The Saraki dynasty is despondently, yet determinedly holding down and strangulating everything including the judiciary in their fiefdom, Kwara, But Ibori and Udaghan are managing to even top the Sarakis in Delta.

Before the April 14 2007 gubernatorial elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) federal government had made strenuous attempts to bar Peter Okocha, the governorship candidate of the Action Congress (AC) from contesting.  In the end, the EFCC came out with a list of “banned politicians”; and sure enough, Okocha’s name was on that list.  The EFCC said something about him sometimes, somewhere, long ago, bribing some Custom officials.  Please stop laughing. I am not making this up.   In any event, on Election Day, INEC simply left out Okocha’s name and Party’s logo.  Neither could be found on the ballot papers.  After the election, Okocha of course petitioned the State Electoral Tribunal for unlawful exclusion.  Even though the Supreme Court as far back as April 16 2007 had ruled that INEC has no powers to exclude any candidate from the elections, and some other Tribunals had made the only correct decision on that basis where there had been cases of exclusions, the Tribunal in Delta ruled that Okocha had no right to file a petition because he was “not a candidate at the election”!   

What ordinarily should have taken the Tribunal a little over two minutes to resolve in Okocha’s favour is still dragging and this is now April 2008.  The naked dance began when PDP’s Uduaghan’s objection to Okocha’s petition on the ground that the later was not a candidate during the 419 election was rightly struck out by the Tribunal.  This was sometimes in July 2007.  At that point Ibori moved in. The chairman of the Electoral Tribunal in Delta is one son of a gun called Justice Ayobode Lokulo-Sodipe.  A real piece of work.  A proper vampire.  He has thoroughly besmirched his family name. The Tribunal chairman and his gang ate and ate.  A few young ladies adept in the art of waist winding were supplied.  The Tribunal gang indulged themselves.  In September 2007, INEC raised exactly the same objection that Uduaghan raised unsuccessfully a couple of months back and, pronto, this time, the Tribunal accepted INEC’s prayers and threw out Okocha’s petition.

However, the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City took one look at the case; set aside the verdict of Lokulo-Sodipe’s Tribunal and fittingly decided not to return the case to the malignant Tribunal for a retrial.  It closely examined Lokulo-Sodipe and found that the cancer had eaten deep into his soul.  An extraordinary decision was taken by the Court of Appeal to hear Okocha’s petition itself.  All heaved a sigh of relief.  That was September 2007.

But this is Ibori/Uduaghan’s Delta State now.  The Court of Appeal in Benin requires five judges to hear the case.  Which means two more judges have to be sourced from elsewhere.  Believe it or not, that turned out to be an almost impossible task.  Ibori and Uduaghan had just about blocked all access with money – Delta State’s money.  Okocha’s petition is still gathering dust in Benin.

If you think Okocha is having a hard time of it, please spare a thought for the once ebullient Great Ogboru, the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) governorship candidate at the last election.  Subsequent to his second stab at Government House in Asaba in April 2007, the ebullience has all but been drained out of him.  Right after the elections, there were some violent protests in some parts of the State.  Ogboru compounded matters by stating the obvious – he declared that the elections were rigged.  Furthermore, he made insinuations to the fact that our men in black helped stuff ballot boxes.  Promptly, the Police declared him wanted and a price tag was placed on his head.  Two of his supporters, Senator Fred Brume and Mr. Richard Odibo – on Ibori’s orders - were flown to Abuja and detained.  Brume ironically, was one of the fellows who sold Ibori’s candidacy to the Urhobos back in 1999.  Ogboru quickly went underground. 

After a few months in the cooler (pardon the pun), Ogboru somehow made it to the Electoral Tribunal and asked to inspect INEC voting materials used in the last election.  The Tribunal not only crudely refused his request, (in fact it ruled that granting his request would be a disadvantage to Uduaghan!) his petition challenging the election of Uduaghan as governor has never seen the light of day.

In “normal” circumstance, the tampering and corruption of judges are done with some measure of secrecy.  But these are not normal times in Delta State.  It was widely reported – and never once officially denied – that Lokulo-Sodipe and his gang got N2.1 billion from Uduaghan to share.  A brand new Mercedes Benz car was given to Lokulo-Sodipe as well.  To top it all, this man has been promoted to the Court of Appeal!  But he is still hunkered down in Asaba enjoying his extended Christmas.

The recent shameful happenings in the State of Assembly are in anticipation of the verdict of the Court of Appeal.  Uduaghan and his forces are positioning themselves for a favourable acting governor should all their investment in the electoral judicial process come to nought.  On Tuesday 22 April 2008 the former Speaker, Dr. Olisa Imegwu from Ndokwa East, having been impeached refused to leave the Speaker’s chair and the chamber.  Two men (lawmakers) walked up the raised platform, one of them pulled out the chair from underneath Imegwu.  He landed hardish on the floor on his bum.  The second chap, Daniel Mayuku from Warri South-West, grabbed Imegwu by his white fancy and flowing agbada, wrapped him up in it, and bundled him inelegantly out of the place.  His impeachment was complete.  Imegwu used to be an Assistant Professor at Southern University, New Orleans, USA before returning home.  He is reputed to be a decent human being and very independent minded.  For his troubles, his agbada got torn and he and his erstwhile deputy were also suspended for three months.  Ironically, Imegwu had been plotting the impeachment of his deputy, Funkekeme Solomon because Solomon and the Majority Leader, Efe Afe had brought in some thugs to disrupt the House and rough up at least, one of their colleagues a few days before.  The new Speaker is one Martins Okonta from Ika South.  His deputy is the former Speaker of the House during Ibori’s regime, Basil Ganagana.  What was Okonta’s first duty as Speaker?  He led some of the Legislators on a “courtesy” visit to Uduaghan.

Before the thieving walrus Ibori invited his cousin Uduaghan to come and chop in Delta first as Health Commissioner, then as Secretary to the State Government, the man was a struggling D & C doctor in Warri.  He went around in a thoroughly beat up Volkswagen Beetle car that contributed handsomely to the depletion of the ozone layer in that city.  You simply doubled up in a coughing fit as his car spluttered past.  But the last I heard, as Governor, he declared personal assets worth some N8 billion!  Yes; he made N1 billion every year he was in Ibori’s cabinet.  Now, we dare not speculate what he would be worth after his term as Governor – whenever that might be.

 Dr Michael Egbejumi-David

demdem@hotmail.co.uk

Robot  Villager

# 1 It has been a long and...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 30.04.2008 20:13