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…Calls for Nnamdi Kanu’s release
By Agatha Emeadi
OCHIAGHA Reagan Ufomba is one of the founding members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). He is also a former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in Abia state.
In this interview, he speaks
about the outcome of the
Presidential Electoral Peti-
tion Court, the integrity of
the judiciary and President
Bola Tinubu’s certificate saga,
among other issues.
What is your take on
the Presidential Election
Petition Court judgment?
Looking at the various judi-
cial pronouncements across the
country, it shows a judicial dis-
cordance in terms of principles,
philosophies and practices. The
judgment was a potpourri of
different strokes for differ-
ent folks depending on which
political isle you stand. I stand
with the majority opinion of
Nigerians who look at issues
from an entirely cosmopolitan
perspective. First, we created
the cherry and pick scenario
which the judiciary always
picks from. This has nothing to
do with the way you and I feel.
It simply has to do with visible
holes in our electoral system
that give room for jaundice
interpretations, manipulation
and conducts that leave us cry-
ing over spilt milk all the time.
Whichever way we feel today,
good or bad, lacks capacity to
effectively remedy nothing. We
need watertight electoral laws
by Nigerians and for Nigerians.
Since the matter is at the Su-
preme Court it is better left there
where expectation is high that
the court will dispassionately and
supremely deliver justice to the
Nigerian people.
Most Nigerians are wor-
ried about the integrity of
the judiciary, do you think
the judiciary (Supreme
Court) can deliver justice?
I agree that most Nigerians are
worried about the integrity of
the judiciary. Our judiciary is a
product of the very amorphously
sterile Nigerian system that re-
quire urgent reforms. Rather than
single out one arm or few per-
sons for persecution we should
forgive ourselves and stand in
support for total institutional
reforms. It is time to harmonise
our laws so as to redefine the en- tire polity to give vent to stronger
institutions, rather than stronger
persons. This is the only way
integrity can be measured. Nigerians crave for quick and reliable
dispensation of justice for all,
not just for politicians. Integrity
can only be measured when the
legislature removes bobby traps
in our laws. For example, why is
there always conflict between the
1999 constitution and the Elec-
toral Act? Why is the Electoral
manual inferior to both the Elec-
toral Act and the Constitution in
the eyes of the law which queues
behind on election day. It seems
to me our electoral laws lack in-
tegrity in the first place. And this
is not an excuse for any funny
judge. As we say, the law is an
ass, which means it can be ap-
plied either way by the judge. It
is our constitutional responsibil-
ity not to dualize our laws for the
judge to misinterpret. We should
put the law before the judge
and not otherwise. And these
require serious reforms. Once we
make our laws manipulative and
manipulable it becomes a willing
tool in the hand of anybody,
including the bad eggs. This is
what has been happening. Our
legislators owe us this national
duty. They must tell us, for ex- ample, whether issues of qualifi- cation for election by candidates is strictly a pre-election matter
or both pre-election and tribunal
matters. On their part, the judi-
ciary must spell out in clear and
unambiguous terms their practice
directives. They must tell us
whether our votes should count
or not count at the polling units
or at some collection or return-
ing centres. I do not think the
judiciary is comfortable with the
unfortunate name calling arising
from different interpretations of
our laws. I call for one judiciary,
one judicial practice directive,
and one judicial pronouncement
on concurrent issues.
What is your view on Ti-
nubu’s certificate scandal?
Frankly, this is one issue on
the lip of every Nigerian right
now. Unfortunately, I have
neither read the affidavit from
Chicago State University nor did
I listen to Atiku’s world press
conference. Either way, this mat- ter is scandalously weighty and a
serious national and international
constitutional issue to rely on
third party sources for opinion.
But would my opinion count?
Can the present crop
of ministers assembled
by President Tinubu take the country out of the
woods?
Let me be the first to tell
them if no one has done so,
this is a make or mar cabinet.
