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Tag: Chief Victor Umeh

  • Minimum Wage: Nigerian workers deserve a better deal—Victor Oye

    Dr Victor Oye, National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) on Wednesday in Awka said Nigerian Workers deserve all that they could get due to their contributions to development of the country.

    Oye, made the assertion in an interview with our reporter, said the economic reality of the country had made workers the “weeping boys” of the system.

    He urged the Federal Government to not only enhance their pay but improve on their working conditions.

    The APGA chairman commended the quality of negotiations between government, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Organised Private Sector that led to aversion of the threatened industrial action.

    Oye commended the Anambra Government for paying salaries on the 25th every month and for being among the first states to offer to pay N30, 000 minimum wage

    “Nigerian workers deserve a better deal considering the harsh economic atmosphere in the country; they have always been at the receiving end.

    “That the Federal Government is able to avert the strike brought a huge relief to Nigerians and averted what would have come with consequences of embarrassing proportion.

    “APGA urges the federal and state governments to take the welfare of workers seriously.

    “They must come up with a programme on how to develop the cognitive and latent talents of workers to make them more productive,” he said.

    Read Also:I’m committed to new minimum wage – Buhari

    On his part, Senator Victor Umeh, representing Anambra Central at the National Assembly, said he considered the N30,000 a meager amount that could not lift any home out if poverty.

    Umeh argued that governors could pay the amount the NLC was asking for if they could appropriate the state resources efficiently and be more innovative.

    “Nigerian workers do not have a living wage; we cannot continue to pretend and say there is no money when a lot of people are living in affluence.

    “They deserve living wage, even the N30, 000 they are demanding is not a living wage, government should know how to manage its resources to enable it pay workers,” he said.

    Umeh thanked workers for suspending the strike that was to begin on Nov. 6 and expressed the hope that all parties would respect the terms reached during the negotiations.

  • Umeh wins Anambra Central Rerun election

    Umeh wins Anambra Central Rerun election

    Chief Victor Umeh of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) has won the Anambra Central Senatiorial rerun election.

    The election took place in seven local government areas  of Anambra: Njikoka, Awka North, Idemili South, Dunukofia, Awka South, Anaocha and Idemili North.

    APGA won in the seven council areas in the result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) early Sunday morning.

    The result showed that in Njikoka, APGA got 11, 506 votes while All Progressive Congress (APC) got 158.

    In Awka North, APGA and APC scored 7,572 and 81 votes respectively while in Idemili South, APGA garnered 4,647 votes against APC’s 104 votes.

    Also in Dunukofia APGA scored 7, 307 votes while the APC got 124.

    APGA also swept Awka South with 12,384 votes against its closest rival APC which got 231 votes, while in Anaocha council area, APGA and APC got 12, 245 votes and 120 votes respectively.

    In Idemili North, APGA won with 9,218 votes.

    Announcing the result, Prof. Charles Esimone, the Returning Officer, said Umeh having scored the highest number of votes with 64, 878, was the winner of the contest and returned elected.

    Esimone, who is Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, said the number of registered voters in the seven local government areas were 745, 828 out of which 67, 872 were accredited.

    “I,  Prof. Charles Esimone certify that I am the Returning Officer for the Anambra Central Senatiorial rerun election.

    “I hereby declare that Chief Victor Umeh, having satisfied the conditions of the election and scored the highest number of votes, is declared winner and returned elected,” he said.

    The APC, with Sen. Chris Ngige as candidate, was second with 975 votes while Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) came third with 116 votes.

    Other parties that got votes were the Mega Progressive Peoples Party (MPPP), 111 votes; Labour Party (LP), 95; National Conscience Party (NCP), 72; Alliance for Democratic Congress (ADC), 57; United Progressives Party (UPP), 55; Green Party of Nigeria (GPN), 48 and Action Congress for Democrats (ACD), 33.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that votes were cancelled in four polling units in Awka South where there were cases of over voting and in Agulu, Anaocha council where people where accredited manually.

    Also in Idemili South, over voting was recorded in two units.

    Earlier, Dr Nkwachukwu Orji, Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in Anambra, thanked all stakeholders including the electorate, poll officials, observers and journalists for contributing to the success and peaceful conduct of the election.(NAN)

  • Anambra: PDP urges Supreme Court to void judgment excluding it from election

    Anambra: PDP urges Supreme Court to void judgment excluding it from election

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, excluding it and its candidate from participating in the fresh election earlier ordered by the court’s Enugu division for Anambra central Senatorial district.

    The request is contained in two notices of appeal filed against two judgments of the Appeal Court, Abuja on November 20 this year, in appeal filed by Chief Victor Umeh and another (CA/A/160/2016) and Independent National Electoral Commission (CA/A/165/2016).

