Daily Independent (Lagos)
Ben Duru
26 November 2008
interview
Nze Ignatius Umunnah, former Secretary to the Imo State Government and a founding father of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, was instrumental to the emergence of the party as winner of the governorship seat in 1999 which it retained in 2003.
Today, the party is entrenched at the grassroots, hence making PDP a force to contend with in Imo politics.
During a visit to the Abia State capital, Umuahia, Correspondent, BEN DURU, had an encounter with the PDP chieftain, who used the opportunity to debunk claims in a recent advertorial that the party did not field a candidate in the 2007 governorship election in Imo State. He also spoke on such issues as repositioning the PDP at both state and federal level, Yar'Adua's pace, and the possibility of Obasanjo's boys resisting his removal from the BOT chair.
Excerpts:
Sir, recently, there was an advertorial bearing your name to the effect that PDP fielded no candidate in the last governorship election in Imo State. How true is this?
Well, thank you so much. There is no truth in that advertorial. It's one of those falsehoods being spread by the bandits, the outlaws that made up what was PDP in the nation and Imo State before the 2007 elections - the anarchists who were in control of the PDP then. PDP had primaries in Imo State and somebody in the person of Senator Ifeanyi Araraume (won the primary) whose name was sent to the INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission) as its official candidate. But because the powers that be didn't see it that way and either through blackmail and intrigues, they wanted his name out. Araraume went to court. And the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court, looking at the party's constitution, looking at the electoral guidelines of the PDP and that of INEC and, in fact, the generality of the laws guiding election in Nigeria, returned a verdict that PDP had a candidate in the person of Araraume, whose name they had already submitted to INEC. But it's all history. The man who says he is the number one citizen, who is supposed to protect the Constitution of the country and the laws of the country, Obasanjo, turned out to be the number one outlaw. He left his job in Abuja, flew into Imo State, landed his helicopter at Dan Anyiam Stadium with accomplices like Udenwa, who also swore to defend the Constitution of the country, all got up at the Dan Anyiam Stadium and said PDP had no candidate, and rubbished the Supreme Court.
You can see banditry, anarchists and outlaws right from the top. Ojinnaka is not part of that criminal gang. I go by the rules, I respect the laws. The rule of law as being propounded by the Nigerian President, Alhaji Umaru Yar' Adua, I go by that law. So, there is no way I can now wake up and write that PDP had no candidate. I am not a bandit like them and I will not write such a letter to the President who I also know has respect for the rule of law and who did not approve what happened then. I am not an outlaw, I am not a bandit. As a matter of fact, that paid advert is a forgery, it's fraudulent. There is nobody in Imo State PDP that goes by the name Nze ISO Umuna. There is nobody in Imo PDP that goes by the name Dr. J.C. Oduma. My names are Nze I M O Umunnah, the other name is Dr. J C Odunna, and we are leading members of the PDP, those who were ostracized by the cabal of Udenwa and Obasanjo.
Now they have messed up everything, because, Udenwa in his greed, wanted to be minister; governor for eight years, he wanted to be ambassador; he wanted to be minister, he wanted to be president, he wanted to be everything all alone - from Orlu zone. Because that kind of thing is going on, maybe, they went into the business of forged advertorial.
On the other hand, I also believe that this thing can come from inside the system, some elements in Ohakim's government could do this. Why? They are trying to legitimise Ohakim as the man who won an election, when in actual fact, he didn't win. So, they now want to use my name and that of Dr. Odunna to say that PDP had no candidate. Of course, they have misfired. I am still alive, I am not dead yet.
But why would anybody want to use your name and that of Odunna?
Well, that is a question I thought you could answer, because really in Imo State PDP, in Imo State politics today, all those boys who have now joined the senior club are all boys I brought up. I showed them direction, I built up PDP in Imo State, I made PDP what it was in Imo State and I made PDP the strongest party in the South East with PDP Imo State being the strongest PDP in the South East. But Obasanjo and his group came and all that is now history. Now the tribunal is approaching, so all sorts of news items will be bandied around. One of them might be that the PDP had no candidate in Imo State, said by a person of my own standing. I quit Udenwa's cabinet because I insisted that I will not join in the battle to fight Araraume and destroy the PDP. I insisted that there should be a level playing ground for all the aspirants and whoever emerges from the primary we should back him and he won; but he said it would never be, but I said it would be. So, come and say we have no candidate and to ascribe that to me is the criminal work of some elements in government.
