Moses Akaigwe
Chief Victor Nnanna Okere is a Finland-based Nigerian journalist, political analyst and Conflict Management consultant. He is also the Coordinator of Imo Diasporas Support for Senator Hope Uzodinma 2019 – a group that canvassed for votes and awareness for the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the last governorship election in Imo State. In this interview, he spoke on the declaration of Uzodinma as the winner of the election by the Supreme Court, and his swearing-in on Wednesday:
What is your reaction to Supreme Court ruling?
Members of the Imo Diasporas Support for Senator Hope Uzodinma 2019 have been celebrating over here and giving thanks to God since we received the news of the declaration of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Hope Uzodinma, as the winner of the 2019 governorship election and his subsequent swearing-in on Wednesday. For deservedly ensuring that indeed justice was served in the matter by declaring him duly elected, we hail the courage of the Justices of the apex court in Nigeria. We in Finland have always known that Uzodinma won the election, and had confidence that the judiciary would eventually come to the rescue of Imo people whose votes were unlawfully cancelled by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to give undeserved victory to the candidate of the PDP.
What the wise men at the Supreme Court did on Tuesday, January 14, simply reinforced the general belief that the judiciary is the last hope of every citizen. They have, therefore, restored and revalidated the mandate that Imo people freely gave to Senator Hope Uzodinma. Ndi Imo gave him the mandate because they believed and still believe that he has all that it takes to transform the state and restore it to its past glory and in line with the foundation laid by its founding fathers, like the late former governor of the state, Chief Sam Mbakwe.
Why does your group support Uzodinma?
You will recall that in the build-up to the governorship election last year, there was a large field of aspirants, across the various political parties, including APC, APGA {All-Progressives Grand Alliance}, PDP {Peoples Democratic Party} and Action Alliance (AA), among others. But, it was not difficult to see that Uzodinma, who later emerged the APC’s flag-bearer in the race and now the governor, was the man Imo needed.
All we had to do then was feel the pulse of the ordinary people in the state; the real electorate, and our findings dove-tailed into our resolve that Uzodinma is the kind of man that fits the bill of leading the state out of the woods. That was why we swung into action by joining hands with like-minded people to mobilise support for him; and in some instances, we printed posters and were visibly present in both conventional and new {social} media in seeking support for him ahead of the 2019 election. The obvious result was the enthusiastic way the Imo electorate keyed into the Uzodinma campaign.
What do you expect from the new governor?
We in the Diasporas Support for Senator Hope Uzodinma 2019 think that so far the candidates and other key players in the election have conducted themselves in a commendable manner, especially the APC candidate and the new governor himself; Emeka Ihedioha of PDP; and Uche Nwosu of Action Alliance who withdrew his case at the Supreme Court at the last minute.
What all of them should do now is take a step further by rallying support to the new governor in the interest of the state. All hands need to be on deck to rebuild Imo state.
Do you think he would run an all-inclusive government?
I know Senator Uzodinma so very well that I can confidently say on behalf of the Diaspora group that our new governor was confident that Uzodinma would carry everybody along given his antecedents of being accommodating and engaging in politics of inclusiveness. I strongly believe that in the next four years, Imo will witness unprecedented development, the kind of which was witnessed only under the administration of late Sam Mbakwe.
With Uzodinma as governor, there is no doubt that Imo is now in safe hands. But, I have to appeal to him to be magnanimous in victory and live up to his reputation of carrying everybody along in the quest to reposition and rebuild Imo.
How do you feel about the controversial decision by the Supreme Court Justices
I think that Justice Kudirat Kekere – Ekun and her fellow wise men that rendered the judgment on Tuesday should be applauded for recognising the injustice the lower courts failed to reverse. Can you imagine that Uzodinma couldn’t have been governor today, but for the strict interpretation of the relevant electoral laws which reversed the exclusion of the results in 388 polling units at the final collation of the final governorship election results.
But for this reversal by the apex court and the consequential inclusion of the hitherto cancelled votes from the 388 polling units in Uzodinma’ s score, the verdict Imo people gave to Senator Uzodinma would have been lost, and Ihedioha would have remained the governor today.
