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By Dickson Okafor
Chief Johnny Ucheaga is a legal practitioner with over 40 years experience at the Bar and former National Administrative Secretary of the defunct National Centre Party of Nigeria (NCPN). In this interview, he speaks on relevant national issues and offers free advice to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, cautioning the elders and chieftains to sit down and read the provisions of the party’s constitution.
Many Nigerians see the threat of military action by the United States against Islamic terrorists and Boko Haram, as an indictment of the All Progressives Congress, APC-led Federal Government. How do you feel about this?
It is very unfortunate that the ineptitude of the All Progressives Congress has brought global mockery on Nigeria. It is saddening that the government allowed Islamic terrorists and Boko Haram to commit atrocities for 17 years without a serious commitment and strategic pursuit of efforts to end the inhumane acts of the terrorists.
The United States President Donald Trump was fully convinced by the October 15, 2025 report of the Fact-Finding Mission which confirmed the reality of Christian genocide in Nigeria. Leader of the delegation, former US Ambassador Lewis Lucke said that Nigeria in 2010 was a nation at peace. Nigeria was a beacon of rising prosperity and religious tolerance, often cited as the only country where radical Islam was being pushed back. Attacks were rare and sparked national outrage. With virtually no IDPs and minimal conflicts – a stark contrast to the crisis that followed – which is marked by a 1,200 percent surge in IDPs by 2011 due to Boko Haram’s escalations. The question begging for an answer is: how did we get here? It is very simple, because institutions do not work here. For instance, during the campaign of the New York City Mayor-elect, Zohran President Donald Trump campaigned openly against Zohran Mamdani, who is a Muslim, yet he won because the electoral institutions worked. The votes were counted, because power did not decide, but the people did. This can only happen in Nigeria when security agencies are neutral and not political tools, when INEC is truly independent in reality, not just on paper. When citizens defend their votes, not just cast it and leaders emerge from the will of the people and not the will of a godfather. So, insurgency is politically motivated and that is why President Trump has threatened to take military action against Nigeria to flush out the bandits, Boko Haram and Islamic terrorists, who intensified their murderous campaign from 2014 and gotten worse since then. The threat by President Trump is a wake-up call for the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to re-strategise and frontally deal with the insecurity plaguing the country.
Looking at the recent developments in Nnamdi Kanu’s case (the sacking of his legal team, inviting prominent personalities to testify, etc) what do you make of them?
Igbo leaders have chosen the part of diplomacy and appeals to the Federal Government for his release and have been getting some answers which they believe will be adversely affected if they are not seen to be negotiating in good faith, if they didn’t do anything to stop their own wards from engaging in any activities that could further aggravate the already dangerous situation. However, it was up to the people that they had admonished to accept or not to accept the advice. In the South-East, closing of shops is what we do every week, and closing them for one more day is ironically not a big deal. Meanwhile, Nnamdi Kanu said he is defending himself because his lawyers are too afraid to mention names, but vowed to mention those names in the courtroom and vowed to expose hidden truths that will shake the nation to its core.
But at the last sitting of the court, Nnamdi Kanu refused to mount the dock to defend himself and mention the names?
That is why observers have warned that the case has gone beyond legal arguments. It is now a battle of truth versus power, courage versus fear. The Lagos State traditional ruler, Oba Rilwan Akiolu has warned the Federal Government of the danger ahead should Nnamdi Kanu go ahead to defend himself in court. He said it is the boldest and riskiest move Nigeria has ever witnessed since its creation. So, I believe that the matter will be politically resolved.
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ASUU has rejected the salary increase offered by the Federal Government, saying that it was not enough. Do you see the government being able to beat the four weeks suspension nationwide by the lecturers?
There can be no permanent solution to ASUU-Federal Government disputes because the reasons for the disputes are not of permanent nature. The government has made attempts to meet their demands, which they say is not enough if you consider the cost of things right now in the country. I expect the government to do more because of students. However, from time to time, new issues will arise which ASUU will refer to the Federal Government for resolution. Most times, the issues will involve the government billions of Naira, which were not captured in the budget for the year. The Federal Government would in turn do whatever it could to negotiate and reduce the total cost. And while that is going on that expenditure head will be contemplated in the subsequent financial year. In the meantime, ASUU had gone on a warning strike so that the union members would know that their officials are working hard for them. So, it is a routine that has played out in our university environment. I believe that the government will resolve the issues with ASUU before the expiration of four weeks.
What are your thoughts on the worsening crisis in PDP, even after a court granted it approval to hold the National Convention, but a faction, led by the FCT Minister Nyesom Wike, is insisting that the convention should remain suspended?
PDP is not in the environment that it had been accustomed to in the last 26 years. The danger is that it may go the way of the All People’s Party (APP), which was the party that was its closest rival in 1999, until the leadership began to fight with each other and started to jump ship one after the other. Recall that PDP had expressed disappointment over the court ruling which ordered the suspension of its planned National Convention in Ibadan, Oyo State. The party said the ruling by Justice Kolawole Omotosho was an assault on Nigeria’s democratic process. It added that the court order does not stop the party from continuing the plans and processes towards hosting a successful convention. Therefore, one wonders why members of the same party are confused over the constitution which is a guide. They wrote the constitution and they know what it says, so why are they against their own constitution? Those who went to court are party members and executives of PDP. So, it is still internal affairs that cannot be settled internally. And no court will look away from members not obeying the party constitution because if the crisis continues, by 2027 PDP will not have presidential candidate to present to INEC. So, it is internal matter which may not be over before 2027 general election. If the National Convention goes ahead, the other faction will hold its own National Convention and that will further divide PDP.
In view of the frequent demolition of Igbo properties in Lagos, do you think that South-East governors should declare a bonanza on C/O, to make it easier to get approval and encourage people to build structures in the South-East?
There is no proof that Certificate of Occupancy is easier to obtain in some states than in other states. I’m a lawyer of 40 years standing at the bar, and I have processed C of O for clients in the FCT, Abuja, and in all the six geopolitical zones of the country. The processing requires a hands-on approach in each state as well as being patient with the processing officers and taking their advice and suggestions on how to navigate the stages of the processing. Provided that the landed property is free from encumbrances and all the necessary fees have been paid. The delays in most cases are caused by the owner of the landed property processing the certificate himself or using touts who have their own financial problems to solve, instead of engaging an experienced legal practitioner to process their C of O. I’m sure that Igbo who want to construct structures in the South-East will have easier approval of Certificate of Occupancy from the governors as a way of encouraging them to develop Igboland economically.
