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On Police Harassment of Senator Alphonsus Uba-Igbeke
By Festus Keyamo
Newsdiaryonline Sat May 14,2011
It has come to our knowledge that the Nigeria Police Force has
been discreetly mounting a surveillance to arrest our client,
Senator Alphonsus Uba-Igbeke. We understand that an invitation
(which Senator Igbeke has not received) was sent to the Clerk of
the National Assembly inviting Senator Igbeke to Police
Headquarters.
These actions of the Nigeria Police Force are in complete
violation of the Rule of Law, an existing court order and the
fundamental rights of Senator Alphonsus Igbeke for the following
reasons:
1.
Senator Igbeke contested and won the P.D.P primaries for the
Anambra North Senatorial district, defeating five other
opponents, including one
John Emeka.
2.
The P.D.P then duly forwarded the result of the primary
elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
3.
However, when Senator Igbeke got wind that his name was to be
substituted with that of John Emeka, he exercised his
constitutional right by filing a pre-election suit at the
Federal High Court (Suit No.: FHC/ABJ.CS/189/2011: Senator
Alphonsus Igbeke V. INEC & Ors) in which he challenged the move
to substitute him. He tendered in court, through affidavit
evidence, the result of the P.D.P primary election in Anambra
State .
4.
The Federal High Court, Abuja , presided over by Hon. Justice
Kafarati, in a well-considered judgment delivered on the 17th
day of March, 2011, declared Senator Igbeke as the authentic
P.D.P candidate for Anambra North Senatorial District.
Dissatisfied, John Emeka appealed against the said decision.
That Appeal is still pending.
5.
However, the opponent of Senator Igbeke, still desperate to stop
his candidacy, again ran to INEC to say that the judgment of
Kafarati affirming Igbeke’s candidacy was forged by Senator
Igbeke. Again, that allegation did not hold water as members of
the public and the Press went to the court to confirm the
judgment.
6.
It was at this stage that, for the first time, Igbeke’s opponent
wrote a petition to the Police, in collusion with some INEC
staff, that the P.D.P Primaries’ result which Senator Igbeke
tendered at the Federal High Court, and upon which the court
delivered judgment was forged and did not emanate from INEC.
Meanwhile, INEC that participated all the while in the
proceedings at the Federal High Court where the document was
tendered did not complain that the document was not from INEC
throughout the proceedings until judgment was delivered. A case
of afterthought, indeed!
7.
However, still in a desperate bid to stall Senator Igbeke’s
campaign, his opponent engaged the police to arrest Senator
Igbeke over the issue of the forgery mentioned above. Still
pursuing his legal remedies, Senator Igbeke again approached the
Federal High Court, which gave an order restraining the Police
and other law-enforcement agencies from arresting and detaining
him. Find attached the court order.
8.
Despite the Court order declaring Igbeke as the authentic
candidate, INEC was still bent on giving a Certificate of Return
to John Emeka, which again prompted Senator Igbeke to once again
approach the Federal High Court, after the elections in suit
No.: FHC/ABJ/476/2011, and obtained an order compelling INEC to
issue the Certificate of Return for Anambra North Senatorial
District to him being the candidate who contested the election.
It was at this point INEC complied and issued the Certificate of
Return to Senator Igbeke. It would be recalled that the opponent
of Igbeke were not candidates at the election and were not
entitled to Certificate of Return and cannot even talk of having
won the election.
9.
This development again angered the opponent of Senator Igbeke,
an opponent that is enjoying the backing of a self-acclaimed
godfather of Anambra politics. The said opponent then went to
the Police and prevailed on them to ignore the Court order
restraining the police from harassing Senator Igbeke over
matters pending before the Federal High Court and the Court of
Appeal.
10. Nigerians
will recall that it was these same people that misused the
police in the same manner in 2007 when they got the late AIG Ige
to abduct a sitting governor (Dr. Chris Ngige) in Anambra State
in an attempt to brazenly and unlawfully remove him from office.
The said AIG Ige later died in frustration when he was dismissed
from the Force for his foolhardiness. May his soul rest in
perfect peace.
11. It would
equally be recalled that it was these same people who attempted
but failed to prevent Senator Igbeke from assuming his rightful
seats in both 2003 and 2007 in the House of Representatives and
Senate respectively. They are at it again.
12. It would be
recalled that so many judges have also been dismissed from the
Bench in the hands of these same people. Their stock-in-trade is
to misuse the institutions of the State for their personal ends.
13. The whole
purpose of the latest conspiracy is to arrest Senator Igbeke,
frame a charge of forgery against him, charge him to court,
remand him in prison custody and prevent him from being part of
the inauguration of the new National Assembly on June, 2nd,
2011, again using the institutions of the State to achieve this.
14. We call upon
the Inspector-General of Police to immediately stop the
witch-hunting of Senator Igbeke, a serving Senator and
Senator-elect of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
15. If this is
not done, we shall have no other option but to commence contempt
proceedings against the Police.
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