‘Why Anambra central has no senator 3 years into 8th Assembly’

Dr. Obiora Okonkwo contested the 2014 primaries of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Anambra Central Senatorial District. He has been in and out of one court or the other even since, while the tenure of the Senate he was seeking to join pans away. In this interview, he declares that he is aware of the forces behind the prolongation of the pre-election suit he filed, adding that the defection of former Senator Uche Ekwunife from the PDP has now cleared the way. Group Politics Editor, Taiwo Adisa, presents the excerpts:

Your senatorial zone, Anambra North, is denied representation in the red chamber for some two years now due to a pending suit you instituted against the former PDP senator. Why do you think the case is dragging in court for a very long time?

Well, the case is dragging in court because this senatorial district, I can tell, you is the toughest senatorial district in the whole of the federation. And I can tell you why. If you go to all the other senatorial districts, the big fight is or was between two parties. It was either between the All Progressives Congress (APC) or the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), if you will recall. But it’s only in Anambra as a state that you have PDP, APC and then a third party, which is APGA. That was and remains the ruling party in the state. So, it becomes a three-way fight, unlike in other states.

Now, for that 2015 election, all important persons, including the national chairman of APGA, was also a candidate. The incumbent senator was from the APC and then you now have, in PDP, people fighting for the ticket, which are former senators, house of assembly members and so onIt was a very tough fight. That fight alone now went into the court. While we were fighting for the seat internally, there was also another external fight and obviously in the process, the matter was not simply resolved by saying that my name ought to have been submitted to the INEC and that I proceed to the Senate to claim my seat. But Senator Ekwunife, unlike in most places was disqualified and that seat was vacant.  And as soon as that seat became vacant, more gladiators came into the fight. Remember there were fresh primaries for APC; there were other known interests, which are not walkovers, especially in the PDP.  Every one of them could only become senator in Anambra Central with election. So, in all of these, I, Dr Obiora Okonkwo, due to my pre-election case, is the only person who could become a Senator in Anambra Central without election and the only way that could be is by having a declaration in my suit that I ought to have been the candidate of the party. So, the answer is clear. With me still having a valid case still standing, they have no chance.

How then do you resolve the controversy that has suddenly srounded that senatorial seat? The APC was holding primaries, the PDP was almost endorsing another candidate and APGA candidate, Chief Umeh had declared himself the eligible candidate for the election. There is a belief that an election was pending for that Anambra Central seat before INEC halted the plans…

The truth of the matter is that his (Victor Umeh, of APGA) claim could have been right if I has not has a pre-election matter in the PDP. If there had not been a pre-election matter, a, valid one for that matter, I believe that the PDP, under no circumstances, could not have had a candidate for that election. It’s not allowed by law. But at that point, some people in the PDP, thinking that they could do anything and get away with it, construed the imagination and idea that they could actually do a primary and have a new candidate to go and run for the election. They were then still ignoring my position. But the matter is all cleared now. I think the controversy has resolved itself now.  The INEC is a party to my case and obviously for them preparing an election and looking at that judgment before them as the only issue they have to deal with, one could say they should quickly hold elections and end it. But when they go to the other side, knowing that I have a valid case, a pre-election one, the wisdom there is only to think twice; is it worth wasting resources and do elections that might again be nullified in court because my interest was not factored in? I think that what is the best thing for everybody moving forward is to get this my case concluded because the outcome of this case will determine a whole lot of things moving forward for the issue of the central district.

There were insinuations that the case has dragged so far because you didn’t join the sacked Senator Ekwunife. Were you afraid of her or what?

Legally, by the time this case started, she had locus to be a party, and expectedly so, she was made a party to the suit and through the processes of the case when she was in the Senate, she remained a party to the suit. But with the judgment of the Appeal Court, which is the final court of jurisdiction on postelection matters for National Assembly, she was disqualified. That judgment, as you may know, was again tested in the Supreme Court, which declined jurisdiction, which means that the judgment 5of the Appeal Court remains. And for that reason, it was obvious to everybody that she has left the party to try her luck elsewhere.