The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) are two of 56 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) that have joined forces to demand Senate President Godswill Akpabio resign.
The Court of Appeal’s ruling to sustain Professor Peter Ogban’s conviction for allegedly tampering with election results to favor Akpabio reportedly prompted this demand.
The three-year jail sentence that Ogban was originally given after he was found guilty of tampering with the results of the 2019 Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial election in order to favor Akpabio, who was then running under the All Progressives Congress (APC), was upheld by the appellate court in Calabar on Wednesday.
“This ruling raises serious concerns about the legitimacy of Senator Akpabio’s mandate,” the CSOs said in a sharply worded joint statement on Monday in response to the decision in question.
They went on: “It is quite concerning that the election that put him in the Senate has now been shown to have been rigged by the courts. Any democratic society must respond to such a development with prompt accountability and competent leadership.
Despite Senator Akpabio’s repeated denials of any personal misconduct, the coalition contended that the conviction of the election officer who announced his victory calls into question the legitimacy of his term.
The CSOs called for the Senate President to step down in order to preserve public confidence and show that he or she is dedicated to democratic principles.
“There is more than one person involved in this. The goal is to rebuild public confidence in our election system. The statement said, “It subverts democratic values and sends a dangerous signal ahead of the 2027 general elections to allow the Senate President to remain in office under such serious ethical questions.”
Read Also:Â Aliyu Zubairu Backs Flying Eagles to Defeat Kenya
By delivering justice, the judiciary has made a daring step, and political actors now have an obligation to respond appropriately, they emphasized.
In light of the 2019 contest’s history, the coalition also questioned Akpabio’s eligibility to run in the 2023 elections or to serve as Senate president.
“Did Senator Akpabio have the legal or moral standing to run for a seat in the 10th National Assembly, let alone serve as its President?” they questioned, pointing out that he was a confirmed beneficiary of electoral fraud in the 2019 election to the 9th Senate, which he did not even finish because of his subsequent appointment as Minister of Niger Delta.
The organizations praised Mike Igini, the former Akwa Ibom REC, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for spearheading the prosecution and conviction of Ogban.
They also urged important democratic institutions, such as the National Assembly, the courts, and INEC, to use this ruling as a springboard to strengthen protections against electoral fraud.
Finally, the alliance called on the APC to honor its democratic ideals by holding a rerun or revalidation process for the senatorial seat of Akwa Ibom North-West.
“Judicial action has fulfilled its role. The political leadership must now step up and demonstrate to Nigerians and the rest of the world that no one is above the law, not even the Senate President,” the CSOs said.
