INTERVIEW: Abaribe: I’m Determined To Be The Change In Abia

THIS DAY INTERVIEW

Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe believes that Abia State, must strive to be the industrial heartland of the nation and he thinks of himself as a governor who can drive this. Segun James reports

Why do you want to become the next governor of the state?

My reason is simple: Abia State deserves the best possible material to lead it and I think I am the best person at this time to lead the state. This is the 21st century; this is also a transition year and this is also a year where so many things are happening both in Nigeria and all over the world. And what Abia needs now is a man that has integrity. Abia needs a man that has credibility, a man that has the capacity to do the job and Abia needs somebody, who at all times the people can go to sleep and say they know that Abia is in very good hands.

I am putting myself forward for Abia people to be the governor for all, not the governor of the North, South, East or West, but the governor for every Abia person. And I think that with the pedigree I have and with what I have done for the people of Abia and indeed, the people of Nigeria, all the oppressed people in this country know that I put them first in everything, that I will do a great job for them.

This will be your fourth or fifth attempt, do you think people will give you their votes this time?

I think that what is important is the adage: if you try and it doesn’t work, then you try again. It doesn’t matter how many times I have made attempts, I think that this is the right time and Abia people know and I have their support and their encouragement. I have had consultations with all persons in Abia, all manner of people; I have had with the leadership, I have had with the led, market women, with the youths, I have had with the political leaders, I have had with academia, I have had with all. At every point I have met with them, Abians asked for one thing: leadership that puts them first and I intend to do that.

As the Senate’s minority leader. What’s your take on the Electoral Act?

It is a good piece of legislation. It was meant to cure some of the problems that were in the previous acts all this while. The basic thing that we have in the Electoral Act today is the fact that it will make rigging almost impossible. There are two things that were done in that Electoral Act. First is the direct transmission of results in each polling unit. Even if you have problems in a polling unit, the cumulative of all the polling booths will give you a near accurate figure. Also, there is a provision in the Act that if you, by any means, force a Returning Officer to announce a result that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) does not have, that set of results will not be processed.

The other thing about the Electoral Act, which is good, is the very famous one, which everyone saw when the Senate rejected President Muhammadu Buhari’s amendment, which is section 84(12). What that section does is that it codified what was already supposed to be the norm of our society. Usually, if you want to run for election, the norm used to be that you would resign. You won’t sit in office and at the same time utilize your office to run and manipulate state resources in running for election.

There is an aspect of that legislation, which people talk about, which I do not think is in the law. I have heard it said that, if you have not resigned by now, you might not be eligible to contest; that you ought to have resigned. No law is made to be retroactive, so Section 84(12) doesn’t say that you ought to have resigned by now. What is actually in the law is that if you are going to be a delegate for the purpose of primary or you are going to be an aspirant or a contestant for the purpose of primary, leading to an election that you will have to resign. The stipulation as to time is what is in the Civil Service Rules because you are a public officer and you are subjected to the same Civil Service Rules, which is 30 days before any contest.

So, it is actually 30 days before primary or 30 days before congress if you are going to be a delegate. It is not for three months. When the parties set their dates, I believe the 30 days will now kick-start from the date the parties put for their elections. That is what is in 84(12).

The President, in his wisdom, has said that it conflicted with the 1999 Constitution, where that particular part of the constitution wasn’t mentioned. So, we didn’t know exactly what he meant. As far as we know, we think that if you are in office and you still want to be in that office and also run or contest for an election, what you are doing is that you are short-changing the country because your office will suffer. And of course, when you are running for office, what it means is that you are going to neglect your official duties, and you swore an oath to fulfil your duty towards the public and towards Nigeria, so you cannot balance the two at the same time. It is not going to be in the interest of the country. The interest of the country should come first.

So when we got that communication from the President, we said some people must have mis-advised him to write that letter. For example, I run the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, and I now want to be President and then I want to contest for primary while I am still running the NNPC, something is going to suffer. And what is going to suffer actually is my job for the people of Nigeria in the NNPC. We should not allow that. We just didn’t think that these are things that we ought to codify, but we have found out that because it wasn’t codified people were taking advantage of it and staying in their offices and utilizing the office to run elections and of course, to the detriment of their duties. That was why we declined to put an assent to it.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, is trying to get a foothold in the South-east. What do you think are the chances of the PDP for the presidency and to retain power in Abia?