    In the two notices of appeal filed on Wednesday by its National Legal Adviser, David Iorhemba, the PDP urged the Supreme Court to set aside the judgments and ordered INEC to include it and its candidate in the fresh election.

     The Appeal Court in Abuja had, in its judgment on November 20 this year, ordered INEC to, within 90 days, conduct fresh election to fill the vacate seat in Anambra Central Senatorial District, but with the exclusion of the PDP and its candidate.

    Umeh and INEC had filed their appeals against the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in which Justice Anwuli Chikere, ordered the inclusion of the PDP and its candidate, Senator Uche Ekwenife in the fresh election after the Court of Appeal in Enugu, on July 2015 voided her (Ekwenife’s) election for having not been a “product of a valid primary and was therefore not duly and legitimately nominated.”

    The PDP, in its notices of appeal to the Supreme Court, raised three grounds of appeal, among which was that the Court of Appeal erred in law when it held that INEC was right to exclude the party and its candidate from the fresh election ordered by the Appeal Court in Enugu in appeal marked: CA/E/EPT/28/2015.

    The party argued that the Appeal Court’s decision to exclude it and its candidate amounted to a breach of their fundamental right to freedom from discrimination guaranteed under Section 42 of the Constitution.

    It contended that the Appeal Court in Abuja erred in assuming jurisdiction to interpret its own judgment by sitting on appeal in its own judgment “which is a final decision in CA/E/EPT/28/2015 between Chief Victor Umeh & another vs. PDP & others.”

     The PDP said the judgment by the Enugu division of the court “did not nullify the election to Anambra Central Senatorial district seat won by the appellant (PDP), but merely ordered fresh election after holding that the decision of the tribunal was perverse.”

    “A fresh election can only be ordered under Section 140(1) of the Electoral Act, as amended, after an order has been made nullifying that election pursuant to Section 140(1) of the Electoral Act. The only order made before ordering a fresh election was an order setting aside the judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal and there is a wold od difference between setting aside a judgment and nullifying a judgment.

    “Nullification of the judgment of the Election Petition Tribunal was an importation of the word ‘nullification’ by the court bellow, which was never used by the Election Petition Tribunal in CA/E/EPT/28/2015.”

    The PDP also argued that the Appeal Court in Abuja misdirected itself when it held that the case of Labour Party vs. INEC was applicable in the appeal before it “when the facts and circumstances of the case are not on all fours with the facts of the appeal at the court bellow.

    “The said Election Petition Tribunal did not order that the appellant should not filed a candidate for the fresh election and the court bellow, on its own, interpreted a final judgment in CA/E/EPT/2015 to hold that the appellant shall not filed in any candidate for the fresh election in agreement with the administrative decision of INEC (the 1st respondent herein).”

  • Confusion trails results in Umeh’s Aguluzoigbo community 

    Confusion trails results in Umeh’s Aguluzoigbo community 

    …collation officer on the run with results

    The results of the governorship election in Aguluzoigbo in Anaocha local government area are causing ripples, following the disappearance of the collation officer in charge of the area.

    The community which has only one ward is the place of former chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance APGA, Chief Victor Umeh.

    When the Nation visited the area, the electorates were complaining over the development

    The few results already released, the APGA candidate was in early lead Aguluzoigbo town hall one APGA 174, APC 40, PDP 11 and Aguluozigbo 018 APC 25, APGA 141, PDP 10

  • Anambra Central election: Judges defrauded me, Ekwunife cries out

    Anambra Central election: Judges defrauded me, Ekwunife cries out

    The dust raised by the controversial nullification of the electoral victory of Senator Uche Ekwunife in the Anambra Central Senatorial election is yet to settle.

    Ekwunife Monday told reporters that the judges of the Court of Appeal who nullified the election defrauded her of her hard won senatorial seat.

    The former House of Representatives member is also calling for immediate judicial review of the case to ensure that justice was done.

    She vowed to go to any length to retrieve her seat insisting the Chief Victor Umeh who challenged her victory in the election knew that he lost the election.

    Ekwunife who spoke in Abuja said that position upon which the election was nullified had long been settled by the Supreme Court.

    She noted that the judgement of the Supreme Court pertaining to nomination of candidates for election is that the candidate of another party cannot challenge the nomination of the candidate of another party.

    Ekwunife said that there are six cases in court over the Anambra Central Senatorial election that have not been decided.

    She said, “This is what you call electoral fraud. They defrauded me, the judges defrauded me of my mandate. It is electoral fraud that they did. Judicial fraud, the judges did judicial fraud in this judgement.

    “How can I fight to get something and somebody took it from me for just a plate of porridge? Victor Umeh cannot deny it because he has been a litigant all his life. He is an incurable litigant . He is always in court. So he knows the judges he can use.

    “But they have murdered their sleep, because this judgement, if it doesn’t expose them today, it will expose them tomorrow.

