There is palpable tension in Akwa Ibom as the Supreme Court is expected to deliver final judgment on the governorship election petition between the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Mr. Udom Emmanuel and his All Progressives Congress (APC) opponent, Mr. Umana Okon Umana, today.
In an earlier ruling, the Election Petitions Tribunal, which relocated from Uyo to Abuja, nullified the governorship election in 18 out of the 31 local government areas leaving 13 where Emmanuel would still have had 495,204 valid votes as against Umana’s 37, 572 were the status quo maintained.
But both parties, not satisfied with the tribunal judgement, headed to the Court of Appeal in Abuja. While the PDP wanted a reversal to status quo ante, the APC wanted total nullification to set the tone for a fresh election in all local government areas.
On December 18, 2015, the Court of Appeal granted the APC’s wish when it nullified the April 11, 2015 election and ordered a rerun.
The PDP kicked against the ruling and headed to the Supreme Court.
Since the PDP moved to the Supreme Court, there have been diverse pre-emptive expressions of faith in the integrity of the court to deliver judgment that would be favourable to the party concerned.
Former national chairman of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), now BoT member of APC, Chief Don Etiebet, told Inner room that, “the Supreme Court would look at the fact of the judgment of the Appeal Court; and I know everything was quite legalistic, constitutional and up to the point; no ambiguity whatsoever.
Also former chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Information, who represented  Eket Federal Constituency, Mr. Eseme Eyiboh, told Inner room he believed the Supreme Court would toe the line of the Court of Appeal: “I expect justice. And the justice of it is that they will affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal. I am not pre-empting it but it is because of the justice of it.”