On the 24th of October, Rivers state election tribunal sacked Nyesom Wike as Rivers state Governor. The court also ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organize a fresh gubernatorial poll for the state within a 90 day period. But before then, an acting governor will take over the reins of office.
It is worthy of note that his contender, and predecessor, Rotimi Amaechi, also faced a tribunal before his victory was confirmed in the 2011 elections, so this ruling doesn’t necessarily mean much until Wike appeals.
Nyesom Wike was a close friend of the former Rivers state governor, Rotimi Amaechi. They were both members of the same political party – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), until Wike found himself on a different side of the fence when Amaechi defected to the ruling All Progressives Congress party (APC) in 2013. Wike and Amaechi then became sore enemies after Amaechi’s alleged tiff with former first lady Dame Patience Jonathan. Soon after, Amaechi became political allies with President Muhammadu Buhari, while Wike supported former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Wike was sworn in as the Governor of Rivers state in May of 2015 under controversial circumstances, and immediately started throwing stones at his predecessor and former friend Amaechi. He accused Amaechi of embezzling state funds while he was governor. Subsequently, an enquiry was setup to investigate these charges. While the result of this enquiry remains unclear, speculations suggest that it was meant to stop Amaechi from being nominated as a minister by President Buhari. But since Amaechi has been nominated, and will soon be appointed a minister, this tribunal hearing is seen in some quarters as a witch hunt by the federal government, to get revenge for Amaechi.
Election tribunals in Nigerian politics
This latest electoral tribunal ruling emphasizes the decay in Nigeria’s democracy. Elections are held with the presumption that when you lose, you cannot lose gracefully, you must approach the tribunal. Since the Electoral Act was passed into law in 2010, at least one tribunal has been held after gubernatorial elections. Tribunals should strengthen democracy by enforcing the rule of law; they are meant to correct electoral mistakes. However, with the rate at which tribunals are held in Nigeria, the fault should be laid squarely at the feet of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for being compromised in every election. Is it time for INEC to revise the country’s voting system?
This current tribunal alleges that INEC did not follow its own directive with the use of card readers in all of the polling units in Rivers state’s elections – amongst other irregularities – but instead approved manual accreditation for voters in some polling units. Owing to these allegations, the tribunal ruled against the results.
These allegations are somewhat weak; in Lagos state’s gubernatorial elections, the state election commission approved manual accreditations in some polling units when card readers failed, yet there was no backlash. Also, an INEC directive is not a law; section 138 (2) of the 2010 Electoral Act implies that failure to obey directives from INEC is not in itself a ground to question the election. On these grounds, Nyesom Wike and his supporters are confident that an appeal will be granted.
Election tribunal hearings over gubernatorial, and national assembly elections just ended in several other Nigerian states, including Oyo state, Delta state, Abia state, and Akwa Ibom.