I don’t think the APC has had a foothold in the South-east. What the APC has done, just like they have done elsewhere, is to poach the leadership that is already there from the PDP and when they poach them, they give them a lot of bogus promises, which they never kept. So, at all times, the PDP will always win the South-east; we have no problem about that. It is obvious that the APC has nothing to offer the South-east and we repeat not just the South-east; the APC has nothing to offer the country. What will they offer you? Is it fuel that is at N600 per litre? You can’t fly, diesel is at almost N800 per litre. And of course the worst, which is that we are in the middle of rising oil prices at the international market, yet we are still crying that Nigeria is not benefitting from the development. This has never happened. At least, everybody can say that when there is rising oil prices, we can no longer borrow; we can pay our debts; we can reduce the deficit but none of that is happening, we are not saving and we are doing nothing. We should ask ourselves one question and that question is this: what manner of economic management does the APC do that has led us to this type of Nigeria where nothing, literally nothing, is working and the country is grinding to a halt? When we asked this question, we were told that the real problem is that we are paying subsidies. Two things we can take from here; this same APC said that there was nothing like subsidy. This same President Buhari said subsidy was a scam, yet subsidy has risen under this government three times or four times more than subsidy under President Goodluck Jonathan’s PDP government that they persecuted so much.

We should ask ourselves another question: how did the consumption of Prime Motor Spirit, PMS, rise under APC from the 28 million to 30 million litres a day under (Dr Ibe) Kachukwu as minister to about 100 million litres a day under the present leadership of the APC? Something is definitely wrong. How can, within three to four years, you tell us that the consumption of petroleum products in Nigeria has quadrupled; how could that be? So, what we see is something that is inexplicable. The United States has an energy department that has the consumption rate of all fuel you use all over the world. If you check their figures, the whole of West Africa doesn’t take up to 35 million of litres a day, the whole of West Africa and you tell me that Nigeria takes over 100 million litres a day and we are paying subsidies on this phantom figures. So, there are things we cannot explain. We all know that the APC has nothing to offer an average man in the South-east, who finds it very difficult to do business, who finds it very difficult to move about, even if he is an importer he has to come to Lagos and the cost of moving his goods to Abia is costlier than what he used to bring it from Europe to Lagos. So, how would anybody survive in this kind of condition? And now after everything they told us that if they remove the PDP from power, they will now give us electricity. I think that was what Mr (Babatunde) Fashola said then.

Now, they are telling us that electricity has fallen because it is the dry season and that the water level has fallen. The same thing they complained about under the PDP. So, you can see that these people came to power on the basis of an issue of propaganda, misinformation, lies and everything, they can no longer sustain it. Therefore, there is nothing for Nigerians to look forward to other than to bring the PDP back so that we can restore the country the same way we restored it from 1999 to 2015.

What is your take on the Igbo quest for the presidency? Will your party, PDP consider the region for its presidential ticket?

Yes, we are clamouring for a president from our zone because we think that every other part of Nigeria has had a shot at the presidency. But beyond that, we think that we have credible, competent and very qualified persons within the PDP from the South-east who can lead Nigeria and take it out of the problem that it has today. And we are also encouraging them that they should come out and contest; they should talk to people from every part of Nigeria because to take the cliché, power is not served a la carte. I am sure that we have many credible people from the South-East that can bring Nigeria back from the brink and the PDP looks good to win the presidency in 2023.

Abaribe, Ekweremadu: A Tale Of Two Revisionists

Enyinnaya Abaribe and Ike Ekweremadu 

BY LEO SOBECHI

ABUJA (THE GUARDIAN) -- The Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe’s recent declaration of interest to contest the 2023 gubernatorial ticket of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sparked off concerns and discussions about the anticipated intensity of divisions in Southeast, especially in the buildup to the 2023 general elections.

