http://thenationonlineng.net/web2/articles/41076/1/Disquiet-over-plot-to-replace-Akunyili-with-Emordi-/Page1.html

By Yomi Odunuga, the Nation newspaper

Tension has continued to envelope political circles in the federal capital territory over rumoured attempts by some power brokers to press for the replacement of former Information Minister, Prof. Dora Akunyili, with Mrs. Joy Emordi.

Akunyili was one of the nine cabinet members among the list of 33 fresh ministerial nominees forwarded to the Senate by Acting President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday for consideration and clearance.

Emordi’s election was nullified on Thursday by the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu on the ground that her election into the Senate in 2007 violated the spirit and letter of the Electoral Act 2006.

Before her election was annulled, she represented Anambra North Senatorial District on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The appellate court had since directed that Mr. Alphonsus Igbeke of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), who challenged Emodi’s election, be sworn in as the duly elected member representing Anambra North in the Senate. Igbeke is expected to be sworn in on Monday in line with the court’s ruling.

Investigation by The Nation at the weekend revealed that some unnamed senators were behind the push for Akunyili’s replacement with Emordi. The two women politicians are from Anambra State.

Many of the senators touted to be arrowheads of the replacement plot would not want to be openly associated with the matter, apparently owing to its sensitive nature.

However, a handful of the senators who commented on the matter yesterday on condition of anonymity said that if the reports were to be true, it would amount to grave injustice against Akunyili.

According to one of them, if effected, the development would portray Jonathan and the leadership of the PDP as unstable and fickle-minded, a development which they said could dent the credibility of the administration.

The senator, who represents one of the states in the north central zone, argued that replacing Akunyili with Emordi less than 72 hours after the latter was sacked from the Senate is capable of deepening public perception of the Acting President as someone that can easily be influenced to take the wrong steps.

Obviously worried by the rumour, the lawmaker stated: "If Jonathan goes ahead to replace Akunyili, then the those who kicked against his emergence as Acting President in the first place would have been vindicated.

"During consultations before we passed the resolution to make him Acting President, a good number of the senators opposed the idea because they argued that the man was not firm enough to be saddled with such responsibilities"

"One of the senators particularly kicked against the idea, saying that going by his antecedents, Jonathan, if made Acting President, would end up being an errand boy to some power brokers whose interests may be at variance with the common good. I hope the Acting President will not, in any way, fit this unenviable bill," the senator said.

Another senator from the south-west could not understand why a section of the political class would want to act in manners as to paint the PDP and its elected leaders as lacking in morals by attempting to reward what the Appeal Court has adjudged electoral robbery.

He asked: "Are these people now saying that it is morally permissible for people to engage in electoral fraud and be compensated when they are sacked by competent courts of law? What moral lesson will Jonathan or the PDP be teaching the Nigerian people if the replacement is effected?"

The lawmaker stated that it would have been understandable if Akunyili’s nomination had not been made public in the first place, stressing that the country cannot play politics of exigency over morality.

"Imagine a situation where the Nigerian people and the entire international community had been informed about someone’s nomination only for the person to be replaced in less than one week by another whose election had been adjudged fraudulent by a court of competent jurisdiction. In what light do they want the world to view the political leadership in Nigeria?" the senator queried.

The senator described as unfounded the reports in some dailies that the Senate would work against Akunyili’s interest if her nomination is not replaced with Emordi’s. The report had insinuated that members of the Senate were not happy with the role she played during her tenure in the last cabinet when she advised ailing President Umaru Yar’ Adua to step down on grounds of ill health.

Rather, the legislator said that Akunyili’s action reflected the position of the majority of the senators and members of the Nigerian public as well; stressing that the transfer of power to Jonathan has justified Akunyili’s position.

Meanwhile, the South East caucus in the Senate is reported to be cautious and will not like to jump into the fray until the signals are clear enough. The caucus, led by Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, is said to be studying the situation with a view to making its position known at the appropriate time.

In a sharp reaction, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, (CNPP) has described the alleged replacement plot as irresponsible, stressing that if it is effected, it would serve as a reward for dishonesty.

Commenting on the issue on yesterday, National Publicity Secretary of the CNPP, Mr. Osita Okechukwu, said that the entire scenario shows desperation on the part of Mrs. Emordi "after reaping bountifully from a stolen mandate for three years".

Okechukwu stated that under normal circumstances, rather than being made a minister, Emodi would have been compelled to refund all the salaries and allowances she collected as a senator on a false mandate for three years.

