•Abia State Governor, T.A. Orji Photo: Sun News Publishing

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Umeh Kalu, a legal practitioner, is the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State on legal matters.
In an interactive session with journalists recently, he expressed confidence that his boss, whose election was nullified by the Election Petition Tribunal, would regain his mandate at the Court of Appeal, describing the verdict of the tribunal as absurd.

Nullification of Governor Orji’s election
The judgment is perverse and unexpected. I can describe it as a judicial coup because it was the first time such a thing would happen. A situation where a tribunal ruled that Governor Orji had the greatest number of valid votes cast and that the election was free and fair, only to pass its judgment in favour of somebody who had less than 15 per cent of the valid votes cast, meant that voters who cast their votes for Chief Orji en masse are being deprived of the service of their choice.

We felt insulted by that judgment. Morale in the state is low because the verdict was unexpected. It is injustice of monumental proportion.

I can’t speak on the rumour that the judgment was influenced, but we want to leave the judges to their conscience. I will not say it was influenced because I don’t have the evidence to substantiate it. Judges are human beings. They are fallible and that is why we have hierarchy of courts.

Sometimes, judgments could be given in error. That is why we have hierarchy of courts where the mistakes of the lower court can be corrected. But one could make a mistake and acknowledge the conception of few, but I know some mistakes could equally be mischievous. It is quite unfortunate that the judges, with their immeasurable experience, gave such judgment that has been criticized and condemned by all. We will appeal the judgment because it is an aberration.

Governor Orji resigned before the election
The governor spent years in the public service and part of it was in INEC. He knows the rules of the game and the implications. He resigned on October 28, 2006 as Chief of Staff. There was a letter from the then Governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu accepting his resignation. All the documents are intact. The letter of resignation was tendered before the tribunal. For whatever reason, the tribunal decided to overlook it in preference to verbal statement from a witness brought by the petitioner. Even when he was asked whether he had evidence to prove it, he said ‘no.’ It is quite surprising that the tribunal overlooked documentary evidence, in preference to oral evidence by somebody without proof. The allegation that he collected salary as a civil servant on April 18 last year is a fallacy.

As at April 18, 2007, Chief Orji was in EFCC custody to the knowledge of all Nigerians. He was in prison for 90 days. Would somebody in prison collect salary? He was in prison when the election was conducted. He came out three days to the hand-over date because he was denied bail for a long time before the Appeal Court granted him bail.

In any event, the petitioner did not provide such documents before the tribunal. The office of the Chief of Staff is not a public office. It is a political appointment. He resigned as Permanent Secretary a long time ago and he was paid his gratuity. I have documents to substantiate all these claims.

Abia State government is solvent
On the allegations that there was no money in the state treasury and that the state is owning some commercial banks, these are cheap propaganda deployed by the opposition. These issues are verifiable. I am not in a position to say how much is in the state treasury, but Abia is not the only state that is indebted to one body or the other. Even the Federal Government is indebted, just as some state governments. Sometimes, you can overdraw on your account. I am not saying that the state treasury is empty. Projects in the state are going on and our cheques are being honoured. Those things are blatant lies.

Alleged membership of a secret cult
That allegation is one of the gimmicks used by the opposition to deceive the public. The video clip provided by the opposition was without audio and it lasted for 25 seconds. We are in the age of computer manipulation. That was what the opposition did to proof the allegation. The image in the video was not that of governor. We equally did our own simulation with Onyema Ugochukwu wearing pant in side the shrine. The man who came to the tribunal to play the video said that he was not the person in that video. The man, Olisabueze, said that he did not know when the video film was taken. So, no reasonable tribunal would attach importance to the whole charade.

We know that Okija is a deity not because of any governor. It has been there for years. After looking at the issue of whether the governor was a member, you look at whether Okija shrine is a secret cult. When did a shrine become a secret cult?

Therefore, the judgment was an attempt to destroy PPA. Yes, the way things are going, it is obvious that it was a calculated attempt to destroy our party. The governor passed through a lot of ordeals in the hands of our known enemies before becoming the governor. Not many would have survived what he passed through. When he came out as the party’s candidate for the election, the opposition was afraid. They cooked up false allegation against him.

While others were campaigning, he was shuttling between Umuahia and EFCC office in Lagos. He was later incarcerated for 90 days. All these were meant to ensure that he did not contest the election.
Based on his popularity and acceptance by the voters, he won the election convincingly while in prison. He became the first Nigerian to achieve the feat of being in prison and winning a governorship election. Chief Iyiola Omisore did it as a senator. We are happy that our people love him and he has been performing. That is why they are after him. They want to frustrate the party. PPA is the party for Abians and the only rallying point for the Igbo. I see this as another form of ethnic war going on.

The tribunal’s verdict and Obasanjo-Orji Kalu animosity
It could not be far from it. You know that Obasanjo, during his tenure of office, did everything possible to frustrate the government of Chief Orji Uzor Kalu. He denied the state all the oil wells that belong to it and abandoned all the federal projects in Abia State. It is clear that the war is still going on because they know that Orji Kalu is in support of the governor. So, they thought that when they are fighting Governor T. A. Orji, they are fighting Orji Kalu. Unfortunately, it is the people of the state that are suffering from the whole plot. Orji Uzor Kalu has made his name and he is comfortable.
There is palpable tension in the state because of what is happening. The governor have been applauded by the people because of his people-oriented government.

Governor Orji not distracted
The psyche of the people is low, not only government officials but also all Abia people. The judgment has brought down the morale of the people because they least expected it. The governor is going about the business of governance as usual. I have absolute confidence that the Appeal Court would reverse the verdict because it holds no water. If the appeal court fails to reverse the verdict, that is the end of democracy because it would set a bad precedent. The whole world is watching. This is a test case for the judiciary and democracy, not only for Abia people but also the world at large.

PPA governors not planning to join PDP
It was the handiwork of rumour mongers. It is not true. Our National Executive Committee (NEC) was inaugurated at Abuja recently. Both PPA governors were there. They have no reason to defect to PDP. The party is on ground in Imo and Abia states. Imo State, there may be a marriage of convenience between PPA and PDP because PDP controls the House of Assembly.

On Yar’Adua’s government
People say President Yar’Adua is slow. To me, he has to take his time and put much in order. Comparing him with the last administration, he deserves a pass mark. I am sure that with his victory at the tribunal, he would do more for the people.

PPA and GNU
Our party is a progressive party and we joined the Government of National Unity because we want this country to be moved forward. We don’t want the Kenyan experience. We believe in keeping Nigeria one because the corporate unity of this country is supreme. If the government derails from an agreed direction, nothing stops us from pulling out. The policies of the Yar’Adua administration is in tandem with our party’s ideology for now. We hope he would continue along that line.