Although what Abaribe did could be described as a political ambush on the outgoing incumbent, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, it exposed how far crisis of electoral ambitions would shape the politics of Southeast, particularly regarding the governorship seats.

Abaribe is not alone in the quest to transit from the Legislature to the Executive. He has a fitting ally in the immediate past Deputy President of Senate, Dr. Ike Ekweremadu. Together they parade unparalleled records as the oldest occupants of their senatorial seat from the Southeast.

However, just as it is not possible to attribute a possible connivance or resolve to unsettle the home front, the fact that the immediate past Deputy President of Senate, Ekweremadu, is also oiling his political machinery to seek the governorship ticket of People Democratic Party (PDP), makes the development very intriguing.

Both ranking federal lawmakers have incumbent PDP leaders as their state governors. But, this is just about the least factor that raises the red flag to their gubernatorial aspiration.

Rich Contrasts

Although Abaribe was elected for a first term in April 2007 and sworn in on May 29, 2007, he earned repeat electoral victories in 2011, 2015 and 2019. Having therefore been a constant face in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly for close to 12 years, it is obvious that 2023 should be his final passing out.

On his part, Ekweremadu, who considers himself as the lucky star of Enugu State politics, started featuring in the Red Chamber from May 29, 2003. And going by the four years’ period of each term, by 2023 the Mpu, Aninri Local Government Area would have occupied the same seat for 16 years.

In his alma mater, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, where he read law, admission is only given to those who are 16 years of age in addition to possessing other academic criteria. That could explain why the former Deputy Senate President wants to graduate from the Senate to the Lion Building, the seat of Enugu State Government, as governor.

If Ekweremadu’s desire to transit from the Legislature to the Executive follows the natural argument that change is constant, Abaribe’s ambition to be governor seems to be on the retrogressive instead of the progressive path. At the start of the fourth republic, Senator Abaribe was elected alongside current Senate Chief Whip, Orji Uzor Kalu, for the governorship seat. But, two months to the end of the term, Abaribe jumped out of the boat in order to scuttle his captain’s attempt to drown him through impeachment.

The people of Abia State still recall the cat and mouse relationship between the deputy governor, Abaribe and Kalu, the governor. Sources disclosed that Abaribe survived countless impeachment plots, even as he was accused of being a dissembler and divisive character, which Kalu could not stomach.

However, unlike Abaribe, Ekweremadu was not a deputy governor, but enjoyed a cozy political closeness to former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, who appointed him, first as Chief of Staff and later, Secretary to the Enugu State Government. Yet, like Abaribe, Ekweremadu was also accused of dissembling and overzealousness.

Before Governor Nnamani propped him up to represent Enugu West Senatorial District in the Senate, the former DSP was alleged to have moved some members of the Enugu State Executive Council to Calabar, where they were administered with fetish oath to support him for the governorship. Being a power player and political tactician, Governor Nnamani decided that “we have to send Ike to Abuja, he has to give us chance to finish what we are doing for Enugu people.” In a cabinet reshuffle that trailed the muse, commissioners and appointees loyal to Ekweremadu were tactfully dropped.

Again, just as Abaribe moved over to All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to contest the 2003 governorship of Abia State, it was from the All Peoples Party (APP) that Governor Nnamani brought Ekweremadu to serve as his Chief of Staff.

The contrasts did not end there. Both Abaribe and Ekweremadu are known to have fought against the political interests of their former principals. Apart from contesting the governorship against Orji Uzor Kalu, who was seeking a second term in 2003, the Senate minority leader has continued on a parallel political path with the Senate Chief Whip.

For Ekweremadu, despite launching out political on the goodwill of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, the former Deputy Senate President was said to have mobilized resources to stop Nnamani from accessing the Senate for a second term. As former political godsons, Ekweremadu and then incumbent Enugu State governor, Sullivan Chime, stonewalled the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011, Dr. Nnamani founded the Peoples for Democratic Change (PDC) on which platform he contested the Enugu East Senatorial election.