"I do not know where that story of replacement is coming from and I honestly do not want to believe that it is true. How could someone who had enjoyed a stolen mandate for three years and was refused by the Court of Appeal be dashed a ministerial slot? That is simply not logical and I know that will be a slap on the Jonathan government", Okechukwu told one of our correspondents yesterday in Abuja.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201003260011.html
Beatrice Onuchukwu, Akwa and Abdul-Rahman Abubakar (Daily Trust) 26.03.2010

Within hours after the Court of Appeal, Enugu Division threw Mrs. Joy Emodi out of the Senate, several senators commenced a campaign for Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to nominate her as a minister to replace the controversial former Minister of Information and Communication Prof. Dora Akunyili, who is one of the nine former ministers already nominated for reappointment. Emodi, like Akunyili, is from Anambra State.

The Court of Appeal had ruled yesterday that Mrs. Joy Emodi, who is a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member, was not the Senator duly-elected to represent Anambra North senatorial district. The Court, led by Justice Ola Kayode Ariwola, unanimously ruled that Mr. Alphonsus Uba Igbeke of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) was the authentic winner of the seat in the April 28, 2007 election.

A reliable source at the Senate told Daily Trust that many senators are determined that Mrs. Akunyili will not return to the Federal Executive Council. They said the Acting President should either drop her nomination or they will ensure that she fails at the Senate screening. As soon as Emodi lost her Senate seat yesterday, they cashed in on it and proposed her as a replacement.

The Election Petition tribunal had earlier returned Emodi as winner of the 2007 election, but Igbeke appealed the ruling on the grounds that she was not duly elected by a majority of lawful votes cast at the election and that her return was invalid by reason of substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act, 2006. He said he polled the majority of lawful votes cast at the election and ought to have been declared winner of the election.

He said there was no election in all the polling units/booths in Onitsha South and Ayamelum local government areas of Anambra North Senatorial District on April 28, 2007 and that all the votes credited to all the candidates at the polling units in both Onitsha South and Ayamelum LGAs be set aside and nullified.

According to him, election held in only five out of seven LGAs of Anambra East, Anambra West, Ogbaru, Onitsha North and Oyi LGAs of Anambra North Senatorial District but the electoral body did not collate the results of all the wards and LGA collation centres but proceeded to award arbitrary figures to the candidates not related to the votes cast at the election as declared by the Presiding Officers, and that they went ahead to return Emodi as the winner of the election.

He said that the non-conduct of the election in the two LGAs of Onitsha South and Ayamelum due to non-supply and distribution of election materials in these areas did not materially affect the result of the election, going by the total registered voters.

The Court agreed with him and directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to withdraw the Certificate of Return issued to Emodi and return same immediately to Igbeke.

Reacting to the judgment, counsel to Senator Emodi, Hipo Onwuegbuka, said as a lawyer, he accepted the judgment since the Court of Appeal is the final arbiter. Also speaking, counsel to Igbeke, Gozie Obi described the judgment as sound, saying though justice had been done, it took a fairly long time in coming. On his part, Igbeke expressed happiness at the judgment and said it showed that the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.

Speaking to Daily Trust on condition of anonymity last night, a senator said, "Several of us have resolved that Akunyili would not be allowed to return to the cabinet which she helped destabilise by her unguarded utterances before the dissolution of the FEC. We have started working to ensure that she is replaced by Senator Emodi who is also from Anambra state."

The senator said Akunyili's nomination is bound to face stiff opposition due to her comments in the wake of the political logjam caused by the illness of President Umaru Musa Yar'adua.

"She made comments unbecoming of a public officer. If you could remember, she was called to order by several highly placed individuals and institutions in the country, including the House of Representatives. Such a person should not be allowed to return to the cabinet," the senator said.

Daily Trust learnt that the senators have resolved after a meeting to push the proposal forward by convincing Senate President David Mark to support the replacement of Akunyili with Emodi.

The senators, according to our source, have resolved that should their bid for the replacement of Akunyili fail, "We will stand as opposition to her nomination during the screening and we will ensure that she is disqualified."

It was also gathered that lobbying has been intensified by former National Planning Minister Senator Sanusi Daggash to persuade senators to support his confirmation during the screening hearing.

"We have suggested to him (Daggash) that he must try to approach every senator because there is problem. There are senators that are bent on disqualifying him because of the problems he had with the Senate when he was minister. If you observe, his name was even booed by senators when it was announced," a source said.

Prof. Akunyili presented a memo to the last FEC seeking to declare President Umaru Musa Yar'adua incapacitated and she severally accused some of her colleagues of being part of a "cabal" standing between then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan and full presidential powers.

Her comments attracted condemnations from many quarters, including the PDP national leadership, the National Governors Forum and the House of Representatives. She was later sacked when Jonathan dissolved the FEC, only to resurface among the 33 nominees whose names have been sent to the Senate for confirmation, the process for which begins on Monday.