Tag: abia

After the governorship election in Abia State and more specifically, since after the ruling of the Court of Appeal which sacked Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of PDP and declared Dr Alex Otti of APGA as duly elected governor, the political atmosphere in the state has been charged. As a major player in Abia State politics in the last eight years, what would you say is the root cause of the current political tension?

We have to understand what is happening from the historical perspective of Abia State politics. Abia is divided into two distinct blocs – the old Bende Division and the old Aba Division. The old Bende Division has eight local government areas and the old Aba Division has nine. Abia North is exclusively old Bende, Abia South is exclusively old Aba; and then in Abia Central, we have three local government areas from each of the two divisions. This is the composition of Abia State. Now, when you go back into history, starting from the First Republic, Dr M. I. Okpara, Premier of Eastern Region, was from old Bende Division and when you come to the period of the military rule, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe, Admiral Ndubuisi Kanu, Major General Ike Nwachukwu, Amadi Ikweche, Admiral Chijioke Kaja, Navy Captain Osondu were all from old Bende.

Also, the first civilian governor of Abia State, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, is from old Bende, before the creation of Ebonyi State, when his community became part of today’s Ebonyi State. The remaining former civilian governors, Orji Uzor Kalu and Theodore Ahamefule Orji, were also both from old Bende though under the current political division, Kalu is from Abia North while Orji is from Abia Central.

So, this has been the issue. No Ngwa person had governed the state. All they have produced since the days of the late Chief Sam Onunaka Mbakwe of old Imo State was deputy governors. The two deputy governors that Mbakwe had, Dr Agbalaha and Chief Paul Uzoigwe, were all from Ngwa land. It is as if the rest of the state is saying that the old Aba cannot produce the governor of the state. So, Abians came together and felt that it is fair that the current governor of Abia State should come from Ngwa land, from old Aba Division, especially from Abia South, or if you like, from Ukwa Ngwa. This is based on rotation. The truth is that old Bende may have been politically more powerful but old Aba has higher population and the commercial nerve centre of Igbo land, Aba, is located in old Aba Division. So, no fair minded person should continue to say they should not be given the chance to also produce the state governor. That is the perspective that we have to understand the current tension. During the last election, practically all the political parties chose their governorship candidates from this part of the state, Abia South, as a sign that everyone accepts the need for fairness based on rotation. So, for the first time they had the chance and they voted overwhelmingly for their son. So, for someone to say suddenly that this thing they have been dreaming of and they got it, it is no longer so. For them, it is unacceptable. This is part of the tension, especially because of the means they were or about to be denied this opportunity. Obingwa, the local government area of origin of the governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, and the two neighbouring LGAs, Isialangwa North and Osisioma, which is his natural base, the votes of these three local government areas, which favoured him overwhelmingly, were totally cancelled by the Court of Appeal. This means that Ikpeazu, his wife, family and relatives did not vote for him. Another issue here is the voting pattern of Abia State. We all know that to win a governorship election in Abia State, you must win Obingwa and Bende. Otti won in Bende and Ikpeazu won overwhelmingly in Obingwa, his local government of origin, only for the court to cancel it, in addition to Osisioma and Isialangwa North. Now, when you look at the voting strength of these three LGAs, it is one-third of the entire voting strength of Abia State. So, there is nowhere A or B can win Abia governorship election without the result of one-third of the state’s voting strength. Take the federal government for example, if you remove the results of Katsina, Kaduna and Kano from Buhari, there is nowhere he would have won 2015 presidential election.

Otti and his party, the PDP, are alleging that the Court of Appeal denied them fair hearing but some people said the judges were courageous and their ruling fair?

Have the people making these statements read the judgment? If you read the judgment of the Court of Appeal, you will notice that APGA tendered two card reports – one for about 169,000 votes in Obingwa and the other for about 146,000 votes for the same Obingwa local government. In law, it is elementary that if a party presents two conflicting evidence, the court will not rely on it. But what the Court of Appeal did in this matter was to rely fully on this same contradicting evidence to give judgment. You will note a difference of 23,000 votes. I am saying that instead of throwing away the evidence for being contradictory and therefore unreliable, the Court of Appeal said the 23,000 votes were ‘infinitesimal.’ This is a basic error in law and in fact.

