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To this end, and in my position as media adviser to Rt. Hon. Eteng J. Williams, the Senator-elect for Cross River Central, I make bold to say that the situation is borne out of an arrant display of gross disrespect, mischief and serious desperation for power which has been taken too far. In fact, it amounts to Barr. Ekpere-Eta seeking to become a Senator through the back door. This is not in any way taking away the right of any genuinely aggrieved individual seeking redress in the courts but in this instant matter, Barr. Ekpere-Eta needs to come to terms with the futility of litigating ad infinitum.
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1). It declared that the primary election be nullified having not been conducted in accordance with the extant provision of the Electoral act, 2022 and the constitution of the APC (This decision bothers on change of venue for the primary)
2). There is no validly elected candidate for the APC for Cross River State Central Senatorial District
3). The APC was ordered to forward its earlier list of nominated candidates to INEC for a fresh primary election within 14 days
4). The fresh primary is to be attended and participated by all nominated delegates
Barr. Ekpere-Eta shortly after the fresh primary was conducted in December 2022, again challenged the outcome in suit No.FHC/A45|CS/2377/2022 which
she filed on the 30th of Dec, 2022 just 10 days after the President-elect of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Calabar publicly appealed to her and other aggrieved aspirants to drop all court cases for the sake of peace and unity of the party.
Under legal advice, Rt. Hon. Williams went ahead to appeal a part of the the Federal High Court judgment against him to forestall any future litigation that may arise thereafter.
On the 13th of February, 2023 few days before the general elections, judgment was delivered by the Appeal Court, which held in favour of Eteng Williams
1). That issue of political membership of Eteng Williams has already been decided by a court of competent jurisdiction, the trial court was, therefore, not-competent to re-open for the decision in the instant case.
Mary Ekpere-Eta again not satisfied with the decision of the Appeal Court, shun all reconciliatory moves offered to her by the party to withdraw from the court. She proceeded to vent her disobedience at the apex court by filing an appeal at the Supreme Court on the 25th of February which was determined on the 23rd of March.
The appeal was dismissed in favour of Eteng Williams as follows:
1). The membership of Eteng Willaims was determined by the decision of Taiwo Taiwo, J, and has not been set aside. As at the fresh elections, the 1st Respondent (Eteng Williams) did not belong to PDP, but APC. A fresh election was conducted and you lost. Now, you have brought this same issue before this court to say that he is not qualified. Your issue before this court is the sole issue that borders on the political party of the 1st Respondent. You are very well aware that this matter has been settled by a court of competent jurisdiction.
2). It has also come to our notice that the first primary conducted has been overtaken by events and nullified. There is nothing on the basis of the 1st election that should come before this court. If you want relief against the 1st Respondent, you should chase him as of now (where he is), not as of then (where he was). You have another matter against the 2nd election at the Federal High Court. Go there and face them there. But you are not to overwork this court and meddle in facts. There is nothing before us on the 1st order of the trial court, and the order is still subsisting, meaning that we cannot say anything on the order. What you have now is the 2nd primary which means that the order of the trial court has been complied with.
3.) Now, you should know your fate by the basis of what this court has made known to you. Do you think, with what you now know, that you should continue with this appeal?
Above is the case proceedings of March, 23 at the Supreme Court.
Not satisfied, she still has a pending suit which she filed at the Federal High Court which will come up for hearing on the 17th of April, 2023.
This clarification has become necessary in view of mischief makers trying to misrepresent the fact as to who is in court. From the foregoing, it is clear that Barr. Mary Ekpere-Eta is the guilty party here. It is obvious that she is not interested in letting the Party apply it's internal mechanisms to resolve any outstanding areas of disagreements. She has also made it clear that all personal overtures from Senator-Elect Eteng Williams are not welcome by her. What more does she want?
It is almost fortuitous that this matter has lingered this long because of her obstinacy and disrespect to the National Leadership of the APC, the President-Elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Governor Ben Ayade and other leaders of the APC in Cross River State due to her unwelcoming attitude to any peaceful resolution of an issue. She is not the first person to have lost a party primary and she will not be the last. The Party is large enough to accommodate all interests, only if she is willing to co-exist in partnership and collaboration.
It is surprising that she has chosen a path of self-destruction, arrogance, and disrespect to the National leadership of the APC.
By the way, it is intriguing that the APC lost all the elections in her polling unit. Could this be as a result of vendetta on her part or could this be due to the fact that her electoral capital is non-existent?
Whatever may be the case, Cross River Central Senatorial District deserves the best and have elected Rt. Hon. Eteng Jonah Williams as the best to go to the Senate on their behalf. That is a verifiable fact.
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