In his response to these questions before the Supreme Court
judgement, Alex Otti analyses the Abia governorship contest and why he was
committed to dislodging the PDP from the state.
There are allegations
from the camp of the present governor that your appeal court victory is
premeditated. Apart from the fact that the result is in your favor, how would
you rate the quality of that judgement?
Anyone who has taken out
time to read the judgement issued by the Appeal court in this matter will
appreciate the extent of rigor that went into the inevitable verdict they
reached. The honorable justices took their time to dissect the judgement of the
lower tribunal and clearly outlined where and how they had no anchor in law and
logic. The PDP town criers do not argue
the fact and the legal basis of the judgement, they are more concerned about
how the outcome will impact the selfish few who have held the state down in the
last sixteen years.
It will be absurd for any
court to reward brazen electoral crimes ranging from open and symbolic threats
to innocent law abiding citizens, invasion of the INEC head office in Umuahia
by a high ranking PDP national publicist, a serving senator from Abia state and
the sitting PDP governor who provided state backed security cover for this
unprecedented show of shame. In order to secure the future of democracy in
Nigeria, the judicial system must make bold statements that leave no doubts in
the minds of these professional riggers that there will be consequences for
such shameful unlawful behaviors.
From a layman’s point, is it really a contradiction
that the Appeal court sitting in Owerri affirmed the results in the 3
controversial LGAs where the same voting materials were used and similar human
elements played out?
The two scenarios are
different and the cases were looked at on their individual merits by different
panels. The fact is that there were massive irregularities in these three local
government areas in all the elections but as you know, the judges will always
form their opinions based on the presentation of the cases and evidence
tendered. In the case of the governorship election, our legal team and
witnesses provided incontrovertible evidence to back our claims that the PDP
and its agents violated the electoral laws and why they should not be allowed
to benefit from breaking the law. We are also aware that some of the house of
assembly candidates did not pursue their cases for different reasons including
funding challenges.
The Abia PDP argues that from the
simple arithmetic of the Ukwa-Ngwas having 9 out of 17 LGAs, and because the
governorship was zoned to them, Okezie Ikpeazu won by a wide margin, what
do you make of this argument?
Elections are not won simply
by arithmetic permutations. Abia PDP
knows that it lied here. The truth is that they do not have the numbers they are
bandying. What they did not say is that the two local governments of Aba North
and South with registered voters numbering almost 400,000 are not part of their
arrangement as over 95% of the inhabitants are neither from Ngwa nor Ukwa. That
is the reason APGA trounced PDP here and even in the House of Representatives
election, an APGA candidate won and the three seats in the state house of
assembly are occupied by APGA. The same thing goes for Osisioma and Ugwunagbo.
So in reality, core Ngwa local governments are Obingwa, Isiala Ngwa North and
South. Having said that, it is important to state that elections are won by
valid votes cast during elections.
So the votes cannot count or is it…?
This assertion by the Abia
PDP gives you a window on how they planned the shameful rigging that took
place. Their mindset was that Okezie Ikpeazu must win at all cost regardless of
the actual number of votes cast in his favor. They talk about zoning. The party
I represent does not recognize zoning as a means of choosing candidates for
elections, I did not contest the election under PDP, if they have a zoning
arrangement, I don’t see what that has to do with me or my party, I don’t see
what that has to do with alleviating the suffering of the common man, clearly
the common man does not see the relevance as well, that is why they came out in
their huge numbers to vote for the best man for the job. PDP would need to be
told in clear terms to stop using their jaundiced standards to judge others.
For the records, I won the election in fourteen of the seventeen local
government areas where elections were adjudged free and fair. The other three
local government areas were places where PDP and their co-travelers allocated
votes to themselves.
At a stage, the 2015 governorship race in
Abia was reduced to an ethnic tussle. How best should the divisions created by
this rhetoric be healed and unity restored ?