They also relied on the evidence of a lady staff of INEC, who came to tender one of the two card readers reports. The issue is that somebody, a particular person was the subpoena; it is a man, a known person, not an office, but the woman came to tender it. She was not the maker of the report, the subpoena and she did not say in her evidence why the specific person that ought to have made the subpoena did not come to make it.

On the issue of lack of a fair hearing, when you read the judgment, the inescapable impression you will get is that the Court of Appeal is angry with the tribunal for whatever reason. What happened was that PDP and Dr Okezie Ikpeazu suffered from transferred aggression in the hands of the Court of Appeal. This is because the Court of Appeal resolved every issue on the matter in favour of APGA and Dr Alex Otti. The Court of Appeal restored all the preliminary objections of Dr Otti that were struct out by the tribunal and instead of asking the litigants to address the court on these issues which it restored, it proceeded to give judgment on these issues without hearing from PDP and Ikpeazu. This is not fair hearing.

There is also a fact which most people may not know, APGA did not field any candidate in the two state constituencies in Obingwa LGA. That means even before the elections, APGA had conceded defeat in Obingwa. If you don’t have candidate in the state House of Assembly Election, who will canvass votes for you, mobilize people for you, who do you expect to vote for you in the governorship election? In these other local governments that are involved, the question we should ask ourselves is who won there in the state assembly elections? It is on record that PDP won in those elections overwhelmingly. So, how can you cancel the governorship election and leave the others? The elections for governorship and State House of Assembly took place the same day, the same time in the same polling booths, and under the same conditions.

So, as a lawyer, if you were to preside over the appeal, what would you have done?

I would have thrown out Dr. Otti’s appeal as lacking any merit, simple! Look, Dr. Okezie won the election fair and square. What the court said, making references to the malfunctioning of the card reader, was that there was over-voting and rigging. But no evidence of rigging or electoral malpractice was tendered before the court. No security agency, the Police, the Army, Navy, etc, gave any evidence of violence or malpractice. What the court said was that the card reader showed that X Y Z voters were accredited through the card reader and more votes were cast. So, the court cancelled the elections in those three LGAs and ruled that there was over-voting. But everyone in Nigeria knows that in the 2015 election it was not only the card reader’s accreditation that was used. INEC announced openly that because the card readers were malfunctioning, manual accreditation should be used to support it. As a result, some people, whose accreditation could not be done by the malfunctioning card readers, were actually accredited manually. But the Appeal Court ignored this obvious fact. Let me tell you, if we accept this, it means that every other election done in 2015, including Buhari’s election, and the re-run elections done this year, should be cancelled.

You are from Item in Abia North, why are you so passionate about this matter?

I know the consequences of what the Court of Appeal is trying to do. Abia is on precipice. Their judgment portends grave danger to Abia because where people feel that you have deliberately used money, power or influence to take governorship or ruler ship, they will resist it. Recall the Operation Wetie in the First Republic. It also happened in the Second Republic. If this situation is not remedied, the security challenges in Abia State awhile ago may be a child’s play, God forbid!

Are you saying there is a threat by the three local government areas that unless Ikpeazu becomes governor, Abia would be under siege?

No, it is not just the three local government areas that are crying for justice in this matter. People from Abia North and Abia Central have spoken out in support of justice. Take what happened in Nigeria in 1998/1999 when the whole country deliberately gave the South-West the opportunity to produce the president. Then, all the political parties gave their tickets to the Yoruba South-West because after the June 12 annulment of Chief MKO Abiola’s clear election, Nigeria was destabilized.

But is Alex Otti not also from Ngwaland, from Abia South, like Okezie Ikpeazu?

No, Otti is from Arochukwu. This strange story about his being an Ngwa man started in 2015 when he wanted to contest the governorship and realized that it has been zoned to Ngwaland. We all know that Dr. Otti is ‘nwa Mazi’ from Arochukwu. At best, he is a customary tenant in Ngwa land. But it is clear that Otti is the proxy of APC in Abia State.

