AKAN OKON VERSUS PASTOR UMO ENO:
The trial of WAEC Certificates and INEC Voter’s Card
By Ndon Asian
In the course of his journey to the position of a Governor, Pastor Umo Bassey Eno became the first governorship candidate in Nigeria to have the West African Examination Council (WAEC) subpoenaed no fewer than four times, and to testify in court and tribunal over the same subject matter of alleged WAEC certificates forgery involving the same person as many times. It is a confirmed record that WAEC did not have before now.
The above was not the only “first” record which made history in Nigeria in the course of Pastor Umo Eno’s political journey. Each week as we take a look back to the days before Pastor Umo Eno became the Governor of Akwa Ibom State, I will bring these many “first” to the fore, for record purposes.
On May 25, 2022 Pastor Umo Eno had before departure to the venue of the Akwa Ibom State governorship primary election prayed fervently for success which he believed was certain against other contestants. A huge cloud of storm had gathered over the Peoples Democratic Party in the State since it became public knowledge about the preference of Governor Udom Emmanuel for Umo Eno as his successor.
The internal discontent led to the departure of many party members/contestants who felt shortchanged by the process which threw up Umo Eno as the PDP flag bearer for the 2023 governorship election, having regards to the fact that his predecessor had already made known his preference for the eventual winner, public.
The truth is that the process for the selection of party candidates in Nigeria has never been free, fair and credible. This is clearly known to party faithfuls who only complain when they are not the beneficiaries of the outcome.
The complaints led to the departure of many, like Sen. Bassey Albert Akpan, an important PDP member, to the Young Peoples Party (YPP); while others who believe that it was better to fight from inside opted to remain in the party. This group was reflected in the decision of Mr Akan Ekpe Okon who stayed.
After May 25, 2022, the pre-primary clouds which gathered against the emergence of Umo Eno as PDP governorship candidate for Akwa Ibom State, snowballed into many legal storms that was to dogg the path of the Pastor before, during and after the election until the final court in Nigeria ended it.
Three pre-election were instituted against the PDP governorship candidate as follows:
1) Akan Ekpe Okon in suit number FHC/UY/CS/110/22 had filed a writ of summons at the Federal High Court, Uyo alleging forgeries.
2) Hon. Michael Enyong (Baba Ntan) headed for the Federal High Court, Damaturu, the Yobe State capital after convening, conducting and declaring himself as the “authentic” PDP governorship candidate for Akwa Ibom State.
3) A former employee of Royalty Hotels, Eket, Mr Edet Godwin Etim headed for the Chief Magistrate court, Wuse in Nigeria’s federal capital of Abuja where, at the instance of aggrieved governorship candidates, he instituted a case of criminal breach of trust under the Penal Code in suit number CR/94/2022.
These cases were in addition to the eight (8) election petitions which followed the declaration and issuance of Certificate of Return by INEC to Pastor Umo Eno as the winner of the 2023 governorship election for Akwa Ibom State.
The first serious legal challenge after the primary was filed by Mr Akan Okon. He was a member of the State Executive Council in his position as a serving commissioner, a friend and colleague of Umo Eno.
He felt strongly that the WAEC certificates presented by Pastor Umo Eno to the PDP screening committee, which along with his name as the State governorship candidate, forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), were all forged.
After obtaining copies of these documents, and holding series of meetings, the earliest task which faced the Plaintiff was the selection of a competent lawyer “with the credibility to reject mouth watering financial inducement from government”, a source close to Mr Akan Okon who attended most of the meetings held in a beautiful hotel in Uyo told me in strict confidence. The Hotel was to later host lawyers for the Plaintiff.
My source informed me that it was mostly agreed that the best choice should be Barr. Samuel Ikpo due to his track record of successfully winning near impossible criminal cases, even against government with all the resources. “Indeed, my leader (Akan Okon) approached Barr Ikpo who turned down the offer”, he said.
From that moment according to him, “it was decided that counsel should be picked from outside.” Hence the choice of Okay Amechi (SAN).
The alleged forgery case was built on the tripod of (a) WAEC Certificates, (b) Voter’s card (c) misplacement of name and falsification of date of birth. It was however baffling that, in all the conferences on the issue, the need to verify, or cause the issuing authorities of the documents upon which the case was built to verify its authenticity, was completely ignored.
Like the African proverb which say that “the bush that one neglects to cut down will end up growing the rope that may be used to tie the owner,” the overconfidence in the ability to proof the case with available documents without involving the issuing authorities – WAEC & INEC became the Achilles heel of the case right from the Federal High Court, and all petitions at the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal built on the same forgery allegations.
