Chief VICTOR UMEH, National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) leaves no one in doubt about his position on national issues. In this interview with Reporter CHUKWUJEKWU ILOZUE, Umeh bares his mind on issues in Anambra State beginning with his assessment of Governor Peter Obi's administration, the controversial road work on Nnamdi Azikiwe Avenue to the new-found love between Obi and members of the state House of Assembly... Excerpts:

When Governor Peter Obi assumed office on March 17, 2006, he promised to take Anambra to the Promised Land. About three years after that, how far has he gone?

In less than three years, our government has been able to show the people of Anambra State what governance is about, through His Excellency's Anambra State Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS). Our government has been able to tackle development in all facets of the state life simultaneously.

ANIDS is a marvellous model which any objective person cannot help but applaud. The government has been able to foray into road construction; tackle the problem in the education sector and health sector. We inherited a lot of rot in the education and health sector, but it is a different story today.

Our government has been able to double what was on ground by the previous government when we came on board. I beat my chest and say that Anambra State has come a long way; and our own government has also come a long way. We would leave the rest of the judgment to the people of Anambra State.

You could see 2008 has been the most peaceful year in Anambra State. In the recent past, people were able to come in here, do their business and leave. I can say that the government of APGA through Peter Obi has been able to take the state from the war situation to that of peaceful era.

So, without blowing our own trumpet, I want to say that APGA government led by Obi has delivered to the people of Anambra State.

I noticed that the few colleges I visited with the governor ahead of the Christmas, I could see the rejuvenation spirit among teachers and students themselves and an output of emotional gratitude to Obi. They said he was the only governor that visited students in schools. He gave these schools N10 million cash for rehabilitation.

There is testimony by the Bishop on the Niger that since 1982 no governor has visited Iyienu General Hospital, where our present Commissioner of Health was born. You could see that a lot of areas that were abandoned in the past have been revamped by Obi. I want to say that this government has delivered.

As whether we have reached the Promised Land, concrete foundation has been laid for this movement. And what we need is every effort to sustain the tempo of development which we have set the stage for. The governor, instead of being pulled down, should be encouraged. Anambra is now on a steady move - outside the force of gravity or anarchy.

Ndigbo are proud of APGA, but no party would be happy to be controlling only one state. What efforts are you making to capture more states in 2011 elections?

If you read my New Year demands from President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua published in some national dailies, you would see that what I said Nigeria needs in 2009 is nothing but laying concrete foundation for democracy. We have not been able to practice democracy here and that has been responsible for all the distortions and failures the country has witnessed as a nation.

A country that is incapable of conducting a credible, free and fair election can never be said to be practising democracy. And aligned to these problems are the most nefarious galloping we have been having in Nigeria, inconsistency in government policies. So, what Nigeria needs is to first of all put an enabling environment for democracy to thrive. When that is done, all kinds of development and prosperity would come to this country. Look at Ghana and South Africa, these are two countries that were far behind Nigeria at least in the years past.

Nigeria fought for the independence of South Africa. Between the mid '70s and early '80s Nigeria was a heaven for Ghanaians because of the mere collapse of Ghana, its economy and its leadership. There was exodus of people from Ghana to Nigeria - and that is why there is a common saying (name of a popular travelling bag) in Nigeria today: 'Ghana must go.' People came with polythene bags carrying their personal belongings and ran to Nigeria. All those people have since left Nigeria.

Go to Ghana now, it is a democracy model in Africa and the place is working. Even our leaders are now sending their children to Ghana for education. Another thing that has failed in Nigeria is leadership caused by inability to conduct a credible election.

So as for APGA, I will tell you that credible election has not been conducted in Nigeria since APGA became a party. In 2003 when election was conducted, APGA won the entire five states of South East, but non was given to APGA as a party. We had to go through the court to pursue the return of our stolen mandate. It is a difficult thing to achieve in Nigeria.

