A’Court will reverse judgment – LP chair

Chairman of the Labour Party in Imo State, Calistus Ihejiagwa, speaks to DANIEL AYANTOYE on the judgment of the tribunal that affirmed the election of Hope Uzodimma as the governor of Imo State

The tribunal has affirmed Governor Hope Uzodimma as the November 11 governorship election winner. What is your reaction to this?

Our governorship candidate in conjunction with the party issued a press release. We are not happy with the judgment, and we are going to appeal the judgment. We felt that justice was not served. I participated in that tribunal sitting from the beginning to the last day. We know the weight of evidence we presented before the tribunal. Unfortunately, it was not reflected in the judgment.

Secondly, we strongly believe there was a miscarriage of justice. So, it is within our right to appeal. We are going to exercise that legal right to appeal. We are optimistic that the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court will reverse that judgment because that judgment is not founded on law and evidence.

But the tribunal said your party in the petition failed to prove the allegation of over-voting and non-compliance to the Electoral Act. Is it that your party didn’t present strong evidence on the case?

We presented very weighty evidence before the tribunal. We called witnesses. The witnesses in their testimony made strong statements that were not controverted and not challenged by the respondents. So, we became worried when the tribunal said that we did not prove our case of non-compliance and over-voting. We did it to the best of our ability.

Does that mean the tribunal deliberately rejected the evidence you presented?

In the tribunal’s judgment, they did not say that they rejected our evidence. I cannot remember hearing that they rejected our proof. The point is that the judgment has been given and we are not satisfied with it. So, we are going on appeal and when we get to the Appeal Court, they will have a second look at the case. We are optimistic that they will reverse the judgment.

Why do you think the tribunal decided the judgment in that direction?

I was not a member of the panel. I did not sit with them. So, I wouldn’t want to second-guess them. All we know is that we are unsatisfied and are going on appeal. So, I don’t want to go into speculations. Our party doesn’t thrive on speculation. We will go on appeal and represent our case, hoping that the Justices of the Appeal Court will have a second look and reverse the judgment. Despite the tribunal’s verdict, we still believe we proved our case before the tribunal.

Your governorship candidate, Senator Athan Achonu, alleged that the Independent National Electoral Commission was involved in the illegalities during the poll and has vowed to expose them. What is your take on this?

INEC is an institution that has members of staff, both permanent and ad hoc staff. In law, whenever any of their staff, whether ad hoc or permanent, commits a wrong act, you can safely say it is INEC, because it is an institution, and it takes responsibility for the conduct of its staff. During that election, there is ample evidence of infractions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines by various INEC staff. So, we are right, and we stand by it that INEC committed a lot of infractions against the Electoral Act and its guidelines.

Do you think the LP is that popular in Imo State and is recognised by the people as one that should win a governorship election?

Our party is a party of the masses, the people’s choice. The people voted overwhelmingly for the Labour Party. The people are still supporting the Labour Party. As a matter of fact, in the entire South-East, Imo State is the centre of the Labour Party in the South-East. The records are there. Go and check the records of the general election; you will see what the Labour Party got in various polls and then in this governorship election of November 11, the people voted massively for the Labour Party. Except for the malpractices and the irregularities, the Labour Party won that governorship election.

Governor Uzodimma has commenced his second term in office. How will you describe his performance in the state?

I am not aware that Imo State has a governor. The market woman on the street is not aware that we have a governor. The artisans are not aware. The workers are not aware. We have a governor who operates from outside Imo State. We have a governor who is not seen and felt by the people. Practically speaking, these few months that he has been in office as a governor, Imo people have not felt his impact. In their assessment, notwithstanding that we are the opposition to a political party, if you follow our antecedents, you will know that we don’t criticise for the sake of criticism. We say it the way it is.

He has performed abysmally low in the areas of security, employment, infrastructure, and in the area of growing the economy. He has performed very low. In education and tourism, Imo State is lagging. The state used to be the centre of tourism in the South-East. Presently now, tourism is at the lowest level. People no longer come to Imo State for relaxation and tourist purposes. It’s unfortunate.