Around the month of June 2022 another fire was added to the flames of the now spreading media and public “forgery” allegations, when a document reportedly authored by a forensic expert and leader of an NGO known as the Association for the Advancement of Democracy in Nigeria (AADN) was widely circulated.
The “forensic report” gave credence to the swelling rumour that the certificates were forged, without the “expert”, the Plaintiff, or any member of the entire legal team ever sighting, or requesting to sight the originals the documents.
It turned out that when the Plaintiff was cross examined during his evidence, he admitted to paying the “expert”. Again, when the police investigation team, led by CSP Chris Enderly who was subpoenaed to testify and tender documents, combed Nigeria’s federal capital of Abuja to authenticate the NGO’s address used in the “forensic” report, he told court on oath that the address given was a shopping center with no one knowing of the existence of such organization at the address.
And before the decision to pick counsel to lead the Plaintiff’s legal team was settled, social media was awash with the excitement that the forgery case will not only end the attempted imposition by Gov Udom Emmanuel, but will also consign Umo Eno to prison. The defeaning vilification was so big that I am reliably hinted that, though always insisting on his innocence, the second Defendant at certain point, considered withdrawing from the race.
When Mr Okon discarded the need to call the issuing authorities as his witnesses, the defense team made good use of the lapses, called WAEC to testify and tender documents (Ad Testificandum and Duces Tecum). The problem here was that if the WAEC representative was to testify, he must enter the witness box and be sworn in, and be cross examined.
The Danger therefore was that perhaps having not been with the examination body at the time the certificates were issued, he may encounter difficulty responding properly to certain questions referencing that time. Attempt to cure the defect met objection from the Plaintiff’s team led by Okey Amechi.
Court ruled after arguments in favor of Duces Tecum whereby the documents were tendered from the floor without subjecting the witness to cross examination. The correction to the subpoena was immediately effected.
In the course of the hearing at the Federal High Court Uyo, Justice Agatha Okeke was not spared the Venom of social media goons and supporters of the Plaintiff who believe, as often, that billions of Naira will change hands to influence the final decision of the learned judge in favor of Umo Eno. Final written addresses were filed, exchanged and adopted. And time was ticking away. Judgment date was fixed, as the then transfered judge had to deliver judgment on extended jurisdiction.
To summarize it, the Plaintiff lost the case, partly due to his evidence from the witness box and his failure and/or neglect to authenticate his allegations from the issuing authority before deciding on the legal exploration. He told court that he made no effort to verify the authenticity or not, of the certificates and Voter’s card from the issuing authorities – WAEC & INEC).
His claims that he accessed INEC Database which according to him, did not verify the second Respondent’s voter card as genuine, led to INEC counsel – Barr Eze Emmanuel explanation of the difference between INEC website, and Database which, according to him, cannot be accessed unless by official authorization, or hacking. In which case he concluded that if indeed Mr Okon accessed the Database as claimed, he must have hack into it, as he lacked any proof of official authorization.
Court of Appeal was the next stop. However, when the legal team defending Pastor Umo Eno did not file its defence to the Appeal within time and was shut out as provided by law, it dampened the morale and threw the entire camp of PDP, Pastor Umo Eno, and even the government into graveyard silence while The camp of Akan Okon was over excited that the defense has lost the matter. In fact many supporters of the Plaintiff who were already fatigued, ignorantly returned in jubilation.
However, majority did not understand that Appeal is just what it is called. Because the case was not proven at the first court, an appeal was erroneously expected to cure the defect of a case as defective as the one in reference here.
It is the position of the Supreme Court that the court, first and foremost, look at the substance and merit of the appeal before considering the defense. If the appeal cannot be sustained for lacking merit, the court may not even spend precious time to look at the defense. This, exactly was what happened in the appeal by Mr Okon against the judgement of the FHC Uyo. The Plaintiff lost at the appeal too.
The Supreme Court was next stop.
In its judgment, the Supreme Court saw no reason to deviate from the conclusions of the FHC, Uyo presided by Justice Agatha Okeke, as the case was dismissed with a cost. It was the end of the legal road for Mr Akan Okon. But, surprisingly it was not the end of the suspicion, and sometimes outright belief in the alleged forgeries.
The entire allegations was only dealt with by the apex court while the public, opposition candidates/supporters, and their counsel refused a conclusive funeral of the matter. This became apparent as almost all the petitions filed after the governorship election were founded on the same WAEC Certificates forgery previously dismissed by the supreme Court.
It is easier to forget that credit should be given to His Excellency Gov Udom Emmanuel for the formidable legal team put in place for his successor. The legal team was one of the best that I witness in my many years of observing and reporting election petitions.