No, Otti is in APGA. He has never been in APC. He is the governorship candidate in Abia State.

Yes, Otti is the proxy of APC in Abia State. He is a member of APC. His body and soul is in APC although he has not announced his membership of the party officially. But if by a stroke of wide magic the Supreme Court upholds the ruling of the Appeal Court and declares Otti as the governor, within 48 hours he will defect to APC.

Is that the fear of the PDP?

It is not the fear but we know that Otti has a pact with APC. You help me become governor and I will join you. Immediately after the presidential election, Otti went to the first NEC meeting of APC. For what? To seek assistance to become the governor. Don’t forget that one of his bosom friend and classmate or schoolmate, who is a serving minister and a former governor, is the person who facilitated this thing. Look, APC procured the Abia judgment for Otti. That is what is happening.

Are you insinuating that the court was political?

The judgment they gave was not based on any evidence before them. It was not based on law; it was not based on facts. So, to most people, this Abia Appeal court was biased. It was partisan. It is a primary issue in law that when a litigant tells the judges, my Lord, I do not think I will get justice before you; I do not want you to handle my case. It is primary that the said judge or justices should hands off. It is primary for you to hands off to show that you are not biased. But in this instant case, PDP complained from onset but the court refused and went on to give this judgment. So, the fear of the litigant has been justified and when you remember that in this same dispensation, some litigants wrote and made similar complaints about the composition of their panel and the judges listened and a new panel was set up.

Abia State All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate Alex Otti spoke with reporters in Lagos on the litigation between him and Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and his expectations as the final battle shifts to the Supreme Court. EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

THE Abia State governorship battle has shifted to the Supreme Court. What are your expectations?

The Supreme Court would uphold the decision of the Appeal Court because it was a well- grounded judgment that they gave. The major issues are very clear. If you go by the registered voters, there were about 1.3 million registered voters in Abia State from 17 local governments.

The PDP knew they were not going to win that election. So, all they did was to isolate three local governments that they used to perpetrate fraud – Osisioma, Obingwa and Isiala Ngwa North. On the day of election, they removed the original sheets for ward and local government collation for the three local governments and they packed them in Government House. We have this on good authority. And all what they did was, on the day of election, they ensured that there was maximum violence in those three local governments. They would come to a polling unit, they would shoot into the air, people would run away, they would carry all the materials and take off. And what they now did was to wait for the collation to start.

At the 14th local government, I was leading by 60,000 votes and they quickly filled those original result sheets that they had taken, in collusion with some corrupt INEC officials and forced them into collation centre. So that is exactly what happened. Those results from Osisioma, Obingwa and Isiala Ngwa North were fake results written in Government House with the active connivance of former Governor Theo Orji and all the PDP people.

They forced them into the collation centre. The Returning Officer, with all the complaints that there were no elections in those places and those results were coming, he quickly announced that he was cancelling the results of  those three local governments.

Now, the PDP with all its impunity, stormed the collation centre, in a brazen manner, took the Returning Officer upstairs with the Resident Electoral Commissioner, stayed with them for about 45 minutes with policemen and all kinds of people, intimidated them and by the time they came back, they were panicking and the Returning Officer grabbed the microphone and reversed himself. That is what happened and collated all the results he had earlier cancelled, so that is what the issue is in Abia State.

What we would have expected a democrat to do would have been to choose the option to go to Supreme Court rather than calling elders out to the streets to protest, block the roads, with a lot of impunity. Some people told me they were in traffic for almost a day in Aba because people had taken over the streets. I believe that that is the only state where the elders got themselves together and pour out on the streets because courts had established the issue, why they have to go out to the street because that’s the only source of livelihood.

Finally, there is something I wanted to talk about in those local governments. People are talking today about disenfrachisement. I watched and I saw people talking about disenfranchisement and others. There are about 230,000 voters in the three local governments and that represents less than 14 per cent of the voting population in Abia State. If PDP had allowed the cancellation to stand, at the time the Supplementary Election on the 25th April, 2015, I believe that a rerun would have happened, but because they were in power, they barged into the collation centre, forced a reversal of that cancellation and got declared.

