Chibuike  went to the Supreme  Court  to  enforce  his fundamental  rights after  being  dropped by  his  party from the  governorship  race, even when  he  won the   governorship  primary  election.  
Delivering  judgment  on October 25th, 2007, the  Supreme  Court  gave  him  more  than  the  relief  he  sought for: he  was  declared  the winner  of  the  Governorship   poll  , even  though  his  name  was  not  on  the  ballot paper. This  controversial  decision  of the  Supreme  Court came as a  shock  to  a  cross section  of  Nigerians  thus  causing  some   top  legal  luminaries  to  wonder if the Supreme  Court  has  the  constitutional  power  to   to  pronounce an unelected  person a governor  in Nigeria. It  was in that  judgment  that  the  Supreme  Court held that  votes  are  cast for the  party  and  not for the  candidate. The  full  import  of this  latest   judgment  will  be  fully  analysed  soonest.

JOHN MGBE
johnmgbe@yahoo.com                                                                                                                                                                      

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