Apparently, in attempt to retire their former principal to political oblivion, Governor Chime and Ekweremadu propped up the Deputy Leader of the House of Representatives, Gilbert Nnaji against Senator Nnamani. Riding on the combined forces of power of incumbency and federal might, Senator Nnamani was denied a second senate seat to represent Enugu East.

The same scenario was repeated in 2015, but the masses revolted and protests filled the length and breadth of the senatorial district, including parts of the state capital.

Pained by the cycle of political wickedness against their principal, incumbent Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi ensured not only the return of Dr. Nnamani to PDP, but also ensured that the mischiefs of 2011 and 2015 were redressed by support the return of the Ebeano political godfather to the Senate.

Watchers of Enugu State politics say Governor Ugwuanyi employed an uncanny political strategy to thwart Ekweremadu’s plans to use Senator Gil Nnaji to propel his governorship ambition. With Senator Nnamani back in the Senate, as well as his rock-solid grassroots support, it would be seen how any PDP governorship candidate can win without the support of Enugu East.

Across the entire length and breadth of Enugu State, former governor Nnamani retains popular acclaim in addition to his charismatic mass appeal. It is said that by bringing Senator Chimaroke to his corner, Governor Ugwuanyi, showed that he possesses the political ‘Urim and Thumin’ of Enugu State politics, especially with his ecumenism style of leadership.

It is doubtful of if Governor Okezie Ikpeazu would support Abaribe’s governorship, because as the outgoing governor, the incumbent should follow the tradition of propping up his preferred successor for the PDP ticket. Talks about Governor Ikpeazu’s possible switch over to All Progressives Congress (APC) have been making the rounds in Abia State, but the governor has literally sworn that there is and there would be nothing like defecting.

In the absence of overt support for his governorship ambition therefore, it is left to be seen how Abaribe intends to snatch the PDP ticket from the incumbent governor, particularly given that both hail from the same council area.

If Abaribe is to consider an alternative platform, his best option would be the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), because talk of APC would be akin to asking the Maduforo Ngwa to count the teeth of crocodile with his fingers.

For Ekweremadu, the first hurdle to cross is the zoning arrangement in Enugu State, which the masses seem to be religiously attached to in the interest of peace and social harmony. However, supporters of the former Deputy Senate President contend that at no time did any political party or stakeholders sit down to draw a charter for power distribution in the state.

Going by the rotation of the governorship slot, Enugu East Senatorial District is the next in line to throw up the next governor. But, citing former Governor Chime’s observations during an interaction with journalists in 2018, Ekweremadu and his supporters insist that there is nothing like zoning. Chime had noted that it was for fairness and need to reduce tension that he supported Enugu North Senatorial District to produce his successor and not based on any zoning plan.

The recent Anambra State governorship election, which former Central Bank governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo won, reinforced the zoning debate in Southeast. Soludo, who hails from Anambra South Senatorial zone defeated 17 other candidates drawn from the two Senatorial zones of Anambra Central and South.

While proponents of zoning thumb their chest that the outcome of the election was more of a triumph of zoning, others maintain that Anambra voters chose the best candidate, arguing that it is only in the absence of a qualitative candidate from a favoured zone could produce a different result.

Abaribe and Ekweremadu are entitled to their democratic right to stand for election, but whether that right vitiates voters’ right to adopt an unwritten convention would be seen at the end of the ballot on March 6, 2023.

Legislative Stature

BOTH Abaribe and Ekweremadu stand tall as giants of Nigeria Senate. While the representative of Abia South Senatorial District emerged as the voice and conscience of the Senate, especially in the Eighth and Ninth plenaries, Ekweremadu’s election by his colleagues on three consecutive occasions as Deputy President of Senate is not a mean record.

By the time the 2023 governorship poll holds in Abia State, Senator Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe would be 68 years. The man he wants to succeed is not up to 60. Perhaps, Abaribe wants voters to determine which is easier between state governors retiring to the Senate for legislation or old Senators ascending to the executive seat of a state governor.