The PDP has alleged that the composition of the Court of Appeal panel favoured you. What is your reaction?

Well, I saw a petition that they wrote, that petition came barely 24hours before the panel sat and quite frankly, I don’t know what to react to. I do not know how panels are set up. So I understand that it is the President of the Court of Appeal that sets up panels, maybe when you see her, you ask her. But the reality is that the Court of Appeal is Court of Appeal, okay. If you follow a case that Governor Nyesome Wike filed that went up to the Supreme Court, I believe when that case was decided, the Supreme Court said Court of appeal is Court of Appeal irrespective of where you sit, I mean inspite of where you sit. So if they decided to sit in Abuja, Port- Harcourt or anywhere, that is the prerogative of the Court of Appeal.

My reaction is that PDP unfortunately is not in a position to determine the membership of the panel, neither was I in a position to do that. But then if you want us to talk about things we have heard, we also start talking about things we have heard, but we don’t have prove of them. But I know that the chairman of the panel does not come from Lagos, except if they just transferred her to Lagos. The last time I checked she was the presiding judge in Benue Division in Makurdi. So, I don’t know what the hell they are talking about.

Since the battle for governorship started, has there been attempts on your life?

There has been, but I don’t have fear because I am a child of God. The Bible says touch not my anointed and do my prophet no harm. There have been attempts to eliminate me, those attempts failed and they will continue to fail. I am sure you must have been aware of the one that happened in Abuja. I was in the place on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and on Thursday morning, God told me to move away from there, relocate, move to another town and I left. By Thursday night, over 10 gunmen stormed my residence in Abuja, killed the mobile policeman attached to me and turned the whole place upside down, but God has taken me away. He will continue to protect me. I don’t have any fear. The Bible also says if Jehovah does not watch over a city in vain is the watch by men.

Many believe that this is not the time to aspire to be a governor in this country, considering the economy and other sundry challenges. Why is your enthusiasm still high?

It is good question, but you have also answered it. This is the time for uncommon people to come into governance, people who have things to deliver. It is not going to be a tea party and I have come to face the challenges. I was reading an article recently and someone said he is supporting me because I can read a balance sheet. People who cannot read a balance sheet should not aspire to the position of leadership because this is a challenging time and it is time creative people, people who have something to offer, people who have skills who know what to do without necessarily going to Abuja cap in hand waiting for Federal allocation and bringing it back and sharing it amongst loyalists. It is a time for people like us to come in and salvage the situation.

I am aware of the enormous challenges and I did a study that took about a month with the consultant that I hired to do a study of Abia State and when the results came out, I was shockED at the level of rot and infrastructural decay, lack of direction that has been the lot of the state. Hospitals were in very terrible shape and they still remain in such shape, no roads, Aba is gone and Umuahia is a glorified village. From Umuahia to Ukwa, nothing to show for it and people are insisting that they want to rule and by the time they finish, they bring their house boys and drivers to succeed them so that they can still be in charge. But this is the time for people who have something to come in.

If you have read something about me, you will know that I thrive in such circumstances. I am blessed to create something from nothing. I do know how bad it is where oil prices are today, how Federal revenues have gone down, but I do also know that my people are very creative people. All they need from government is the enabling environment for them to do their businesses and they will pay once you are able to give them good roads, water and electricity. You provide security for them, good hospitals and ensure the quality of education is in top shape. Then the place will do well, but it requires well trained and well skilled people to do that.

 

Following the Court of Appeal order for a fresh election in Abia North Senatorial District, former governor Orji Uzor Kalu of Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), Senator Mao Ohuabunwa of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), David Onuoha-Bourdex of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and other big stakeholders have gone back to the drawing board for what insiders say would be a ‘big clash.’ Associate Editor, Sam Egburonu, reports on the current intrigues and what may decide the result of the election

Since the Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, the Imo State capital, upheld the appeal of the former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, against Mao Ohuabunwa’s election as the senator representing Abia North Senatorial District, the political texture of the zone has become highly charged.