So what is the state of the PDP in Imo State as at today?
I will be honest with you. The authentic PDP today is that led by Araraume. What is called PDP executive exist only in the briefcase they are carrying about. They are all there just to look for pittance, whatever comes from the system. Is it the members of the House of Assembly who don't even know if their party exists? Is it the Speaker whose duty is to terminate or remove or expel other members of the PDP who he believes are a threat to him to remove him as Speaker or to stop him from being sworn in as acting governor, according to him? Is it the Speaker who refuses to swear in a PDP candidate who has won an election without any reason except to say that there is a court order? Which court order? It is only in the Imo State House of Assembly that I hear that a High Court can over-rule the Court of Appeal with a spurious fraudulent and unfounded order and the Speaker tends to celebrate that. A Speaker who allows one that the people did not elect to stay in the House of Assembly or a man who lost an election and went to court to nullify that election and came back to stay in that House of Assembly, in spite of the election he nullified? Then, is the Speaker a PDP member? He's not and he is doing that at the expense of the PDP. The whole House of Assembly leadership doesn't even talk of PDP, but are interested in how much they make from the government. Inside the government itself, there are a lot of them who said they are PDP but they are serving that government. Recently, I hear they are now trying to abandon their leader, Udenwa. They have now decided to join forces with the system because Udenwa has no more money to dish out. The money now comes from Ohakim - they go that way. That's the PDP we have in Imo State.
So in order words, the PDP in Imo State is still in shambles?
Comatose, go to Orlu zone - there is nothing like that. I just talked about the House of Assembly. Which Federal House member in Orlu zone talks about the PDP or even the senator - the senator is partially a PPA member because he is working for the PPA and fighting the PDP in his local government to a standstill. So, what are we talking about?
But isn't this part of the Government of National Unity which the PDP is promoting at the national level?
Very good. Yar' Adua, at the national level, is not in anyway operating to destroy the other fringe parties at their various states. They are fringe parties. After all, PPA, how many members do they have in Imo State or other states of the country? The President is not fighting to destroy them, he is not fighting to destroy APGA in Anambra State. So (to) compare what is happening in Imo State with that at the national level is a misnomer. Who told you there is a Government of National Unity in Imo State? There is none because PDP in Imo State did not officially take part in any government here, it was Udenwa who picked his cohorts.
And by the way, what goes around comes around because he used boys I brought up to try to destroy me, he used boys brought up by Iwuanyanwu to try and destroy Iwuanyanwu, he used Arthur's boys to fight Arthur. In fact, he comes to your local government and use boys loyal to you to fight you, because he used government money to buy them to destroy you. He mapped out some local governments he was going to destroy and he did it one by one. But, today, Ohakim is also paying those boys who he (Udenwa) put in the government to be his eyes and nose there. Ohakim is also using those boys to teach him a lesson. Those boys have dismantled what he thinks he has a structure, the structure I left for him, and the structure I built up which he used to climb and run as governor. Now Ohakim has used those same boys to dismantle him. So, that is what is happening, there is no Government of National Unity in Imo State.
But sometime ago the PDP national leadership set up a reconciliation committee which visited Imo State after which a resolution was made. Why is it not paying off?
You have to search me for an answer, search me thoroughly for an answer. You see what will happen in PDP is that each state should try and see whether it can rebuild itself. In Imo, that will happen when the tribunal verdict is out and Araraume would have won the case, we will come back and give PDP a direction. We're still controlling the grassroots. Destiny Organisation can beat anybody anytime in Imo State. It's intact, very much intact; it is the mainstream of the cream of PDP in Imo State. Let there be a governor, then we would be able to put things right. But for now, this is the greatest weakness of the PDP in Imo. Those who say they're elders are rogues and, as I said, and I will say it any day - for N10, 000 they will dance naked in the market square. The young ones, ah the rat race for money. There's no leadership to infuse a sense of discipline. Udenwa succeeded in using the smaller ones to destroy the Imo state leadership. In fact, the leadership he bequeathed to Imo State is that you can be bought to do any damage; that it is the only way you can rise; that being bought with money to destroy the system, destroy the state and destroy your leadership is the only way you can rise. That is the only kind of legacy Udenwa bequeathed to Imo State youths, and that is why you have this complaint day to day. That is why you go to Orlu zone where he comes from, it is completely in tatters. He rubbished the Orlu Zurume and set one Council of Elders which he can control He set up funny groups like OPOCA (Orlu Peoples Consultative Assembly) to rubbish the leadership of Orlu and leaves himself as the only cock that will crow and, of course, he cannot do that.
