Ihedioha should face governance — Okafor

Honourable Chike Okafor, member representing Ehime Mbano/Ihiteuboma/Obowo federal constituency, a second term member, who has just been sworn in the House of Representatives, sequel to his victory at the Court of Appeal, in this interview by KEHINDE AKINTOLA, speaks on the ongoing trial of former Governor of Imo State, Senator Rochas Okorocha by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Nigeria’s response to the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.

How will you describe your victory at the Appeal Court to return to the ninth House of Representatives?

I’m very happy. It was an exciting moment for me. I can only thank God. I also want to thank my party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), led by Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the members of the National Working Committee (NEC), who stood by me in this trying moment, having  known what it meant to win election but not  declared winner by the Independent National Electoral commission (INEC), collected Certificate of Return, participated in the inaugural induction and was looking forward to the commencement of the ninth Assembly but from nowhere issues that had nothing to do with me and my party cropped up. But thank God for the judiciary. We have to make recourse to the Court of Appeal and today, here we are and the rest is history. I am happy and I said I want to thank my party and the judiciary for being what they have to be, the last hope for Nigerians and I thank them for redressing the injustice that was done. And also I want to thank the leadership of the ninth Assembly, especially the House of Representatives, the Rt. Hon. Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila for also standing firmly with me and behind me and here I am today as an elected member and member of the 9th Assembly.

One important thing was that you wanted to be the Speaker of the ninth Assembly, and everybody knew how prepared you were.  So, how do you feel?

Well, that was in the past; now we have a speaker who I also told you then that no doubt that Femi Gbajabiamila happens to be the most experienced member of the House. Don’t forget the fact that in the seventh Assembly, he was the minority leader; in the eight Assembly, he was the majority leader. I aspired for that position but the rest is history. Today, we have a pragmatic and experienced speaker.I am not feeling any bad that I missed it. We will file behind the leadership and chart the course of the ninth Assembly; national building is a joint task for us.

You have an affinity with the former governor of your state, SeantorRochasOkorocha who has been having issues with the current state administration and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC0. Are you not worried?

It is not a new thing in our democracy that a public officer having served as a governor and as a senator will have a couple of invitations from the EFCC. Of course, they are doing their job but at the end of the day, I want to believe it is not a witch hunt, so it will pan-out.

It is not the first time it’s happening in our democracy and it is not the second time and it won’t be the last time it will happen. Some of us have also faced such invitation and inquiry by those anti-graft agencies. So, Senator Rochas Anayo Okorocha is having his own turn now; it won’t be his turn the next time, it will be another person’s turn.

  To be specific, what is you take on the face-off between the incumbent governor, EmekaIhedioha and Senator Okorocha?

I want to settle down in the ninth Assembly; I don’t want to dabble into local politics back home for now. So, let me settle down in the Assembly but I will say that without any fear or contradiction, I wish the governor in my state settles down, face the issue of governance and leave out the man who had handed over to him. This is my position and in summary, I wish that his Excellency, Governor EmekaIhedioha will face the challenges in the state and leave RochasOkorocha alone.

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How do you see the steps so far taken by the Nigerian government on the xenophobic attacks in South Africa?

I was particularly excited by the decisions taken by the Nigerian government, particularly the leadership of the House. I was excited when I was outside the country when I saw the Rt. Hon. Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, who proactively cut short his official trip abroad to come home, even contemplated recalling the House to come to sit to address this menace that happened in South Africa. Of course, you will agree with me that he followed it up with a world press conference where the National Assembly leadership and House of Representatives condemned in clear terms what our brothers and sisters from Nigeria are suffering in South Africa. Clearly, it is unfortunate that so many years after we fought and put our resources both human and material resources to help that country to get independence, they are paying up back in a bad manner.

With your second return to the House, what are your plans for your constituents?

I told them in 2015 that I was going to be a strong voice, and I think lived up to that expectation. My people will confirm that I represented them very well even as a first timer and that was the reason they voted for me overwhelmingly to come to the ninth Assembly. So, I will continue to speak for the Ehime Mbano/Ihiteuboma/Obowo federal constituency of Imo State in the Assembly.