By: VITALIS UGOH, Calabar.
A Calabar High court presided over by Justice Efiom Eyol Ita has granted an exparte motion to stop the conduct of elections into the University of Calabar Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited.
The motion follows a suit instituted by messrs Emangha One Bassey and Obrikwu Sunny Ogar with suit No. HC/370/2016 against Pastor Patrick Ibiang, Elder Okon Isuambuk and thirteen others seeking for a declaration that the Management Committee of the University of Calabar Cooperative Society has over stayed its tenure in office and as such “all decisions taken by the management committee after the expiration of its tenure which is May 27th, 2016 are unlawful, null and void”.
They averred in “the Annual General Meeting (AGM), of the society held on the 28th of July, 2016 and the selection of Electoral Committee to conduct the election by the management Committee whose tenure had elapsed on the 27th of May, 2016 without recourse to amend the bye laws of the Co-operative Society was unlawful, illegal, null and void”.
Granting the expartre order, Justice Ita restrained the defendants and the Electoral Committee set up by the Management Committee of the Cooperative Society “from conducting elections into the Management Committee of the University of Calabar Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited pending the determination of the motion filed on 18th August, 2016”.
In a telephone chat, Pastor Patrick Ibiang, president of the Cooperative Society said that “there is no injunction stopping the conduct of my election tomorrow as I or the Electoral Committee have not been served with any injunction notice”.
Meanwhile one of the contestant for the office of president was alleged to have been kidnapped as at the time of filing this story.
He is Elder Okon Isumabuk of medical library department in the university of Calabar.