But most of these organisations were in place while you were the Secretary to the Government?
They were not all in place. OPOCA was not in place; Council of Elders was not in place. What were in place were Orlu Zurume and Orlu Peoples Assembly. Orlu Zurume, we met when we came. We tried to re-organise and re-enforce it, we tried to give it teeth. OPA was a creation of Hope Uzodinma to overthrow Udenwa, which Udenwa funded being naÔve as he was. I told him that it was not going to work, that you cannot fund an organisation which you don't have control over. But he went ahead to fund it. Because I said I won't support it, he appointed someone else to represent him there. By the time OPA was strong enough, they challenged his second tenure and said he will not run again. It was then he now turned to me to go and disorganizse the group. But I told him that I don't disorganise groups. He wanted me to set up a parallel group, and I refused and he said his representative there should do it. But it was not possible. After a lot of pressure, I had to go to OPA and took over with others like Fidel Anujuo and Chuma Nnaji, and by the time Hope knew what was happening, I had taken over OPA. So, there were only two groups in place and these were disciplined groups - Orlu Zurume and OPA - but Udenwa does not believe in working with such disciplined groups because they will not turn round to destroy Orlu.
You are, in fact, saying that the problem of Araraume emanated from the fact that he went to court to seek for justice?
Thank you very much. You see, that is the very crux of the matter. Obasanjo does not brook challenge. He was the god of PDP and his collaborators who swore that Araraume will never be the candidate of PDP, but he beat all of them hands down. Then 'Lady Macbeth' went to Abuja and got Obasanjo to come down to Imo State to rubbish the mandate of our people and, of course, Araraume went to court and got justice. That was his major offence. April 14, (2007) Araraume won the election hands down, don't mind what they fraudsters are bandying here and there, but Obasanjo would not have it and he made sure that the election was nullified. Of course, he made it clear that it can be anybody but not Araraume, and that was why before the April 28 election, they started shopping for a candidate because they knew Araraume was going to win.
I must be very fair to Iwu, he tried to stand his ground; but when they started issuing direct threats to his life by the bull in Aso Rock, he bulged and they started shopping for a candidate in Okigwe, and they settled for Ohakim. The results were written somewhere in Shell Camp (Owerri), somewhere in Works Layout and, of course, inside Government House. Araraume won the election and the lower tribunal admitted most of these things, but you know the way things happen here. The facts are so clear. So Araraume's sin was that he went to court to seek justice, he went to the Supreme Court after winning at the Court of Appeal. That was his offence.
Obasanjo left his national duties in Abuja and flew down to Owerri, came to the Dan Anyiam Stadium, and others and there and then appointed Udenwa's wife as the right person to take decisions for the party. So, we had an arrangement where we had a de facto governor and a de jure governor, thereby rubbishing the Supreme Court. In a civilized country, can a governor and a president who swore to protect the Constitution do such a thing simply because a man went for justice? Rubbish the Supreme Court decision, as if the justices don't know what they were doing; and that is why we are where we are today.
Almost two years since the last election and now, you have a president and new leadership in the PDP. Has there been any improvement so far?
The damage done by Obasanjo to the party at the national level is such that it will not be easy to put the party together under two years. There is a semblance of a party at the national level, but the party still lacks that bite that formation goes for a national party of that status.
Obasanjo's vestiges are still there. He still controls the party at the top, as the chairman of the BOT, for now. Every effort to change that has been resisted for now. So, he still has an input and still plans things to go his own way; and that was why it was possible to nominate Udenwa as a ministerial nominee. Who could have done that? But thank God, he has met his waterloo, as the security agencies have already proved that he's not fit for a national political office. He has succeeded in blacklisting himself.