    “This case would definitely put them in trouble one after the other. It was judicial fraud, quote me, they deprived me of the mandate given to me by my people and they cannot pretend this is s true judgement. It cannot be. If this is a true judgement according to their wisdom, years of exposure in the judiciary and according to their judgement, they should resign.

    “There were 720, 000 registered voters, I scored 97,000, Victor Umeh scored 83,000 and Ngige scored 20,000. The three results altogether is less than 24 per cent of the total registered voters. Every Tom, Dick and Harry know that this election was credible, transparent, free and fair.

    “If I was to rig, I would have gotten up to 600,000 over 720,000. The day I was collecting the result, I was almost on wheelchair, because I worked so hard, I worked very hard for that election. You can imagine somebody they denied her House of Reps ticket in APGA, it was my House of Reps ticket they denied me, and I left, contested Senate seat against them.

    “You can imagine the venom…the governor, the wife, the deputy governor, all the apparatus of government, the way they fought me to stop me because I ran election against their National Chairman.

    “I won the election only for insensitive judges to just nullify the election without blinking an eye, with the excuse that I wasn’t legitimately nominated.

    “Even a member of your party, who did not participate in your primaries lack jurisdiction to challenge such primaries, not to talk of somebody from another political party, who was even a participant in the election challenging the nomination of another person in a different party..

    “That is why I asked in my radio programme recently: why should the Chief Justice of Nigeria waste time in asking what happened. They should review the case.

    “I am happy he said they are reviewing and reforming the judiciary and that henceforth, they going to look at quarterly judgements given  at different courts of jurisdiction.

    “They have to look at that case and question the judges, because it goes beyond hitting your gavel and nullifying an election.

    “How about the people that voted in that election? They murdered the sleep and happiness of thousands of people that voted in that election.

    “How could they have nullified the election and on what excuse? On the claim that I was not legitimately nominated

    “Look at what the lawyers are saying: I heard this is one judgement no lawyer would attach as judicial precedence; no lawyer would quote this judgement, nobody would use it as authority from the court. Go and check all the publications of law reports, you will not find this case. It is a bad case nobody can quote it in the courts to support any case.”

    On fresh election being time barred she said, “The case is time- barred because they can’t do the election again. The time given by the constitution for the election to be conducted is gone.

    “First of all the judges were in a hurry they didn’t do proper research of the constitution. When the constitution changes, the judges should be able to upgrade their knowledge, they didn’t take cognizance of the amendment of that constitution in 2010 that gave only 30 days. That is why they are still giving 90 days in different courts; meanwhile it has been changed to 30 days.

    “So, even the judgement was wrong ab initio. It is the constitution that made it time- barred not human beings. And the constitution is supreme.

    “That is why this is one law that is binding on all of us. And other act that is inconsistent with it is to the extent of that inconsistency null and void. Therefore the pronouncement of the court is inferior to the constitution.”

    She added, This is a pre- election matter. Anything concerning election is post election matter. Now, they masqueraded pre- election matter as post- election matter. Anything pertaining primaries, processes of nomination is pre- election matter, it can’t be entertained in a post election court.

    “They did it thinking they have done it, let her go to hell. I’m a woman and everyday I pray, I say God, you will never allow this injustice to go. These judges would one day know you’re God.

    “They have their own children too, and they will present their case before people. But I’m presenting this judgement before God.

    “Even Victor Umeh knows that he lost, he can’t just talk, he has no authority to talk. I am so ashamed that he can even talk because he knows he lost.

    “He should be ashamed of himself. Even if in any way he finds himself in Senate, it’s not his seat. God will not allow him to be in that Senate and be happy because it’s not his seat, he lost.

    “Greed killed him. He took my seat in the House of Reps, I left, now you see, I am already a Senator. He will not enter there. He will not smell that place because he knows he lost the election.

    “Where a hard- earned victory was nullified on the flimsy excuse that I was not legitimately nominated by my party; when in the past we’ve had judicial precedence where the Supreme Court decided on so many cases that a member of another party cannot challenge the nomination of a candidate of another political party; that that person is just an interloper.

    “We attached a lot of authorities to that effect. The tribunal said they lacked jurisdiction to entertain it, they struck it out. And Appeal Court assumed jurisdiction in an area where they lacked total jurisdiction and nullified a hard- earned victory.

    “Someone who doubled as the Chairman of his party at the time of the election; he was the chairman of APGA and the candidate of APGA. Even a section of the constitution of APGA says he must resign 30 days before he contests any election, he didn’t resign.”

     

  • ’I’ve vowed to follow Ojukwu’s footsteps

    A coalition of ten thousand women, known as the Anambra Women of Substance, gathered yesterday to support the senatorial ambition of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh.