For Ekweremadu, he would be seeking the governorship ticket at 60 in a state where nobody above 55 had ever held sway. Although age is a matter of the mind, but the two giants of Nigeria Senate would have a lot of explaining to do to youth of their constituency why they should continue to dominate the public space instead of grooming others.

Both men have done their best to ventilate the yearnings and aspirations of their constituents, particularly on the much talked about Igbo position in the Nigeria project. Abaribe earned his stripes and scars from voicing opposition to human right abuses of secessionist agitators, including the members of Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

The Senate Minority Leader was arrested and detained in 2018 briefly by the Department of State Services (DSS) for being an IPOB sympathizer, especially given his role in signing the bail bond of the IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

On the score of relationship with the secessionists, Ekweremadu has both sweet and sore tales to tell. Although he was part of the high level stakeholders support for the release of the IPOB from detention in 2017, IPOB activists in Germany swooped on him during his visit to Nuremberg for the Annual Cultural Festival and Convention of Ndigbo in Germany.

About four young men among those who attacked Ekweremadu in Germany were later apprehended and charged for the assault. Unlike Abaribe, whose recourse to verbal darts against opposition, the former DSP is said to be adept at bipartisan collaboration in championing Igbo causes.

For instance, it was gathered that at the onset of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, Ekweremadu decided to run again for the post of Deputy President of Senate following the failure of Buhari to appoint either Dr. Ogbonnia Onu or Dr. Chris Ngige as the Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF).

Again, in 2019 Ekweremadu was said to have rebuffed overtures from the Governors’ Forum to allow Senator Ovie Augustine Omo-Agege to emerge his successor unopposed, especially given the withdrawal of Senator Francis Alimikhena. This time around, the former DSP resolved with his PDP colleagues that Omo-Agege must not be allowed to emerge unopposed after debasing the hallowed chamber in the Eighth Senate.

“It would have been sacrilegious to unanimously endorse the event of April 18, when armed hoodlums invaded the Senate to steal the menace, so it was not about winning or not winning for a fourth term as DSP,” a PDP source confided in The Guardian.

It was perhaps on account of his closeness to APC leaders that the impression stuck that the DSP was planning a move to the governing party for Enugu State governorship contest.

Despite their individual achievements in the Red Chamber, both Abaribe and Ekweremadu seem to be plotting their retirement from public office by swimming against the tide of public perception. Already, politicians across the political divides, especially with the main opposition PDP have begun to interrogate the fruitage of their long sojourn in the Senate for the people at the grassroots.

As the two Senators begin the journey towards liberalizing the politics of their respective states, it would be seen how far they can go to disrupt the lure of zoning and power of incumbency.

Sign Of Things To Come

PERHAPS what happened in Orba, Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State on Friday December 31, 2021serves as a foretaste of the public perception about their ambition to be governor against the run of rotation. Leaders of Orba community, who were acting on the understanding that Ekweremadu should not be offered any platform to market himself, reprimanded a member of the community, Mr. Charles Mbah, for using his birthday as a campaign ground for the former DSP.

It was gathered that after fracas broke out earlier in the year following a football march sponsored by the former DSP, stakeholders of Enugu North Senatorial District resolved that no individual or group should invite Ekweremadu for any public function before the governorship primaries of PDP.

The leaders maintain that since Governor Ugwuanyi is a product of zoning, nobody should be supported to rubbish the power sharing arrangement in the state. They also contended that as the incumbent, their brother, Ugwuanyi, should be supported to guide the state on the path of peace and brotherhood in selecting the next governor.

The reprimand of Charles Mbah could be a potent sign that the masses in Southeast are high on zoning. As men of means and men, how Abaribe and Ekweremadu survives the people’s power would determine the strength of their conviction, particularly given the yearning of Southeast to produce President Buhari’s successor.