Kalu’s appeal against the ruling of the election tribunal was based on the tribunal’s non-admittance in evidence of the list of accredited voters register of the zone though it was reportedly obtained and duly signed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Hon. Justice I. G. Mbaba, in his ruling on the matter, had described the ruling of the tribunal as not only “misconceived but sad and absurd, by rejecting the true certified copy of the INEC document, stating that the accredited voters’ register of Abia North met the provisions of the Evidence Act in respect to computer generated data.” The court therefore ordered a fresh election in the senatorial zone.

The growing passion

With this ruling, the candidates and other major stakeholders in the zone have quickly returned to the drawing board to restrategise for the fresh contest.

Our investigation this week across Arochukwu, Bende, Isuikwuato, Ohafia and Umunneochi, the five local government areas that make up the senatorial zone, shows that most of the leading candidates in the cancelled election, especially Orji Uzor Kalu of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) , Mao Ohuabunwa of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), David Onuoha-Bourdex of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), have already commenced fresh mobilisation in a bid to take the plum seat.

Some electorates who spoke with The Nation during the week said the fresh election is poised to throw up long suppressed passion that may ultimately shape the future political tendency of the people in the zone and in Abia State in general.

“Here in Item, the tension is already building up. This is understandable because our people are particularly touchy over the entire process and are determined, this time around, to make a point to the rest of the people in Abia State. Item ancient kingdom, which is made up of nine medium-sized towns, have been greatly marginalised since 1999. Taking cognizance of the huge population of Item Kingdom and the near absence of dividends of democracy here, the  people feel betrayed both by the PDP and the PPA that have had the opportunity of ruling this state before. The serious candidates and political leaders in the state, who saw the true result of the last elections from this area know this fact and seem desperate now to lobby Item electorates,” said Udoka Orji, from Item in Bende Local Government Area. Orji, a public administrator, analyst and politician, contended that “if the fresh election is free and fair, many would be shocked as people’s true political interests here have been suppressed for too long by cabals who have no interest of Item people.”

Mrs Ebere Kalu, a teacher in Asaga Ohafia, Ohafia Local Government Area, also spoke with passion on the likely outcome of the fresh election in Abia North. “We are not happy at what has been happening in our political environment. Here in Abia State, elections are repeatedly manipulated by a few greedy members of the political cabal that have no interest of the people. With this fresh election, we are praying that INEC and the security agencies will do their jobs well so that the people’s vote will count. It is only when this is done that we can truly say, this is the popular political party or candidate. For now, it has remained the game of the powerful ones against us, the common people.”

Considered as one of the most hotly contested zones in the country during the  March 28, 2015 senatorial election, and given the alleged desperation of the high profile candidates, observers say the Abia North fresh election promises to be very intriguing.

Quest for fairness

The quest, amongst the five local government areas that made up the senatorial district to produce top political leaders is at the back of the rising political temperature in the area.

For example, following Kalu’s failure to break the backbone of the PDP  power lords in the state and return to the party, his critics said the Abia North senatorial contest represents for him the ultimate battle to remain politically relevant in the state. They said it is his grand plot to return to the scene and square up with his political detractors who held him down for eight years.

Even his associates and supporters do not contest this allegation as they clearly express their determination to ensure Kalu’s victory, explaining that it would serve as a stepping stone to the battle for the political soul of Abia State. As Dr. Orji Onyiukwu puts it, “The people afraid of the former governor’s victory at the senatorial contest are afraid of his return to the political scene because they can’t stand him. We are happy the appeal court saw through the electoral fraud that purported Mao Ohuabunwa of PDP as the duly elected senator for Abia North. So, we are not taking this fresh election lightly as we intend to ensure that the right candidate wins.”

It would be recalled that prior to the 2015 general election, Kalu had issues with PDP leadership in the state and only had to pursue his senatorial ambition by resorting to the PPA platform at the last minute.

The build up to the 2015 senatorial election intrigues in Abia North did not however begin with Orji’s alleged political calculations. It would be recalled that before the demise of former Senator Uche Chukwumerije, other local government areas in the state had protested his alleged plan to return to the senate for a record fourth term.

