Obongship tussle: A’Court sacks Obong of Calabar 5/7/13 sunnewsonline/new/national/obongship-tussle-acourt-sacks-obong-of-calabar/ MY COMMENT: Please as you read, take note of Constitution, Selection Process etc. Same issues I have begged Nekede People to observe based on IMSG TRADITIONAL RULERS LAW. Please Nekede People who read and trained as Lawyers, you can rescue us with “free” legal counsel. We need not get enmeshed in this Ezeship issues. We should learn from others. We can judge for ourselves, that barring any technicalities of Law, our case is settled in favour of Engr. Cele’s call for Rule of Law and due processes. God bless Nekede People. From JUDEX OKORO, Calabar Court of Appeal has re-affirmed the sacking of the Obong of Calabar, Edidem Edidem Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu V, from the throne as earlier ruled by a state High Court and consequently ordered for a fresh election. Besides, the court has restrained Etubom Anthony Asuquo Ani, the former minister of finance in the then late Abacha’s military regime from contesting for the coveted throne. Etubom Ani, one of the leading contestants to the throne, had challenged the selection processes and headed for court. The Calabar High Court had in a Suit No. HC/102/ 2008 and presided over by Justice Obojor delivered a judgment restraining the Obong from parading himself as the Effik monarch. But not satisfied with the High Court ruling, the Obong’s palace filed an appeal challenging the decision of the lower court. Ruling on the matter brought before it, the Appeal Court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba, again set aside the selection processes and ordered for fresh selection of a new Obong of Calabar, natural ruler, treaty king and grand patriarch of the Efik Nation. Justice Garba said: “The selection and proclamation of Etubom Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu as the Obong-elect of Calabar by the Etuboms conclave of the palace of the Obong on March 31, 2008 is hereby set aside. “That as a further necessary consequence, the Etuboms’s conclave of the palace of Obong of Calabar, whose mandate it is under Article 5(a) (ii) (iv) of Exhibit 1/20 to do so, is hereby ordered to conduct another process of selecting a new Obong of Calabar in which all qualified candidates including Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu will be given the opportunity to participate in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and in strict compliance with the rules of natural justice.” On whether Etubom Ani is qualified to contest for the throne, the court said: “The first respondent (Anthony Ani), who admittedly was not capped/inducted into the Etuboms’ Council of the palace of the Obong at the time of the selection process of the Obong of Calabar was not traditionally qualified and eligible to vote and be voted for as the Obong of Calabar. Garba further ruled against the waiver granted Ani by the Obong’s Council on the issue of capping and inducting into the Etubom’s Council, which earlier qualified him to vote and be voted for. On the eligibility of the former Obong Etubom Abasi Otu re-contesting, the court ruled that he “was traditionally qualified and eligible to vote and be voted for as the Obong of Calabr during selection processes.” Reacting to the judgment, Etubom Anthony Ani said: “Well, I was not in court and my lawyer just briefed me. So far, I see the ruling as 50-50 affair. I will look at it, see how it affects me and maybe I will appeal the judgment. “However, one thing we are sure of for now is that there is no Obong of Calabar because the judgment today has nullified the entire processes. For the Efik people now, there is no Obong.” Fielding questions from newsmen, Ani’s counsel, Mr Bassey Offiong, said some of the contentious issues were not resolved even as the court ruled that Etubom Ani is not qualified again to contest for the Obongship stool since he was not capped based on the constitution of Etuboms’ Council. Offiong said the court considered the issue of natural justice and said Etubom Ani was not given fair hearing during the selection process because his complaints were not listened to. Equally reacting to the judgment, the Obong’s Counsel, Mr. A.A Archi of Nella, Lawal and Rabana chambers, said “The judgment is a vindication that capping is a fundamental requirement for a candidate to be eligible to be qualified to contest for selection, election or appointment to the Obong of Calabar throne. “The judgment also upheld our view that a learned trial judge, with all due respect, sought to perpetually alter the standing and recognized customs of the Efik, which would have affected the lives and people of the community. Commending the justices for standing for justice and fairness, Archi maintained that the ruling had cleared the way for the former Obong of Calabar as was eligible to be selected and appointed as a new Obong.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Jul 2013 16:05:40 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015