The Example Of Enyi Abaribe

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe. Image: Facebook

BY CHIDO NWAKANMA

Courage is the word that first comes to mind as you contemplate the phenomenon and exciting trajectory of Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe, senator representing Abia South in the National Assembly. Courage came to mind as he spoke with love in his heart for his people on Friday, February 14, 2020. The event was the final obsequies for Eze Israel and Lolo Ugoeze Sally Kanu, parents of the leader of IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

Abaribe led a star cast of outstanding Igbo politicians that showed up bravely to identify with Nnamdi Kanu in the best exemplification of Igbo culture. Ndigbo end all wars, disagreements and quarrels in the face of death. Death is the price all men must pay, so our people see it as final and deserving of love to the survivors and respect to the departed.

I join in the salutations to Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra State, Victor Umeh, Tony Ukasoanya, Empire Kanu, Uchenna Madu of MASSOB and all those high visibility persons who mourned with Nnamdi. Well done, Nzuko Umunna. Governors of the five states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo – victims of the cruellest vilification of IPOB- could not find the moral courage nor respect Igbo tradition to be part of the event. Governor Okezie Ikpeazu fixed the roads as a diligent host ahead of the funeral.

Enyi Abaribe stood up for the count as surety for Nnamdi Kanu when it seemed suicidal. Kanu, of course, went on to disregard the terms of his court agreement to the discomfort of the Senator. Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu deployed Kanu’s misbehaviour in his tirade against Abaribe only recently. Yet here was the man standing to represent his people at the funeral.

Such display of courage has marked the trajectory of Enyi Abaribe, the politician and Enyi, the man who stands by his friends through thick and thin, over the years. This 4th Republic commenced in 1999 with Abaribe as Deputy Governor to Orji Uzor Kalu. They soon fell out on principle. Abaribe would not compromise but chose the courageous path.

Twice the Abia State House of Assembly sought to impeach him in 2000, setting the building blocks for the shameful practice of houses of assembly doing a fool’s errand for governors. Ahead of their third attempt in 2003, Abaribe sent in his resignation by courier. He suffered a denial of benefits and perquisites of office, discouragement, and abuse for his stand.

He was the victim of the combined efforts of Governor Orji Uzor Kalu and his then Chief of Staff Theodore Ahamaefula Orji to bring him down and end his political career in disgrace. In 2007, Abaribe bounced back as a Senator, a seat he has occupied since then with repeated victories at the polls. His traducers then sought places in the Senate after doing so much damage to Abia State for a combined 16 years and earning their seats in the Evil Forest. Recent events must sound like justification. Ndi Abia watched in disbelief as they all took photos in the Senate chambers with the man, they sought to destroy many years earlier.

Enyi Abaribe has earned his honorifics. Ndigbo hail him as Mma Agha, the battle-axe. Others call him Otuonu after the movement he led for equity in Abia State. He is at the frontline in all matters concerning the Igbo and speaks without equivocation. He takes on pitched battles against an imperial presidency that seeks to portray as the act of an infidel any criticism of President Muhammadu Buhari. Many have retreated into silence even in the protected chambers but not so Enyi Abaribe. He represents in High Fidelity the idea of a Senator as a person who brings wisdom, courage and deliberation to matters for the benefit of society. Members of the Ime Obi, as the Igbo would call a place such as the Senate, ought to be fearless and bring vast experience and knowledge to their tasks.

We need more examples such as Enyi Abaribe in the South East, men of fortitude who can stand for their people as Nigeria travails under President Muhammadu Buhari. Steady hands, clear heads and courage are desiderata

Abaribe, an Old Umuahian, also brings training as an economist and private sector manager to bear in his contributions. Behind his gentle exterior is an inner core of steel and breeding. I stuck my neck out when Richard Ikiebe was to launch Voices Beyond the Newsroom by suggesting we invite the then Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Media. I reached out to him through my childhood pal and his trusted aide Uchenna Awom. A few days later, we got word that he would attend the event. On the appointed day, Enyi Abaribe flew into Lagos to honour his commitment. There was the additional reason of knowing Dr Ikiebe from many years in the past.

Courage is the choice or willingness to confront agony, pain, danger, uncertainty or intimidation. Moral rather than physical courage is the virtue best associated with man and speaks to the ability to act rightly in the face of widespread opposition, shame, scandal, discouragement or personal loss. Courage shows in the most challenging times as the Igbo philosophy recognises that mberede ka eji ama nwoke (Difficult situations reveals the character of the man).