They argued that the senatorial seat should move to another local government area in the zone. Incidentally, Chukwumerije, who hailed from Umunneoche LGA, passed on to glory just before the election. His exit at that time contributed in building up the passion that characterized the Abia North election which initially produced PDP’s Ohuabunwa from Arochukwu LGA as Chukwumerije’s successor. At the fresh election, this quest and the resultant passion will continue to influence both the election and the result.

‘Big boys game’

Apart from the issue of which local government area or political party that will produce the next senator, a major factor that will likely heat up the political scene during the election and may ultimately count at the final result is the high profile nature of the senatorial candidates. Other factors include the deep pocket of the leading candidates and the popularity of the political parties in the area.

Among the high profile candidates that will contest the election are former Abia State governor, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu of PPA, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa of PDP, whose short stay at the senate was cut short by the appeal court ruling that ordered the fresh election, Dr. David Onuoha (Bourdex) of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Nnennaya N. Lancaster Okoro of All Progressives Congress (APC).

Orji, who hails from Igbere in Bende LGA, served as the Executive Governor of Abia State for eight years from 1999 to 2007. Although he has not occupied any other political office after leaving Umuahia as the governor, and although his several clashes with other political forces within and outside the state may have left some bruises, observers say he remains, till today, as one of the most popular and widely connected politician from the state. A grassroots politician, he is also said to have uncanny mobilisation potentials that may be very difficult to surpass. Also, as the Chairman of SLOK and one of the current richest men in Africa, Orji sure has deep pocket to draw from. Sources said although he seemed reluctant when his aides bought his nomination form, the former governor, who suffered severe political blow as a result of the face- off he had with his political grandson and former governor, now Senator Theodore Ahamefule Orji, is determined to secure the Abia North Senatorial seat as it will serve as a vantage position to reposition himself politically.

Like Orji, the other leading candidates are no pushovers. For example, PDP’s candidate, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, from Arochukwu Local Government Area, is also a frontline politician. A long serving lawmaker, who was a member of the 4th and 5th National Assembly, Ohuabunwa, who served as Deputy Leader of House of Representatives and Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament, has advantage of experience over other contestants. Sources confided that the founder of Ohuabunwa Foundation also has deep pocket.

Chief David Ogba Onuoha (Boudex) of APGA, on the other hand, has advantage of the popularity of his party in this part of Abia State. The Ugoena Abiriba, is also not to be intimidated by war chest of any of the candidates, being a well known business tycoon. As one of the pioneering entrepreneurs  on telephony, plastics business  and other specialised concerns, Boudex, as he is popularly called, does not only have deep pocket but is said to be a top player in the financial scene across the country.

This concentration of ‘big boys’ in the Abia North election is a major factor that has raised the tempo. Even the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Nnennaya N. Lancaster Okoro, a lawyer with concrete local and international connection, is also considered not a pushover in her own right.

Parties’ influence

Another major factor is the clash of influence of the contending political parties. Since 1999, Abia State has been a PDP state and given the sudden demise of Chukwumerije, his supporters are expressing sentiment over the need to honour him by remaining faithful to PDP. But recent developments suggest that the other parties like APGA and PPA may be more popular in Abia North than results of previous elections have shown. During the cancelled election, observers said APGA attracted many supporters. As for PPA, which was formed by Kalu when he was governor and when he had initial issues with PDP, it has always been marketed in Bende and the entire Abia North as “our own party.” This reality, coupled with the candidate’s influence in the area is a factor that may not be ignored.

As for APC’s Nnennaya N. Lancaster Okoro, a relatively new face in this area, most electorates said she is sure to get impressive following if she becomes more visible. This, they said, is because of the success of her political party at the centre, the suppressed quest for new crop of leaders and the grudge still being nursed by majority of Abia North electorates against previous governments in the state over alleged neglect and marginalisation.

Given the calibre of the major stakeholders and the broader interests at stake, not a few are surprised at the ripples being generated by the soon-to-be held Abia North senatorial election.