Those
who tarred the tussle with sectional colors are the few loud rent seekers who
have benefited from the rot in the state over the years. My supporters cut
across all lines in the three senatorial districts of the state, the same way
poverty, insecurity, unemployment, poor health care delivery system,
environmental neglect and all the burden that the successive PDP government has
hoisted on the state has no lines. The vast majority of the Abia people have
suffered the consequence of this ill wind in equal measure, that is why they
craved for the change that happened during the elections in the state. The
solution to whatever discord the PDP rent takers are trying to build is to
ensure that the people of Abia state begin to witness a transformation in their
standard of living in equal measures as soon as we assume office.
With the benefit of the last election,
especially in Abia state, what is your take on zoning and rotation of political
offices. Is it to blame for the heightened tension in Abia state?
First
the idea of zoning is very outdated and actually helps to divide the state
rather than unite it for the benefit of all. It breeds mediocrity and clannish
tendencies. My take is that every group should use their best human resources
for the benefit of everyone. Zoning limits the potential of the group. Let the
best man for the job get the job regardless of the village he comes from.
How would you respond to insinuations
that you are desperate to be governor, considering your defection from PDP to
APGA and the manner in which you have gone through this campaign and election?
I am
not desperate to be governor. I may be desperate to liberate Abians from the deplorable
situation the PDP governments have led us into. They expected to intimidate and
frustrate us into abandoning the mandate of the people but we have been
resilient against all imaginable odds. We have painstakingly done everything
within the bounds of the law, the desperate ones are those who wrote fake
results for some wards and local governments and forced them into the collation
centre, those who invaded the INEC
headquarters in Umuahia, those who burnt down INEC offices in Obingwa and
Isiala Ngwa, those who dropped coffins
and used armed thugs to prevent people from coming out to vote in areas where
they thought they were going to lose. These are the desperate ones not us.
Many people say Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu started
well and has turned parts of Abia into huge construction sites. How would you
assess the events of the past seven months in Abia?
Parts
of Abia have been turned into construction sites only on paid newspaper adverts
fueled by rented social media propaganda. The same thing his predecessor did
throughout his tenor in government. State development goes beyond knee jerk
reactions to whip up momentary media sentiment in anticipation of a rerun that
should not happen. We have a blue print for the sustainable development and
establishment of institutions for Abia state. Even after we leave office, the
template will still serve any government that desires the wellbeing of Abians.
This is the kind of structure we bring to the table.
If and when you are sworn in as Abia
governor, what outstanding projects will immediately attract your attention and
would you continue in the development strides already set in motion by the PDP
administration?
We
have a well-researched blue print on how we intend to reposition the state
towards the path of sustainable development. Our approach will include
rebuilding institutions, kick-starting the economy to create jobs, providing
the enabling environment to attract businesses back to the state and once again,
making Aba the commercial center South Eastern Nigeria.
Are you in any way disturbed that if youre
declared governor, the votes of a sizeable population of Abians will not count
in your victory due to cancellations? The voter strength of Obingwa, osisioma
and Isiala Ngwa North is said to be in excess of 300,000.
The very loud PDP minority who talk about disenfranchisement of
some Voters are only being purposefully mischievous. It is important to note
that what the Appeal court voided were fictitious numbers
that the PDP thugs and cronies smuggled into the electoral process. They are
not valid votes. Like the learned justices said, taking those votes into
consideration in determining who wins the election can only be compared with
counting the dead and the living in a census process.
Finally,
It is being whispered that you are already inching close to the ruling APC. Do
you intend to abandon APGA in the near future?
The PDP will continue to breed rumors regardless of how unfounded
as long as they think it will give them any advantage. These are all laughable
allegations from people who are grasping straw. This allegation from PDP is a
pointer to how it ruled this country in the last 16years. Otherwise, how else
can one explain the allegation of the ruling party influencing judgements?
Again, when the lower tribunal gave judgement in their favour, APC did not have
a hand in it, but when they lost at the Appeal tribunal, the ruling party got
involved. My reaction is that these are the outbursts of a sinking party and
should simply be ignored.
0 comments:
Post a Comment