    The event took place at the popular Odumegwu Ojukwu Park, opposite the Governor’s Lodge.

    Wife of Anambra State Governor, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano, was in attendance.

    Umeh told the women that he was going to the Senate to restore the dignity of Ndigbo.

    He said when he gets to the Senate, he would ask questions concerning the welfare of Ndigbo the way the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu asked when he was alive.

    Umeh described the Anambra Women of Substance, with a population of 28,000, as the best and most disciplined in the state, saying he would wipe out their tears, if elected.

    He said: “I will give you effective, courageous and bold representation. I thank you for this endorsement and I promise that I will support this wonderful group.”

    Obiano’s wife, who spent over an hour at the podium listing the achievements of the present administration led by her husband, Chief Willie Obiano, hailed the women for their understanding.

    About 6am, the women from the seven local governments filled the park, with some of them carrying newborn babies, while some were expectant mothers.

    Mrs. Obiano said the present administration would turn Anambra State into the Dubai of Nigeria in the next four years, adding that the state.

    Founder of the coalition  Chief Sampson Umejidike Ifediba assured Mrs. Obiano and Umeh that the group would never organise such a gathering again for any other person in the central zone.

    Also in attendance was the APGA Anambra South senatorial candidate and former Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Ernest Ndukwe, among others.

  • Ojukwu shaped Umeh for Ndigbo, says group

    Ojukwu shaped Umeh for Ndigbo, says group

    National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) Chief Victor Umeh has been described as the person positioned to fight the cause of Ndigbo by the late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.

    In a statement yesterday in Awka, the United Igbo People’s Congress (UIPC), said Ojukwu gave Umeh the leadership mantle before he died.

    The statement was signed by Chief B. Muoneke, national secretary of the group and Chief Uche Madugadi, national coordinator.

    UIPC described Umeh as the most credible Igbo leader, a dogged fighter, whose commitment to the Igbo cause was shaped by Ojukwu.

    “Chief Umeh’s eloquent opposition against the enemies of Ndigbo prides him as the most outstanding Igbo political leader”

    The group, therefore, appealed to the people to cast their votes for Umeh at the 2015 elections.

    Umeh is contesting the seat of Anambra Central on the platform of APGA.

     

     

  • Umeh to appoint activist, Obele, as campaign D-G

    Umeh to appoint activist, Obele, as campaign D-G

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, is said to have concluded plans to appoint human rights activist, Obele Chuka Obele, as the Director-General of his campaign organisation.

    Umeh is contesting the Anambra Central Senatorial seat, which is currently occupied by Sen. Chris Ngige of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Also, five persons have lined up from APGA to contest the House of Assembly seat for Onitsha South I Constituency currently held by Hon. Emeka Aniegbonam of APC.

    Leading the pack of the five APGA aspirants are Comrade Osita Ozalagba, Ikechukwu Obinka, Nonso Orakwe, Paddy Aniuno and Chibuike Akpotue.

    However, The Nation gathered that Ozalagba may have been anointed as the party’s candidate by the powers that be in the party.

    All the contestants had been holding secret meetings with the power brokers in the constituency for support.

    Meanwhile, a source close to APGA yesterday, told The Nation that Umeh opted for the lawyer activist to lead his senatorial campaign because of people’s love towards the activist.

    Before now Obele was involved in a one man match in Enugu State during the military regime when he was a member of NADECO.

    Though, Umeh had not made it public, we gathered yesterday that all plans had been perfected by the APGA chief to announce Obele any moment from now to lead his campaigns for the senatorial seat.

     

  • APGA: Umeh warns of impending judicial anarchy

    National chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, has raised the alarm over what he called an impending judicial anarchy brewing in Anambra State.

    Umeh, who spoke with reporters in Enugu, pleaded with the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to rescue APGA from the reckless use of State machinery to destroy the party with the judiciary.

    He referred to a suit in an Anambra state High Court, which he alleged is intended to give validity to the chairman of factional leader of the party, Chief Maxi Okwu, who has the backing of Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State.

    “Having tried and failed with their plans in Enugu and Federal High Courts, they now moved to Anambra State where the judge handling the case has shown apparent compromise,” Umeh lamented.

    According to the APGA helmsman, the Anambra High court has reserved judgement for tomorrow (Monday) in a suit that had been dispensed by a superior court, the Appeal Court in Enugu.

    According to him: “The judiciary should not allow itself to be ridiculed when a lower court will brazenly conflict the decision of a higher court.

    “The judicial anarchy being instigated must be stopped. The (CJN) should live up to her promise of sanitising the judiciary.

    “It is obvious that the judge in the suit will deliver a judgement that will run against the ruling of the Court of Appeal which validated my chairmanship of the party.

    “The aim is to continue causing confusion in the party as Maxi Okwu will rely on the judgement to continue parading himself as the national chairman of the party.”