February 04, (TH|EWILL) – Dr Eni Uduma Chima contested in the National Assembly Election on the platform of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in 2023. He speaks with SUNDAY OGBU about his experience during the last General Election, the Supreme Court judgement on the Ebonyi Governorship Election and rumoured decision to quit the APC for another party. Excerpts:
Do you think the outcome of the Supreme Court judgement is a reflection of the March 18 governorship election?
On the outcome of the Supreme Court judgement concerning the governorship election in Ebonyi State, I am so happy that it ended the way it did. If you look at the result, the gap was so much. So, the Supreme Court barely affirmed the will of the people. The mandate was freely and overwhelmingly given by the people of Ebonyi State. There was no point posing any distraction to the Ebonyi State Government. The proper thing would have been to wait for the next election.
If it is true that the gap between the number of votes obtained by the APC and that of the opposition parties was clear, why the legal tussle?
But it is also good that the opposition, who felt aggrieved, went about the expression of their grievances in the proper way. They did not take law into their hands; they did not also incite violence or bitter opposition manifesting in any other form. They followed the proper channel to vent their grievances and I feel that has been addressed.
Like Justic Chukwudifo Oputa would say, “The Supreme Court is not final because it is infallible.Iit is infallible because it is final.” The final judgement as given by the Supreme is in tandem with the wishes and aspirations of Ebonyi people. I will urge the opposition people to be satisfied that they were given the opportunity to explore all options of attaining the mandate of the people.
What advice do you have for the opposition, considering the fact that the matter has ended at the Supreme Court?
The opposition, since it is not one political party, should put their houses in order and prepare to give viable opposition. The position of the opposition is important for any government to thrive because one party system is not healthy for any society. There should be viable opposition. I have cause to worry about the future of opposition politics in Ebonyi because each day the persons that make opposition politics in Ebonyi are leaving in large numbers to the ruling party. It is good for the ruling party. Also, it is something to worry about.
My advice to the opposition parties is that they should put their houses in order and come back with a strong platform on which people can contest elections. That way, there will be balance in the scheme of things. I will also advise having gone this far, having exploited all options to now surrender to the will of the people and then prepare for the next round of election.
There is this rumour that you have quietly left the APC. What is your take on this?
I am in the All Progressive Congress. Recall that I was the party’s candidate in the 2023 general election. Despite the internal sabotage by the party Chairman, Chief Stanley Okoro Emegha, nothing will push me out of APC. I am a stakeholder and I am grounded there. I worked for the party and I have to stay to reap the fruit of my labour. My ward single handedly gave the governor 50 per cent of the votes he got from Edda Local Government Area. The rest of the votes came from the adjourning wards, which are also in my community.
You talked about sabotage from the APC Chairman. Can you shed more light on this?
The APC Chairman was not in town on March 18. He did not even cast his own single vote for the governor. So, the rumour that I am leaving emanates from him. And my reply is that I am not leaving. I am staying and standing firm in APC. It is a government we built, a government we sold to Ebonyi people. Nobody advertised for the acceptability of APC than myself in all languages, in English and Igbo. I put my resources into making sure that APC is totally acceptable to our people. We also campaigned based on projects I contributed in executing. I also did projects than anybody.
Are you saying your election was sabotaged? How?
The whole idea of our losing election stemmed from internal sabotage. By the provision of the electoral act, you must supply the list of agents in advance which we did and which was retrieved because that submission was done through the party. It was retrieved in the guise of correcting a mix up and they removed all our agents.
But that notwithstanding, I still won all my elections in Afikpo South, where I had been local government council chairman for seven years to the shame of my enemies. I won my elections. I did not fail in Edda. So that impression that we lost out that we are aggrieved that we want to leave is not true. We are happy and very cheerful as you can see. We are not depressed and we are preparing for the next election.
Do you want to contest again?
By the grace of God, we will keep contesting until we win and we will do what we have in mind for our people. All other positions which we occupied in the past, we acquainted ourselves very well. We were able to perform creditably so that we can beat our chest that we have justified the confidence reposed in us and the opportunity given to us.
What is your advice to your teeming supporters at this point in time?
I will tell them that tribulations and temptations may come, but they have to be focused. He who has his eyes upon the mountains does not count the time spent in the valley for the upward journey. At the end of the day, he will enjoy the magnificent view of the mountain top. And we will enjoy it because we have been so long in the recess of the valley. So, we do not have any problem, they should be of good cheer with high spirit. Little by little the good time shall come. We have had good times already, better days are ahead.
What is the present situation of security in Edda local government area?
Security agencies are doing wonderfully well. They have been professional in their duties. What is the case of Edda is the politicising of crime. If you check, it will surprise you that Edda: Afikpo South and Afikpo North, that is Edda and Afikpo North local government areas have the lowest rate of crime in Ebonyi State. But anything that happened is overhyped. It is blown out of proportion for political reasons, to achieve cheap political goal. And that is to create the impression that a particular politician in Edda is a devil and very violent person. That is what most of the politicians have been employing as their antics to work against us.
Are you saying that Edda is peaceful now?
Both on ground and in reality, Edda is a very peaceful place and the people understand who their leader is. Besides what you see on social media, people mudsling us and tarnish the image of the clan in the guise in getting one man down. So, every other thing is working out very well. We are doing well in terms of security. The military operation that is going on there, the people are cooperating with them. We have five army check points within Edda. But we know that gradually, everything will be normal. As for crime, we have low crime rate. I can tell you that as somebody who has been in charge of the council area for seven years. They are politicising crime. And sooner than later, all the people who are framed up and jailed for political reasons will start regaining their freedom because the judiciary is independent. Even the police, they have been showing professionalism.
What breakthrough has the police made pertaining to the matter on ground?
I will give you an example. The case that was much talked about — the New Year case of the killing of the commander’s wife of Ebubegau that was built on a foundation that he slept at home and saw all the people he mentioned, the police was able to prove that he told lies. What he reeled out was a long list of names given to him by politicians to implicate the supporters of a particular person. He did not sleep in Edda the day in question and did not see anybody.
Do you see the security fishing out the perpetrators behind the mayhem that once erupted at Edda?
They are doing the correct investigation and the proper culprit will be brought to book, while the innocent ones will be released. I commend the Nigeria Police, Ebonyi State Command under the leadership of Compol Augustina Ogbodo. They are doing well. They are all doing very well. Both the military, the police, civil defence and the department of state security, they are doing well. And the situation in Edda has normalised.
Sunday Ogbu is a professional journalist with eight - twelve years experience that had worked with various print and online media. Sunday specializes in news reporting with the aim of educating his readers on current social, political and economic occurences within his area of coverage. Sunday is a strong force to work with in the media industry and uses his positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed. Sunday is inspired daily by his wife and their four children. In his free time, Sunday likes sight-seeing, reading and discussing issues of societal interest.
