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Money changes hands at
election tribunals -Senator Ukachukwu
The truth of the matter which the entire
nation is familiar with by now is that my opponent did not contest election for
the Senate in Anambra State. I did and won convincingly, was declared winner by
INEC and issued with a certificate of return. Overnight, however, ten days after
the elections were concluded, the same INEC came up to say they had received
instructions from Abuja to withdraw my certificate.
You were
reportedly attacked re- cently by some people said to be hired assassins. What
is the latest on the matter, has any arrest been made in connection with the
matter?
Well, no arrests have been made. The
police have done some investigations and provided me with additional security
measures for which I am grateful to them. First you must come to term with the
calibre of people involved in the attempt to eliminate my life, these are the
same people that have almost subverted the electoral process in the state, you
know the kind of havoc they have committed, even in Anambra State and nothing
has been done by them. So I am not expecting any tangible investigation or
arrests to be made. But the issue remains that whatsoever a man does, that shall
he reap. People must however not forget that government comes and goes, it may
just take time, but the truth will come and those involved made to face the law.
Do not also forget that there is the dimension of the investigation by the
National Judicial Commission, NJC, into the happenings, and performance of the
judges at the Enugu Court of Appeal. So right now, I am not leaving any stone in
the bid to unravel the cover on those that wanted to eliminate me. I do not
expect that the judges would be happy with me following my testimony against
them at the NJC investigations. One thing that is certain is that, my life is in
the hands of God, he is life giver and keeper. So I advise the people after my
life, to remember that without God all their efforts would end up in vain,
because God that is protecting me never sleeps nor slumbers. He will adequately
reward them according to their deeds. Remember also that even as I speak today,
that the security men shot in the attempt are still lying critically ill at the
hospital. One of them sustained injuries of the spinal cord. So far I have taken
him to the national hospital in Abuja from where they referred us to another
specialist hospital in Kano.
There was a report in the media some
time ago that you were invited by the NJC to appear before its panel
investigating the Appeal Court judges that sat on the appeal against your
declaration as senator-elect by the elections tribunal. What did they want from
you and what did you tell them?
Yes, the NJC invited me and some of my
close workers and relatives to appear before the panel hearing complaints
against the performance of the judges. The panel was also investigating the
circumstances behind the inconclusive nature of the case. They wanted to hear
from me. Well, I told them that one of the judicial officers contacted my
brother through his agent demanding for some kind of gratification. We brought
witnesses to justify our claims before the panel. Some orderlies to the judges
also testified as to what they saw changing hands during the period of the
hearing. But by far, the most revealing testimony came from one of the judges on
that day. The judge told the panel that, he was told by another judge that a
governor was interested in the matter and would want a favourable judgment given
in favour of my opponent. The judge affirmed that money changed hands in the
process but that he refused to accept the pressure because he still had a lot of
years ahead of him as a judge. That was the point they started disagreeing at
the trial which manifested clearly in the last day of the trial. My brother,
testimony before the panel on that day was very revealing; people were shocked
that a serving judge would testify against his colleagues at the bench. That
however goes to show that we still have men of integrity in the judiciary.
What is now the position of the NJC
on the matter?
Well, I heard that my opponents have been
going about boasting that nothing would come out of the investigation. I am not
really bothered about their empty boast because I know that men at the NJC are
men of integrity and honour, they are about the best the nation has in terms of
knowledge of the law and courage to defend the truth. The council meets
quarterly, and was supposed to meet in August, but did not, because of the
recess in the judiciary. I am believing God that the council would soon meet,
now that the recess is over. I can only for now, call on the leadership of the
NJC not to allow the truth to be covered in this matter. It would serve as a
precedent for other cases in the future. It would spell doom for the judiciary
if judges accused by their colleague of behaving in manners unbecoming of their
office to go without sanction. That was the first time that a judge would be
testifying against a colleague that sat on the same case with him. But I must
also warn that if the reports of the investigations are not made open very soon,
I may be constrained to call on the world to hear what happened. What I desire
is that the NJC should release the report of its findings, and if the judges are
found innocent, they should be discharged of the charges but if found guilty,
they should be made to face the music.
What is the position of the petition
challenging your declaration as senator-elect at the election tribunal now
before the Court of Appeal?
So far, so good. I want to use this
opportunity to thank the press for letting the world know about the attempt to
fraudulently subvert the mandate freely given to me by the people of my
senatorial district. For now the court of Appeal has ruled that it has
jurisdiction to hear the appeal, and that the purported judgement of the last
panel that tried to hear the petition should never be mentioned or cited by any
judge or lawyer in any judicial process in the country. The respected Weekly Law
Report has published that historic judgement of the Court of Appeal. Presently,
I have filed a motion at the Court of Appeal for a re-hearing of their appeal.
You know the court has been in recess and has just resumed. I am hopeful that we
will get a date soon for the re-commencement of the hearings.
With so much time already lost to
the trial process, are you still confident that you will take your place in the
present senate?
Certainly and why not. By God’s grace I
will soon join my colleagues at the senate, because nobody ever eats his cake
and still have it. The truth of the matter which the entire nation is familiar
with by now is that my opponent did not contest election for the Senate in
Anambra State. I did and won convincingly, was declared winner by INEC and
issued with a certificate of return. Overnight, however, ten days after the
elections were concluded, the same INEC came up to say they had received
instructions from Abuja to withdraw my certificate. I went to the tribunal and
prayed that once issued certificate, INEC had no powers anymore to withdraw the
certificate, which was upheld by the tribunal.
Why are you confident that you will seat
in the Senate even if you secure judgement to that effect at the Court of
Appeal, after all, some other people have been declared winners at the Court of
Appeal but are yet to take their seat in the Senate. Chief Ben Obi is a case in
point.
Unfortunately that goes to show you the
kind of justice we have in this country. At the beginning of this process, they
said if you are aggrieved go to the court and seek redress, instead of taking to
violence. But today, you can see what is happening. Let me assure you and the
thousands of voters that voted for me that, if I win at the Court of Appeal,
which I am confident will happen, that I will demand for my seat in the Senate.
If the process becomes cumbersome I would invite the world to hear of the
anomaly, I will not be quiet, that I can assure you, because nobody has the
right to deny my people their choice.
Some people say a lot of time and
water has passed under the bridge since your election with almost two years
already gone by, why fight on?
This fight is not so much about wanting to
be a senator. It is a fight for truth and justice, and more so respect for the
wishes of the people, that trooped out in their thousands to vote for me on
election day. They wanted me to be their representative, that has not
materialized yet and for as long as that is so, the people are sad and whoever
that is there is an imposter. For any day he remains in the senate, it is an
insult on the intelligence of the people of Anambra south senatorial district,
and I will worsen that by giving up the mandate and allow the impostor to
fraudulently deny our people their right to choose their leaders.
A lot has happened in Anambra State
since the general election last year to justify your comment that nothing done
fraudulently will ever last. Do you feel vindicated?
Yes I feel so because some of us started
very early to warn of the anomaly going on in the state. Birds of the same
feather they say flock, the two sides in the crisis in the state are not honest,
because the godfather is pursuing the wealth of the state, while the present
government in the state has nothing to show that it has vision for the people of
the state with all the allocation it has received from the federation account.
The roads are getting worse every day and all they are busy themselves doing is
to struggle for the wealth of the state. I know that God has his own way of
doing this, so in his own time, he will reveal more of whom they are to the
people of the state.
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