23rd May, 2023
By Femi Ogunshola
A pressure group, Legal Fortress Initiative (LFI), has advocated that Akwa Ibom governor-elect, Mr Umo Eno, should not be sworn into office until the completion of the ongoing litigation against him.
Eno won the March 18 governorship election in Akwa Ibom is scheduled to be sworn-in alongside his colleagues for a four year tenure on May 29.
“We are opposing the governor-elect being sworn-in on the basis of the court case, the court has ordered an arrest and such must be obeyed”, Mr Uduak Aniekeme, the secretary of the group said in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
The group noted that in addition to Eno’s case, there are similar cases in various states of the federation which observers say ought to be completed before the newly-elected individuals were sworn into office.
A Chief Magistrates’ Court in Wuse Zone 6, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), had ordered the arrest of Eno, then the governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party.
The order, issued by Emmanuel Iyanna followed a petition CR/94/2022 brought before the court by Edet Godwin Etim alleging “cheating and dishonestly”.
Aniekeme said if Eno was sworn in as governor, the office he would occupy would make it very difficult to continue with the prosecution.
He said checks by the group showed that there had been no motion filed by Umo Eno to set aside the court order on his arrest.
(NAN)