So, what are the ways that the party can reposition itself?
Yes, we have a national executive and I believe that Yar Adua may not be interfering in their day-to-day activities. But they require the strength to free themselves from the shackles of Obasanjo's set up. And I will also tell you that Obasanjo used the system to bring to office many of the political office holders you have in place today: National Assembly, most of the governors who could not have won elections. They are going to resist any attempt to do away with him. It's not going to be easy. It will take some time, but if the NEC of the party could act like Audu Ogbe or Gemade - take the bull by the horn, put up a structure of the party and let it be what the members want - you will be surprised to see many people who were formerly ostracised jumping back to the party. If they could come out with a policy saying that every PDP member serving in a non-PDP government without authority should resign and return to the party and those in the House of Assembly to follow the direction of the party or be recalled, nobody is saying they should go and fight the government. Once they do this, people will know that they have started. But now, Imo is drifting, Anambra is drifting, Abia is drifting, Enugu is not better off because it has been torn into pieces due to Obasanjo's skirmishes.
So, it's not going to be done in two or three years but it will require a very strong, decisive NEC to do this. They take decisions and damn the consequences and be ready to quit, if need be. I will tell you that this is why the Ekwueme's report is yet to be implemented. The will to carry it forward is not yet in place.
Nigerians are complaining that President Yar Adua is very slow in reshaping the country and giving them dividends of democracy. How do you see this?
Thank you. I want to say that everybody has his own style and if it works for him, fine. Obasanjo was fast but he was a bull in a China shop that would have destroyed the whole set including himself. So, if you say Obasanjo was not slow what did he achieve? He was so fast in cornering all government to himself. He was fighting corruption with EFCC, but he was busy committing havoc through contracts which the new man is trying to correct, the man they say is slow. He is now trying to terminate them and the House of Representatives is working on so many of them. So, if slow and steady will win the race - I'm not going to join the bandwagon of condemnation.
Those whose matters are at the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, have appealed to the President of the Court of Appeal to intervene as he did in the Edo State governorship appeal, so that the cases can be disposed off quickly. Do you ascribe to this?
Yes, that is the area I think the President of the Court of Appeal has shown leadership style. He has shown that these things can end in record time and let me say that he showed that leadership style so late. It could have been shown during the lower tribunals where cases were adjourned unnecessarily.
In Imo State, how many months did the matter last. Everyday they adjourned for one flimsy reason or another; and during this period, a lot of water is allowed to pass under the bridge. Maybe, he equally realised it late, but it's better late than never. What happened in Edo is an eye-opener that even with the present awkward judicial system, you can still reach a verdict in three months, if you want to, on the one hand. On the other hand, too, you may find that lawyers help in stalling speedy conclusion of cases due to one thing or the other. So, the system has now been told that it is actually possible.
But asking him to come and intervene in Port Harcourt is not the answer, because it would look like telling the judges that they are not competent. I don't think so. He has shown an example, let the judges in Port Harcourt pick up from the examples and get it done like in our own case, it has been on for a long time. All our papers are in, probably at the next date, we go and adopted the briefs. I don't see why we cannot get a verdict in less than a week or two or even the same day. They can give their judgment and give the reasons later because these files have been with them for a long time.
When the matter went to the Supreme Court, before the election, the Supreme Court decided to give judgment on the same day. They simply asked the people to wait and they delivered their judgment. So, it's possible that we can get judgment on that same day and that's what I can get from the President of the Court of Appeal's action.
What are you expectations?
Well, our case is straight. The judicial rulings so far made by tribunals across the country give us very strong hope which means that there is no way we cannot win outright.
The PPA in Imo had no results. Like I told you earlier, the results were written in hotels and two or three places. We have our own result sheets which they don't have. INEC did not present any single Form EC8A, they don't have it because they (sheets) were not there. Ohakim does not have it because he had no agents, he never ran any elections and nobody working for him, he was just picked within 48 hours to the election. But we took part and we had our result sheets which we presented from all the places in the state; and INEC does not have the results on Form EC8A because they wrote and announced. They couldn't use the one they had earlier given out because in those ones, Araraume won. So, we are confident we are going to win the case.
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