We need more examples such as Enyi Abaribe in the South East, men of fortitude who can stand for their people as Nigeria travails under President Muhammadu Buhari. Steady hands, clear heads and courage are desiderata. Beyond crying at the shame unfolding before us, it is crucial to recognise exemplars such as Enyi Abaribe. Ji de nke ijei, Mma Agha. Salutations.

IHEDIOHA: Senator Enyinnana Abaribe Warns Of Imminent Collapse Of Agencies Of Democracy If

Enyinnaya Abaribe. Image: Twitter

Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Senate Minority Leader, has reacted to the Supreme Court ruling that sacked Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as the Governor of Imo State.

He warned against an imminent weakening of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and some critical agencies of democracy.

Abaribe pointed out that if the present trend like the Supreme Court ruling that removed Ihedioha continues, agencies of democracy would collapse.

The lawmaker and chieftain of the PDP said n a statement on Friday in Abuja signed by his Media Adviser, Uchenna Awom.

He called on the PDP not to despair over the court’s decision declared Senator Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress as the Governor of Imo State. .

He said, “What it means is that results from security agencies like Civil defense, Army, Navy and even community ones like Hisbah, JTF, et al, will be more sacrosanct and acceptable than the official INEC tabulation.

Abaribe said that the painful outcome of the legal process has again raised poignant questions that should ignite serious calls for total reforms of the electoral and governance structures in Nigeria said that the stark reality in the circumstance that the Supreme Court is the final arbiter and its decisions must be respected at all times.

The Abia-born lawmaker cried out that the contradictions in the final analysis, especially when the statistics of who-got-what in the State Assembly among the various political parties is put side by side in the result that was recorded the same day with the gubernatorial election.

Abaribe added, “How many House of Assembly members in Imo State did APC produce in the Election that was held on the same day as this governorship election in question? Can someone refresh us…?

“PDP won 13 seats, AA 8, APGA 6, and APC won 0 seats out of a total of 27 seats.

“And now by this Judgement, the APC that did not win any seat in the House of Assembly in the election that was held and collated the same day ..won the Imo State Governorship Election at the Supreme Court. APC should not gloat.

“These are times that make hearts and will falter. But as the Holy book says …this too shall pass away. For our friend and brother Emeka Ihedioha, courage is the name. This will also pass away.

“Your valedictory speech is heartwarming. It shows that there will be a rosy tomorrow from today’s despondency.

“For all of us in the PDP, this is not a time for blames. When men are bent on evil, they will not stop, but ultimately the will of the people shall prevail.”

SOURCE: THE NIGERIAN VOICE

2020: Real Reasons Igbo Should Not Be talking Of Presidency Now – Sen. Abaribe

Enynnaya Abaribe. Image: Twitter

BY SEUN OPEJOBI

The Senate Minority Leader, Eyinnaya Abaribe, has pointed out reasons why the South East should not be talking about 2023 presidency now.

Abaribe stated that the South East should be talking about teaming up with others to make Nigeria a better place and not 2023 presidency.

The Abia South Senator in a chat with Vanguard also lamented that the structure of the country was very bad, hence the need to jettison calls for presidency.

He said: “I think what you are doing now is that you are also creating this same thing that we are decrying. We are saying that it is too early for anybody to be talking about who will take whatever and the times are very dire. And instead of looking at that you are asking other questions.

“OK, an Igbo becoming the next President, if it doesn’t change your life today, in what way will that help you? So, what we are interested in is how do we get this country to be better and I have made this point repeatedly before and let me repeat it: the structure of the country should be changed before we start thinking about who gets what and I believe and I stay on that.

“The structure is so bad that it is very difficult for you to make the country work. That’s the point. At the moment, the country has turned into a unitary government and we merely mouth federalism.

“And so, it makes it near impossible for you to even do mere security. A local government chairman can’t even secure his environment and he’s called the chief security officer of his local government. He can’t call a DPO to say ‘how do we secure our area?”

SOURCE: DAILY POST