Barrister Kenneth Udeze is the Action Alliance (AA) National Chairman and former National Legal Adviser, Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) Nigeria. Chief Udeze, in this interview with EJIKEME OMENAZU, speaks on the Rivers State Local Government election, the Edo governorship election and the coming Ondo gubernatorial poll, among other issues. Excerpt:
Your party’s candidate, Hon. Uzodinma Nwafor, to the surprise of many, won the Chairmanship of Etche Local Government in the just concluded Rivers State Council Election. How do you see the victory?
His name is Hon. Uzodinma Nwafor, and we are very grateful to God and the good people of Etche local Government, comprising 19 electoral wards for the outcome of the election. The victory can be attributed majorly to the magnanimity of His Excellency, Governor Sim Fubara, who though pressed on every side due to the lingering crisis in the state, did everything to ensure that the wishes of the people were not subverted. I should also add that our Uzo is a popular person, and with his synergy with the elected councillors, coordinated their campaigns very well. So, the victory is well deserved, although it could have been more pleasant if we had won more councils last Saturday.
Apart from the Chairmanship position of Etche, did your Party also win some Ward Councillorship positions? If so, how many and where?
It was truly a favourable outing for our party, the Action Alliance (AA), as we pulled a surprise fit in Etche Local Government, where 19 Councillorship seats were won by the APP with high level political understanding and maturity. The good thing is the action parties that won in the election have similar ideologies and are ready to work together for the benefit of the good people of Etche Local Government. Frankly, the main strategy adopted by our party was that we went for the most credible among the most popular aspirants in that Area Council, and it paid off.
The APP candidates won most of the seats in the Rivers Council poll, while the APC and PDP trailed behind. Would you say that this election has marked the beginning of change of political power in Rivers?
As it is now, some of the political parties that boycotted the election will be licking their wounds, for wrong calculation. You can see what is happening in most of the Area Councils, after the successful elections and swearing in ceremony, where aggrieved individuals from the opposition party, are destroying government properties and critical infrastructure. The APP did very well and I commend their leadership for the foresight exhibited. Remember that their Secretariat was bombed severally before the elections, by those unwilling to participate in the election. The inability of APC and PDP to get their acts together gave room for the emergence of new kids on the block, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. It is a case of if you settle for rest, you will get less than you settled for. So, congratulations to APP whose emergence may herald a new era in Rivers State politics.
How do you see the recently held Edo governorship election and the controversial victory of the APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo?
Our Edo State Chapter Chairman is due to brief the NWC of our party on the process and outcome of the entire exercise in the coming week. However, I am less than impressed with reports making the round. After the proposed review, if it is necessary for our party to make a formal statement on the position of our Party regarding it, then we shall do that. At the interim, the aggrieved parties are hereby advised to seek redress in the most legitimate means.
Observers stated that the Edo governorship election failed to meet integrity tests. What is your take on the report of the Observer groups?
This Edo State election outcome is very important that as a political party, we should take a cursory review of it, because it is a mirror into what happens in 2027. Regardless, on the 3rd through the 5th of September, 2024, IPAC (including our party), was invited by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters, working in conjunction with Policy and Advocacy Centre (PLAC), we met in the Transcorp Hotel, for the review of the Electoral Act, and the issues of Qualifications of Aspiring Office seekers, and the electoral process before, during and after the election was properly appraised. When the final report is out, no doubt, the issue of integrity of the process and the qualification of participants will be properly reflected on the new Bill. So, let me hold back my impression on the outcome of the Edo election for now.
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Your party’s candidate in the Edo governorship election a few days to the poll was reported to have withdrawn from the poll and declared his support from the election. But your party was among those that contested the election and garnered a sizable number of votes. How would you reconcile these developments?
As one of the successful political parties in Nigeria, the Action Alliance, will always secure votes, irrespective of the fact that we may not have fielded any candidate in any location throughout the federation. So, that was why we were able to secure so many votes, though our candidate withdrew from the election a week before the guber election. Issues of withdrawal of candidates before election should be done with great understanding and proper agreement where one of the parties has given in for lack of financial war chess to prosecute the election. As you know, by the Nigerian election factor, no matter how good your manifesto is or how it looks that the people love and speak well of you, on or before the Election Day, if you don’t have money to distribute, you are on your own. The wicked political elites would love to see the people remain impoverished.
The Ondo governorship election will be held very soon. Is your Party taking part in it? If so, how ready is your party and its candidate?
