Supreme Court: Few Hours To Go To Decision Day

● Anxiety mounts in Rivers as supporters brace up for the final ruling

By Ogbonna Nwuke

The Supreme Court will in a couple of days from now deliver its judgment on the Rivers governorship case in Abuja,  the federal capital.

When the apex court sat on the matter on Monday, January 15, 2024, it defered its ruling after hearing submissions presented by legal counsels representing all the parties before it.

Slowly, the clock is ticking.

Days are giving ways to hours as minutes quickly flash past and the remaining hours to come, create tension and suspense in the hearts of prime supporters of the major players that are involved in the keen struggle for power.

This time, no one who has been watching from the sidelines, including those of them from the Rivers State, will look forward to the possibility of another extension of time from the Supreme Court.

Besides, time is something that the superior court does not have at this time.

The nation’s electoral laws indeed stipulate the extent of time allowed for the judiciary to decide such cases right from the tribunal, the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.

In Rivers State, anxiety is mounting by the day as the moment of decision gradually draws close.

Where will the pendulum of justice swing? Who will win? Will it be Tonye Cole of the APC or Siminalayi Fubara of the PDP?

Will the allies whose efforts during the campaign period made it possible for Sim Fubara’s victory in the last election stand together despite what can be seen as obvious differences in their midst?

No one is sure of what will happen or who the eventual victor in the ongoing scramble for office would be.

Tonye Cole and his lawyers have made their submissions. They are primarily insisting that Fubara did not resign his position as the State Accountant General before contesting the governorship race.

Also, they are asking the Supreme Court to nullify the election results of some of the local government areas in the State where electoral infractions allegedly occurred and accordingly declare the APC candidate as the winner of the election.

In Nigeria where indepen-dent candidates are yet to emerge, political parties provide the platform for all who aspire to be part of the ruling class.

Cole is however in court without the crucial support of his political party. The APC at the national level has since withdrawn its participation.

Those cases which are now ripe for hearing have dragged over many months from the tribunal stage, through the Court of Appeal, to the Supreme Court without the APC’s involvement.

Fubara who is urging the court to affirm his victory has persistently denied allegations that he did not comply with the provisions of the constitution and the Electoral Act as amended.

His lawyers have argued right from the tribunal stage that he resigned from office before venturing to contest in the actual election which brought him to power.

What view will the Supreme Court take when the presiding Justices take their position in the Temple of Justice?

How will the apex court which is the final arbiter resolve some of the constitutional issues that may be thrown up?

In many homes, many churches and many political camps across the State, prayers are being offered on a near daily basis as men and women who are supporters of the men of the moment seek the face of God.

Who of the two men who struggle to govern Rivers State will God anoint to lead the people? Will it be Sim Fubara or will it be Tonye Cole?

The picture of what is about to happen, which may lie beyond the line of vision of all who are intently interested in the Rivers governorship case, will become clear in a few more hours from now when Justices of the Supreme Court who have patiently listened to legal arguments presented before them, would take a strong position and make pronouncements that will point the direction of the political future of Rivers State.