The chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Anambra State campaign council and governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, has said that the national leadership of the party and its candidate, Dr Andy Ubah, are to decide whether or not the declaration of Prof Charles Soludo as the winner of the election will be challenged in court.
Speaking to correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential villa, Abuja on Tuesday, he said the fact that the president had already congratulated Soludo will have no bearing on the decision.
According to him, the president congratulated the candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) as the father of the nation as well as because he was the one declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He also rejected assertions that the ruling party may not be voted back to power because of the prevailing economic and security situations in the country.
According to him, many people are joining the party as Nigerians are happy that President Buhari is performing well.
He said the mood of the country is that the president is doing very well and the mood of the country is that APC has given the peculiarities of the times.
Asked whether the APC will go to court as indicated by Uba despite the president’s message of congratulations to Soludo, Uzodinma said: “Andy Ubah’s going to court or not going to court has nothing to do with Mr President. congratulating somebody, whom INEC has declared winner of the election.
“Of course, he is president of all, he’s not the president of one political party, he’s the president of all political parties and the president of all the candidates in that election.
“Of course, in every contest, a winner must emerge and in the wisdom of INEC and to the best of their ability, they’ve declared the results of the election.
“The same Electoral Act that allows INEC to declare results of an election, also allows aggrieved candidates to seek for redress in court if they so desire.
“But every other thing will be the decision taken by the candidate and the party. I’m not the party, I’m not the chairman of the party, I’m not the leader of the party, I just did an assignment as the chairman of the campaign committee.”
The governor said he explained the Anambra election outcome to the president in his capacity as the chairman of the campaign council, adding: “Anambra election, of course, you know the election has come and gone and other things may be post-election activities.
“Of course, I was able to explain to the president, how we tried in the election, we campaigned very rigorously and we also converted a lot of people to APC.
“The election was greeted by voter apathy and a high level of insecurity in Anambra and the turnout was very low.
“Other decisions or positions will be taken by the leadership of the party, I’ve done mine as the chairman of the campaign committee.”
On whether the APC can retain power because of the situation of the country, Governor Uzodinma stated: “What is the prevailing (situation) that will make APC not to win? Is it prevailing that you are not aware that the president is of the APC extraction? Is it that you don’t know that 22 states in the country belong to APC? Is it that you don’t know that APC has the majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives? Is that you don’t know that out of the 774 local governments in the country that the APC is controlling the majority? Have you not seen the number of people decamping into the APC?
“The mood of the country is that the president is doing very well and the mood of the country is that APC, given the peculiarity of this time, where insecurity has taken over the globe, where COVID-19 has ravaged every place in the world, from one variant to another variant, yet we are able to come out from recession.
“The way the Central Bank has managed to see that we are still afloat, the way all the intervention policies of the government, including the stimulus package, rolled out by this government, to ensure that the negative impacts of COVID-19 is not grievous on our people.
“So, I’m very confident, I’m a proud member of the APC and I think we’ll do our best to ensure that the confidence reposed in the party by Nigerians is not betrayed.”
The Imo governor informed that he was in the presidential villa to ask the president for financial support to tackle insecurity in the southeast.
He said prisoners who escaped from the Owerri Custodial Center have compounded the security situation of the state as they have continued to cause havoc.
The governor further stated: “I gave Mr President my message and Mr President also, in his usual manner, addressed the issues to my satisfaction.
“Prominent among the issues is just the increasing insecurity in the Southeast. I know that despite the activities of the bandits and unknown gunmen, recall that the correctional facility in Owerri was broken and over 1,836 inmates were released.
“Since that time, they’ve been on rampage, committing all sorts of crimes; kidnapping, robbery and other sorts of crimes in the state and there is need for us to really clean up the state because you know that this period of Christmas.
“It is so important to our people and we want to ensure that those coming home to spend their Christmas will have a conducive atmosphere to enjoy their Christmas and then celebrate the season.”
“Yes, we asked for support with additional manpower and also I asked for some kind of funding to support the security situation in Imo state and Mr President graciously approved,” he decanted.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
FALSE! Yoruba Not An Official Language In Brazil
Claim: A national newspaper and multiple online platforms claim Brazil has adopted Yoruba as its official language and that the language would be included in primary and secondary schools curriculum.
Verdict: The claim is false. The content of the article published by these online platforms is not new; it has been recirculated several times and has been debunked.Soludo: APC leadership, Ubah to decide on legal challenge ― Uzodinma
Soludo: APC leadership, Ubah to decide on legal challenge ― Uzodinma
and then