And because we succeeded in Anambra State, an APGA government is now in place in Anambra State not because the Electoral Commission declared APGA winner. We had to go all out to the court to get it despite all odds and stiff opposition from the central authority.

In 2007, APGA won the April 14, 2007 elections in Imo State, but the governorship election was annulled. A very stupid thing was done there. Elections were conducted into the 27 House of Assembly seats in Imo State along with that of governorship. The same ballot papers were put in the same ballot boxes every where in the whole constituencies in Imo State. The ballot papers were counted after being separated. And because APGA won after the counting and collation, the governorship election was annulled.

And the 27 House Assembly seats were declared in favour of PDP, despite that they said irregularities, violence, marred the governorship elections in nine local government areas. One would expect that if irregularities and violence marred the governorship elections in nine local government areas, the House of Assembly elections in those local governments would also be affected. But INEC and Maurice Iwu said that violence and irregularities did not affect the House of Assembly election that took place the same time and annulled the governorship election. We would continue to pursue it.

This 2009 APGA would spring surprises again in Nigeria. We are in Court of Appeal, having settled the struggle in Anambra State. Anambra State is now stable for APGA. We are now in Imo State. We have re-opened the case in Court of Appeal in Abuja. We have asked a very simple question: Whether INEC has power to cancel elections it has conducted. The answer is no under the Nigerian law. And, when we went to the Tribunal in Owerri to challenge the 28 of April re-run election, the tribunal declined jurisdiction. We went to Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt to challenge the decision of the tribunal, the Court of Appeal declined jurisdiction and said that our matter, indeed, was a pre- election matter.

They were concerned with petitions arising from the elections on 28th April, which ought not to have taken place. We went back to Court of Appeal, Abuja because we have challenged that action at the Federal High Court Abuja in 2007. We have been able to attach the results of 24 local governments collated which showed that the APGA candidate Chief Martin Agbaso won by over 90 per cent of the total votes cast on the 14th of April 2007.

We wrote to the Court of Appeal President telling him that it would be judicial anarchy if those suits can go on simultaneously, because you know that Ohakim and Ararume were already at the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt.

And when they looked at what we filed at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, the President of the Court of Appeal wrote the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt to stay action permanently on that election appeal pending the determination of our own appeal in Abuja, so that the Court of Appeal would not suffer embarrassment. That was what was written on the letter. And when they assembled in Port Harcourt to argue their appeal and the panel read the letter to them as written by the President of the Court of Appeal to their utter consternation. They now saw that the injustices we are fighting for two years is still on.

So, that matter has been adjourned sine die at the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt. That one at Abuja is coming up on 27th January 2009.

Ohakim has applied to join and he has been joined. We want all of them to join. So that when we come there they would tell us how 27 House of Assembly seats were okay in one election and only governorship election was bad. They can't answer it. From there, I predict APGA with strong support of God Almighty would take over Imo State without firing a bullet.

Does it not worry you that Governor Obi would resign his appointment soonest because he threatened to resign, if he did not complete the Zik's Avenue before 31st December 2008?

The Governor would not resign. What the governor literally expressed was his disgust at the slow pace of work at Zik's Avenue, Awka. Our people are use to negative politics and if we don't purge ourselves of negative politics, we would continue to stalk development in the state. Zik's Avenue is a very short road compared to all the roads our governor has done in the past two years. Our government has been able to complete over 300 kilometres of road. How much more about that short span of road. The truth is that politics is involved in that road.

And I have also asked the Governor if RCC does not want to do that road, they should leave the state and another contractor should be engaged to construct that road. When we came in here RCC was the major contractor used by Ngige to construct all the roads in Idemili South and North. And they were fully on ground. That road was awarded to RCC by Ngige in November 2005.

Our government came on the 17th March, 2006 - five clear months after that road was awarded to RCC. RCC was mobilised and paid N500 million with which to start construction, yet nothing was done. The question is what prevented the contractor from mobilising to site five months after being mobilised at the tune of N500 million for a job of N1.1billion. It is a question anyone who wants an answer should go to the grapevine and find out.

