With barely three weeks to the November 26 governorship election in Ondo State, there are strong indications that the unfolding drama may be a re-enactment of the 2007 scenario which threw up Sir Celestine Omehia as Governor of Rivers State.
But who is Celestine Omehia?
Sir Celestine Ngozichim Omehia (born 15 September 1959) was the fourth Governor of Rivers State from 29 May 2007 to 25 October 2007.
He emerged the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, candidate in the state in controversial circumstances over Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi and went on to win the election. He was subsequently sworn in as governor of the state.
But barely five months after, the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision sacked him from office and replaced him with Amaechi who was believed to be the party’s rightful candidate but who never contested the election but won from the cool comfort of his room.
It was what an enraged former President Olusegun Obasanjo who was believed to be behind the whole imbroglio was to later describe as judicial rascality, wondering how someone who never contested an election could be described as winner.
But as things stand now, what is going on in Ondo State could as well result in that.
Of the four main political parties in the race, except for the Social Democratic Party,SDP, others are enmeshed in one crisis or the other, including litigation over the controversial emergence of their governorship candidates.
But the candidate of the party, Dr. Olu Agunloye, even though from Akoko seen as a marginalized area of the state, may not be able to make much impact as the party is not all that strong in the state.
Besides, as the election is being run with a lot of money, the party may not make waves on account of lack of financial muscle to prosecute the election.
However, the other three parties could not be said to be faring any better owing to serious litigations within their ranks which is threatening their chances despite their relative strengths in the state.
For the All Progressives Congress, APC, the party appears to have been irretrievably factionalised on account of its flawed primaries which threw up former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN.
Akeredolu, from Owo, in Central is a strong contender and former candidate of the Action Congress, ACN, in the 2012 governorship polls in the state, losing to the incumbent, Segun Mimiko.
Despite his intimidating credentials, the schism in his party may deny him victory as the primary has left the party sharply divided and all efforts at reconciliation have been largely unsuccessful.
Already, his main opponent, Segun Abraham, believed to be backed by National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has gone to court to try to upturn his rival’s candidature.
As things stand, everything is still dicey as the court may have the final say on the candidature not only before the November 26 date but even after the polls itself.
It is the same problem in the PDP, where the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, strangely changed the name of the candidate at the last minute.
Another lawyer, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), whose primary the commission witnessed in Akure had been earlier named as the candidate. But in what is seen as bizarre, the electoral body, claiming it was acting on the orders of the court, picked another legal practitioner and business mogul, Jimoh Ibrahim, who went on to hold another primary in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital without any monitoring as the party’s candidate.
Ibrahim had gone to court seeking to be declared the rightful candidate of the party while another court of coordinate jurisdiction had ruled that Jegede be declared the candidate. INEC picked Ibrahim instead.
The case has become more interesting following a seeming drama in the Court of Appeal which has led to the disbandment of the panel looking into the appeal by Jegede.
The Justice Jumai Sankey-led panel announced its withdrawal mid-way into proceedings, citing a petition of alleged bribery allegation against it by the factional chairman of the PDP in Ondo State, Prince Biyi Poroye.
Thus, another three-member panel has Justice Ibrahim Saulawa (Acting Presiding Justice of the Calabar division of the court) as the head.
Other members are Justices Ignatius Igwe Agube and Ita Godwin Mbaba (both of the Owerri division).
Thus, between the two legal practitioners, anything can happen. Jegede is seen as more matured and coming from Akure area which has not produced the governor for the state since its inception despite being the capital.
But the party is really divided right from the national level on the Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff divides. While Jegede, backed by outgoing Governor Mimiko is with the Makarfi faction, Ibrahim is in the Sheriff faction which is claiming superiority.
Things are not different in the Alliance for Democracy, AD, which has also been factionalised on account of the forthcoming polls.
Following the crisis that attended the primaries of the APC, Mr. Olusola Oke, also a legal practitioner and former top notcher of the PDP, decamped to the AD and snatched the governorship ticket of the party.
The party’s candidate, Akin Olowookere, who had earlier been recognized by INEC, was said to have stepped down for him.
But this development has sparked outrage in the party as the party’s National Legal Adviser, AD, Mr. Kehinde Aworele, said the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) did not recognise Oke as its governorship candidate.
As the election draws nearer, anything can still happen as 24 hours is a long time in politics.
So, the winner might just be another Omehia as the eventual winner might not even take part in the polls, going by the series of litigations ongoing in the case.
Analysts are agreed that with the way things are going, it may just end up as another judicial rascality. However, with the heat now on the judges even at the Supreme Court, things might be different this time around. Who wins? The electorate might not tell.