Action Alliance is always ready for any election, no matter the location, because our structure has spread even to the farthest localities in the Country, even in the regions where we have IDPs, and this is because of our visionary leadership and committed membership. Yes, for the Ondo State guber election, our candidate is ready and he has been consulting with relevant stakeholders in the state already. Our candidate, Hon Akunuli Fred, is a professional, with a track record of veritable services to the people of Ondo State, as a Humanitarian and Community Developer par excellence. The Ondo election will tilt towards our victory if conducted freely and fairly, no doubt, and we are working towards his victory.
Several Nigerians have lost confidence in the INEC as presently constituted with many calling for the removal of the Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu. What is your take on this?
We believe that a revised Electoral Act preceding the 2027 general elections would address these identified concerns as well as significantly enhance the credibility and integrity of Nigeria’s electoral process, promote political stability, and strengthen democratic governance. Frankly, I think that it is not all about INEC, but indeed, about some of the agencies that deliver ancillary services to INEC during the elections. A look at what happened in Rivers State Local Council Elections is a massive eye opener. There were no police to secure anything, and of course, there were no dramas here and there. Everything was done seamlessly. Had they been involved, it could have looked like we were going to war. So, leave the INEC Chairman alone (until his tenure is due). Let us blame the system and those operating the system. If our institutions are strong enough, we shall experience the kind of elections that took place in Rivers State, throughout the nation.
With the experiences of the recent past, what electoral reforms would you proffer for the democratic development of the country?
During a three-day retreat (between September 3 and 5, 2024) on Amendment of the Electoral Act 2022, by the Joint National Assembly Committee on Electoral Matters in collaboration with Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), all registered political parties, under the auspices of Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC), presented a joint position on the matter and upon passage in the National Assembly, we will have a much better outcome in subsequent elections. In the forum, Action Alliance sought for a more sustainable Electoral Act which shall not be reformed every year or every two years as the case maybe. The Electoral Act was signed to law and presented to the Nigerian public for implementation just two years ago, and in 2024, stakeholders in electoral matters gathered again to review it. You can see that it is very wrong, and the underlying reason is simply because the actors in the system, especially political office seekers, INEC and Judiciary found a way to circumvent it. One of the issues which concerns political parties most was the issue of submission of membership register by Political Party – Section 77(3): Section 77(3) mandates political parties to submit their membership registers to INEC not later than 30 days before the date fixed for the party primaries, congresses or convention. The amendment proposed safeguards practices for the sudden influx of members into the party just before primaries to skew the outcome in favour of particular candidates. By locking the membership register for 30 days, the amendment discourages recruiting ghost members or manipulating the voter base at the last minute. The amendment sought will also promote internal democracy by ensuring that only genuine party members with a demonstrated commitment to the party and its values can participate in selecting candidates. Request was made for amendment of Section 77 with the introduction of the following subsections to wit: Section 77(3): Every political party shall submit an updated membership register to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) not later than 30 days before the date of any scheduled primary election, congress or convention. Section 77(4): Any person whose name is not included in the membership register submitted to and certified by INEC in accordance with subsection (3) of this section shall be ineligible to participate in the primary election, congresses or convention of the political party. Section 77(5): Any aspirant who participated in the primaries of his political party who has reasonable grounds to believe that a person whose name is not in the certified membership register participated in its primary election shall file a suit at the Federal High Court against that candidate to be disqualified. Section 77(6): Where the Court determines the name of the person is not in the certified membership register, the Court shall issue an order disqualifying the candidate and declare the candidate with the second highest number of valid votes as the winner of the primary election.
What is your view on the recent hike of interest rates by the CBN?
Nigeria’s fiscal policies have never been here nor there under this administration, because to me, they are still practising trial and error principles. They are not transparent enough and we cannot tell for sure what is really happening. But, I can tell you for free that this bunch of actors do not seem to have an idea on how to go about transforming our economy.
What should President Tinubu do to check the cabals in the Oil and Gas Sector and make fuel cheaper to Nigerians?
Who are the cabals? Who is leading that group of economic saboteurs? Have you forgotten the involvement of his family in the Malta Refinery saga? What about the proceeds from subsidy removal? Who should be the person answering these questions? I am sure you get my point already. The bulk stops on his table, and until he decides to tell Nigerians the truth on the true situation of things in the ministry he is coordinating, everyone will still continue to sustain the thought that there is more than meets the eyes.