But despite that, our government came and started paying the contractor, mobilised them to site. They started from Ikenga end into Awka. It is our government that made it dual carriage way, after designing the road. Ngige government never made it that way.

And when we got to town, the problem of knocking down stores and all that came up. And as well, the issue of compensation has to be settled.

But, does it not worry you that in the past one and half month that contract value has been revalued again by this government? And to date, our government has paid them about N1.1billion on that road and you can see that they are not on site now. They are not working. The road has been revalued at N2.3billion.

The contractor is yet to be on site. I believe they are using that to create a sour point for the Obi administration by Ngige. So, it is pure sabotage. We don't have to say all the things on the media, but I have personally told the governor that if RCC don't mobilise to site within two weeks this January 2009, we would throw them out, and that contract would be terminated. The company must not continue to blackmail the government with that road after paying them heavily with tax payer's money.

His Excellency had last month flagged off the reconstruction of Nkpor to Umuokpu to Amawbia through the old road for N5.252 billion to CCC.

CCC has mobilised to site. They are working now from Nkpor end. The road is 28.8 kilometres. What is the Zik's Avenue Awka that we would continue to be talking of it? Somebody is sabotaging the work, but I have taken it upon myself as the chairman of the party that after two weeks in January, RCC can go if they don't mobilise to site. If there is money paid before the contractor is sacked for job not done, the government would recover that.

Ngige has an eye in the Government House, so how would you checkmate what can be called excesses of a former occupant of the government House?

Let me tell you quite frankly, I know all the scheming going on in this state. Most times I restrain myself from joining the fray, but what I do is to ensure that all the plans are guarded. Ngige has not been a friend of this government. When we won the election in 2003 and he was fraudulently declared winner and sworn in, we went to the tribunal to get rid of him. He did everything to stop us from getting rid of him through the court, but we finally succeeded.

And when he was leaving, he gave Obi six months for him to be impeached. And exactly six months, he plotted his unconstitutional impeachment that failed in the end. So, he has not been friend of the government. But I don't know why he should be worried that somebody that is civil enough and very disciplined is running the government of this state and delivering the good to the people of Anambra State.

We don't have personal battle. If he is looking at Obi as a personal enemy, then he is wrong. They cannot be. We are talking about governance. The institution of governance is there for the people of Anambra State, and not for people who are occupying Government House as governor. If Ngige is unhappy that Obi has demystified his own era in government, I don't see any reason why he should not go and rest because he constructed some roads and each time I spoke, I give him credit that he constructed some roads. But he has never given Obi credit for anything.

I read in the papers where he said Obi has failed the people of Anambra State and that he would chase him out. I don't know what he is going to chase him out with. The statistics on ground showed that Ngige is not a match to Obi in governance. The misconception people have about him was that when he was here he was standing off against Obasanjo and his agents, so he won the sympathy of the people. But if you remove that from the scenario and put forward development indices in the state, two of them are not comparable. Apart from the fact that he tarred 193 kilometres of road, Obi has tarred over 300 kilometres of road, and is still tarring. Even some of the roads Ngige flagged off, he didn't pay for. We paid for them and completed them. Bridges are being constructed now in Anambra State.

The Umuawulu road that linked to Amaokpala, we are constructing a mighty bridge across the Awba Ofemmili road that we are constructing and people don't believe we can be doing all these things simultaneously. So, there is nothing Ngige has over Obi. He resorted to clandestine activities to destabilise the government. But we would not allow that.

He has been calling for the local government election to take place here because when he was here he set up the Anambra State Independent Electoral commission (ANSIEC) and appointed his uncle as chairman of the commission and another man from his local government, a member of the five-man commission.