According to Macbeth
“there’s no art to know a
man’s construction in the
face”. Aside from some of
the Ministers we know others
are relatively new on stage.
I am particularly impressed
with the media outbursts and
enthusiasm of the Minister of
Internal Affairs. He seems to
know where he is headed to.
There are so many of them
like that too. I listened to
the Ministers of Justice and
Finance; they inspired hope.
But seriously, we must jet-
tison the old idea of handouts,
palliatives, trader moni and so
forth. Government must deal
with the trio evils of trade
laws, foreign exchange and
fuel prices. Once these are
dealt with because Nigerians
are no beggars, they will find
their footing as they have
always done in the past.
What about your as- sessment of Governor
Alex Otti’s 100 days in
office?
Why break the flow? Why
Otti, and not Tinubu? Truth is,
whatever assessment I make
about Otti will be subjected
to horrific interpretations. The
reasons are obvious. There- fore, I can only advise at this
time. In my view, 100 days is
too incubative a time in the life
of any administration for mean- ingful achievement. From what I
hear, he is blessed with so much
allocation and IGR that he must
concentrate on distilling sore
points, separating governance
from politics. Two, he should
resolve issues of the majority
turning the minority and minor- ity becoming majority in the
House of Assembly. Three, he
should allow free administration
at the third tier of the local gov-
ernments. I have spoken about
institutional reforms, and Abia
is not an island. Four, the civil
service of the state must not be
sacrificed for whatever mundane
consideration. I contested in the
past, and the whole idea is to bet-
ter the lot of our people.
Do you have fears for
Nigeria?
My fears for Nigeria are
multifaceted. One, the tattered
economy this government inher- ited must not die. The quaking
exchange rate is spiralling out of
control, causing uncertainties in
the local and international mar- ket. Government must intervene
from time to time. We seem
entrapped in some economic circous arena. Secondly, we need
to strengthen our trade and in-
vestment laws. I fear that Nigeria
is being recolonized by portfolio
investors and speculators. To
avoid chaos our judiciary must
be courageous to dispense justice
without fear or favour.
What then do you see as
the problem with Nigeria
and what solution would
you proffer?
Our major problem in the
country today is ethnicity and
religion. There is too much ideal-
ists with less realists. Number
one solution is to develop a
national agenda for the nation.
I gave birth to four children in
Lagos and they are Abians, you
give birth to equal number of
children in Ohio and they are
Americans with equal rights.
Why won’t my Ohio guys be
more patriotic than the rest. The
solution lies in our ability to
work with the best hands in the
country. Let there be equal treat- ment for all. Generals Ibrahim
Badamosi Babangida, IBB,
Olusegun Obasanjo, OBJ, and
even Jonathan went for the best
brains and we achieved. We must
embrace justice. What busi- ness have we with a bicameral
legislature, 36 state structure
and all those duplicities? Every
zone now wants a development
commission. What for? Others
are duplicating agencies and
departments. Honestly, the 1963
constitution remains our best bet.
If we find that archaic and retro- gressive, let’s make a new one
that guarantees equal right and
justice. Responsible Nigerians
have made calls for sovereign
national conference and it is
long overdue. Resource control
is resourceful and overdue too;
then I ask, why would a Nigerian
from Zamfara go to Abuja to
discuss the gold in his backyard,
why must I go cap in hand to
Abuja to discuss oil or coal or
limestone or caolin or even char-
coal, or whatever solid mineral
in my backyard? How come 70
per cent of those fleecing our
dollar out of the CBN are our
acclaimed foreign messiahs? The
Japa syndrome is very unhealthy
and a big problem. Our young
men and women are leaving
in droves. It’s not good for our
tomorrow. Insecurity is a big
problem. Government should for
once spare Ndigbo the chance
to live in peace. If all we need to
stop the killings and agitations
is set Nnamdi Kanu free, why
can’t we do it in the interest of
commerce, industry and peace in
the region and Nigeria. We must
critically look at our laws and
introduce reforms for growth,
and not death.
