One of the biggest lies being told about the 2019 Anambra Central Senatorial election is that Chief Victor Umeh did not win the lawfully cast votes. Nothing can be further from the truth. Unfortunately Nigeria is one place where law breakers recklessly outtalk the keepers of the law. Otherwise how will someone claim to have won an election where he or she is not qualified to be a candidate, having not participated in all stages of the election as prescribed by law? 

Section 285(13) was clear in its provision that under no circumstances shall the court or tribunal return as winner anyone who did not participate in all stages of the election. The Supreme Court had interpreted this section in plethora of cases. It also had severally defined and enumerated what an election process entails; including making clear pronouncements that clarified who may become a substitute candidate after a primary election has been concluded.

While the people that muddled up the process and became usurpers and illegitimate occupiers are sitting pretty well on borrowed time, the victim that kept faith with the law is out there hoping for God’s miracles. The good thing is that our God does not sleep and I know He will do it.  I am confident it shall all end in His praise. Sir Victor Umeh is a rare gift to humanity. He is a man whose faith and family define his politics. It is regrettable that he is missing in action at a time we needed the full complements of the squad of our first eleven in the Senate.

Chief Umeh is an accomplished politician whom I will be delighted to see returned to the Senate representing his people whom he has demonstrated love for in many ways. I will like to see him building bridges and fighting hard for the safety, security, prosperity and comfort of his people in a strong Nigerian nation.

Both the Senate and South East are missing him  not just for his long red cap of Igbo distinct identity but for his vibrant spirit, poise, eloquence and intelligence. He is not just one of the best politicians of Igbo extraction discovered in recent time but a nice family man who loves his wife and children. Remarkably his wife is very active in his politics and other endeavors.

Umeh, the icon is a great communicator who makes intelligent contributions at every given opportunity.

Why am I praising him? When a man does the right thing he should be commended irrespective of partisan considerations. The twelve months he spent in the 8th senate representing Anambra Central Senatorial district was a period that can only be described in superlative terms. I recall with nostalgia how his impact was felt across Igbo land.

He attracted constituency projects spread across the Senatorial Districts.

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In December 2018, in less than 10 months in the Senate, Umeh committed huge spending to the training of over 151 constituents for a National Directorate for Employment (NDE) programme, in which all the grandaunts received starter kits for their choice skills learnt. Beyond the empowerment with a starter kit provided for the granduants, they were empowered with sums ranging between  N1million to N10million  in form of loan.

Umeh also attracted and disbursed 34 tricycles to youths of the area. The senator said he learnt of the tricycles after he was sworn in at the senate and quickly moved for it, as other lawmakers had long received theirs. He said he was surprised that the officials in charge wanted to bribe him with money to forfeit the empowerment materials, insisting that it was usually the custom among lawmakers. Umeh will rather not transact at the detriment of his people.

Umeh believes in the power of education. He sees education as the single biggest legacy one could bequeath the coming generation. It is the greatest meal ticket anyone can get. As a result he awarded scholarship to 70 indigent undergraduates in the senatorial zone; 10 from each of the seven local governments that make up the zone. He wasn’t doing it because of politics but out of love for the people.

During the award he said “I made the promise within a week of my swearing in. I did not make the promise so they will vote for me, but after I had won and was sworn in. We choose 10 persons from each of the local government areas that make up my senatorial zone and our target is to give scholarships to people who cannot afford it and not to people whose parents can afford to give their children the education they need. ‘‘We will train these people from their first year to their graduation. Beyond that we have been doing this since 11 years now. With these 70 students, I now have over 350 people on my scholarship in various institutions of higher learning in Nigeria,he said ”.

One of the primary functions of a senator, even beyond attracting projects to their locality is lawmaking. Here Umeh discharged himself creditably. In an interview granted to This Day Newspaper he said “When I got to the Senate, I found that there was opening for creation of a federal institution of learning in one senatorial zone each, and in my zone, we already had Nnamdi Azikiwe University, and in Anambra South too, there is Federal Polytechnic, Oko.

“I found out there was none in Anambra North. You see, when you go representing a people, anywhere you see they are not represented, you bring it to national consciousness. That was why I met Senator Stella Oduah because she represents that zone, and we co-sponsored that bill, but I had to drive it from the first reading, through second reading and public hearing and all. Same thing happened when I found out that Igbo were not represented in the nation’s Security Council, and that the South-east was not accommodated in the rail line.”

In twelve months he did three motions. The motion he sponsored on the 30th of May, which is the illegal confinement of underage children in the same prison with adult inmates was widely celebrated. It was a national motion, which affects children all over the country. The motion won an award as the best motion among other competing motions in 2018 at the Senate. He also did a bill for the establishment of the Theatre Art Professional Practitioners’ Council of Nigeria, which is a national bill. Because of the short period of his stay in the national assembly, Umeh was only able to meet the making of the 2018/ 2019 budget whereby he attracted several projects which are being implemented. He does not interfere in the procurement process but through aggressive oversight ensures full implementation of projects.

Umeh’s politics and leadership qualities contravene the vacuous, hollow , paradoxical and self contradictory  bullshit filled culture that pervades today’s politics where someone will destroy lives and cities for no purpose in a nihilistic fashion in a photogenic smile  so that people could bandy around him and sing Kumbayaya. Umeh is a rare breed, a worthy politician who walks , talks and runs the book. He calls bullshit on things that are bullshit and holds on to the genuine bits of his personality. He doesn’t hark on meaningless and empty platitude to paint a certain narrative. He calls a spade, a spade. With him, you know where you stand on issues. What more can I say, than pray for God’s  miracle in his life and career in politics.