We know what he is doing. Last time doctors went on strike for no just reason. I called the governor and he said he was not owing the doctors and that they are not paying salaries less than the neighbouring states yet, doctors went on strike. The other day NLC gave the government 21 days ultimatum. All these are being sponsored to create anarchy in the state. This is because the pace with which Obi is moving, all those who want to challenge him are honestly and justifiably afraid. They need to be afraid because they can't stop him.

So, I will tell you that Ngige is not threat to Peter Obi's governorship ambition in 2010 because we would be able to use our scorecard to meet the people of Anambra State.

The other day Governor Obi was at Isuofia. Ngige went and sat in a seat written Governor of Anambra State. That was irresponsibility! If I was there, I would ask him to get up. The Governor, in his usual quiet way, went away and found somewhere to sit. How can somebody be behaving that way? It is very terrible!

The spirit of camaraderie that pervaded the House of Assembly during the budget presentation needed congratulation. What was the secret? Also, was the recent donation to party members genuine or just a fluke - in anticipation of another election year?

Obi did not abandon his party. But because things have gone really bad before he assumed office and coupled with his mind set that it would not be business as usual, he decided to tackle developmental issues first. He decided to plan, because of that plan, he withdrew himself to plan because you don't plan publicly. He planned and came out and started working for the common good of the people of Anambra State.

I know I have told him even publicly too that he could have combined these things even subtly so that those who helped you to become governor will not misunderstand you. Each time he had told me that there would be refreshment when the flight reaches cruising level. I can tell you very frankly that we are proud of him. The party members are proud of his achievement. But if he had gone about it in the usual way in the past, there would be nothing on ground to challenge anybody today. But with these achievements, the electorates, including the party members are taken care of but there are ways of helping party members; those who assisted him through the battle ground. He did not abandon party members.

But there is new spirit of revival within the party and it is affecting our opponents. Those who were criticising Obi that he abandoned his party members, now saw that he is swimming in the same height with party members and they are not happy. The governor has been busy delivering democracy dividends to the people of Anambra State, and now this is the time for refreshment. Even, he did not do the refreshment as people anticipated during the Christmas.

He was prudent within the available resources. The buses and motorcycles presented to the party and opening of new party secretariat unsettled the opponents of the party. This is because what they are campaigning with was that party members were abandoned. Why should you keep a governor that will abandon the party members? Now Obi has rewarded the party members very largely, they are not happy again.

At the floor of Anambra State House of Assembly, there was an atmosphere of conviviality on 23, December, 2008. You remember that in 2007, it was war before the House was convened to receive the budget and it was war before the budget was passed.

But in the hallowed chambers of the House, December 23, 2008, the Speaker applauded, the development strides recorded by Obi for the people of Anambra State. Let me tell you: good things are very easy to see. Both members of the House and the people of Anambra have seen the commitment of the governor to take this state to a greater level. And through his spread of projects spread across all the constituencies. One remarkable thing with Obi's administration is that he is working in all sectors, in every local government simultaneously. He is also partnering with the town union government to bring governance to the grassroots.

I will tell you that anybody who sees all these things and is not happy must be a sadist. So, what you saw on the floor of the House, which is commendable, because along political line people may be selfish about it but the Speaker said very jokingly that he appreciates what the governor has alone. He said that the governor has performed and he has passed. But because he is a member of APGA, when somebody passes he moves so that another person would come in. He said that it is only when somebody fails that he would repeat class. I was very happy with that humour because it underscores the fact that everybody - both critiques and lovers of Obi - have agreed that Obi has revolutionised governance in Anambra State.

When people start to reason through their brains there would be peace.

On the recent ministerial appointments, do you think ***Ndigbo had a fair share in the allocation of President Umaru Yar'Adua?

On the appointments, anybody in position will remember his people. That is the tragedy of Nigeria today. It is not only the people of the South East that are complaining even the South-South and the South West. All the major ministries were given to the people from Northern Nigeria. It is something that would open the eyes of our people involved in this because it is no longer news that Igbo people are not treated fairly in the country.