George Orji, Chuks Okocha, Charles Onyekanmuo and Emeka Osondu
3 November 2009
Abuja/Awka — The self-styled godfather of Anambra State politics, Chief Chris Uba, and 23 gubernatorial aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state were yesterday quizzed by the police over the kidnap of Pa Simeon Soludo.
Also, the five-man armed gang, which abducted Pa Soludo, the father of the PDP candidate in the February 6, 2010 gubernatorial election in the state, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has again reduced its ransom demand from N300 million to N200 million.
The gang initially demanded N500 million, the state Commissioner of Police Philemon Leha said.
Meanwhile, Soludo yesterday took issues with Uba, saying the PDP chieftain should answer to the charges against him over the kidnap of Pa Soludo.
The former CBN governor also denied offering Uba $10 million, wondering why he would offer the PDP chieftain any money. He asked: "Is the offer of $10 million part of the ransom for the kidnap or what?"
Though details of the interrogation of Uba and the 23 PDP aspirants by the police commissioner were not made public, Uba told newsmen at the police headquarters that his accuser's aim was to malign him, but that he did not know anything about the kidnap.
He said PDP was yet to nominate its candidate for the February 6, 2010 election, adding that members of the party were prepared to follow due process in carrying out the exercise.
He said that he and his group were waiting for the decision of PDP National Working Committee (NWC) on the matter.
Leha said Uba made a statement along with other 23 former governorship aspirants and submitted video clips of the stakeholders' meeting held on the day Soludo's father was kidnapped.
"I don't have anything to tell you (media) now except to say that Chief Uba because of the invitation we extended to him made a statement. Other stakeholders also made statements and we received the video clips of what transpired at the meeting held before Soludo's father was kidnapped. I have to get the full report before making any statement," he said.
He also said his command had formally invited Soludo to come and make a statement on the kidnap of his father, adding "he has a case he is pursuing so he will come".
But an Enugu High Court has granted an order brought by Uba, seeking for the enforcement of his right to personal liberty.
The order made by the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I.A. Umezulike, said the leave so granted should be or act as a stay on all actions or matter connected with or related to the complaint of the applicant.
Legal Assistant to Soludo Campaign Organization, Mr. Leo Chiegboka, said in a statement that Soludo's legal team was compiling the various libelous statements made against him by Uba and would respond appropriately.
He described the allegation by Uba that Soludo was in the governorship race because of immunity granted governors under the 1999 constitution as childish.
"Immunity from what? Soludo is neither the subject of any criminal investigation nor is he being prosecuted, and so what immunity is Chris Uba's rambling about," he asked.
Uba had alleged in an interview with journalists published in some national newspapers on Monday that the CBN governor offered him $10 million to support his candidature and that Soludo was in the race because of immunity.
On the kidnap of Soludo's father, a 78-year-old man by unknown gunmen, Uba claimed the former CBN governor knew his father's whereabouts.
Chiegboka said in the statement: "It has come to the attention of the Soludo Campaign Organization that Chris Uba has, in recent days, been systematically and deliberately making wildly false, libelous and ludicrous accusations and at the same time sponsoring specific individuals to slander and smear the name of Prof. Soludo. We do not want to join issues with him yet. However, our legal team is compiling the various libelous statements as published in various media and will respond appropriately.
"Chief Chris Uba has been named by the police as the prime suspect in the kidnap of Pa Simeon Soludo. Since then, he has refused/failed to respond to the invitation by the police. Instead he has characteristically engaged in all manner of cheap media blackmail to divert attention from the criminal charge.
"Everyday, he comes up with one childish allegation or another to distract the attention of the public from the crime. Even without Prof. Soludo making any statement to the police or any member of the family directly accusing Chris Uba of the crime, he alleged that Prof. Soludo may have kidnapped his own father. What a ridiculous and criminal thought! Is this not the case of a child who breaks the glass and even before the mother could ask about it, starts denying that he did not break the glass? Nigerians should count their teeth with their tongue! Knowing Chris Uba, we would not be surprised if one day he lines up people to testify that they are the kidnappers and fabricate all manner of fairy tales and allegations. We know what Chris Uba can do!"
In another development, Ikemba Nnewi and Leader of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, has come under attack for saying there would be civil war if the Appeal Court granted Andy Uba's prayers that he be declared governor-elect on the basis of the April 14, 2007 governorship election in the state, which the Supreme Court declared should not have been conducted.
Former gubernatorial candidate of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) in the state in the 2007 elections, Chief Stanley Okeke, described Ojukwu's statement as a threat to democracy.
Okeke, who stated this while fielding questions from State House Correspondents, urged security agencies to invite Ojukwu for questioning over his remarks.
He called President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to intervene by using his discretion as the leader of the party to ensure that Andy Uba is allowed to fly the party's flag via due process.
Former Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU) Awka and one of the 47 aspirants who participated in the botched October 2, 2009 PDP primaries in the state, Prof. Ilochi Okafor (SAN), has warned Ojukwu to thread softly and exercise restraint in commenting on matters yet to be decided by the court. He described Ojukwu's statement on Andy Uba's court case as a brazen attempt to pre-empt people to riot and break the law.
On its part, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) called for dialogue as a solution towards resolving the crisis in the state, instead of drumming up songs of war.
CNPP National Publicity Secretary Osita Okechukwu said: "This is not the time for any war, irrespective of the grouse of the elder statesman, Chief Chukwuemeka Ojukwu."
In another statement, Melville Ebo, Head Fairing Associates and a close associate of late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo, said: "We are against any acts that would incite the Igbo for another war, when we are gradually being integrated into the Nigerian system."
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