Does this statement below mean Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige representing Anambra Central Senatorial Zone in the National Assembly has withdrawn his solidarity and support to the Governor of Anambra state , Chief Willie Obiano? Kindly read the release by the media campaign organization.
The statesmanly acceptance of the Supreme Court judgment by Senator Chris Ngige , favourite candidate in the failed 2013 gubernatorial elections of Anambra State ,his congratulatory message, and his call to Ndi Anambra to cooperate with the government of Willie Obiano in the interest of the state does not contain any promise ,or any connotation outside the literal meaning.
This clarification has become necessary following a statement credited to Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Mr Tony Onyima. Onyima was quoted by the Anambra State Broadcasting Service ,ABS (Radio)in it 6.30 am News Broadcast of September 25, 2014 as accepting the congratulatory message of Ngige ,and ‘hoping that Ngige will be true to his words’.
For the avoidance of doubt the spirit of Sen. Ngige’s plain and unambiguous statement, as broadcast on Channels Television on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 is that litigations must end at some point. The framers of the 1999 Nigerian constitution intend that for gubernatorial elections ,that point should be the Supreme Court, after which everyone must swallow whatever his/her reservations are, irrespective of their genuineness.
Sen. Ngige has demonstrated this spirit, with an inimitable flavour that depicts his undying live for Anambra State, for which the citizens of the state equally love him.
Yet every right-thinking person in Anambra State, Nigeria and beyond, know the flaws of the 2013 gubernatorial elections in Anambra State and the damage it has done to the reputation of INEC and the growth of the Anambra polity, no less Nigeria.
This is the import of that memorable statement rendered form the Red Chambers of the National Assembly, where Ngige is incidentally driving a motion to expand the composition of the Supreme Court to cater for the workload that could lead to human errors, in the course of his effective representation of Anambra Central Senatorial District.
Good students of history will recall that Ngige took the same stance in the wake of the judicial coup that saw him out of power, when he asked Anambra State citizens to support Mr Gregory Peter Obi in the interest of peace and stability of Anambra State.
The statement has not denounced the role of Senator Chris Ngige and the APC which Ngige leads in the state, as an alternative State Government in waiting, nor does it contain any endorsement for policies of governance or misgovernance on the part of the sitting government.
The statement has not changed the fact that the total number of votes and voters in the 2013 gubernatorial elections for all wards in 15 LGAs of Anambra State differed in the result sheet from the respective figures declared by INEC. It has not changed the fact that no INEC staff –ad hoc or permanent swore to the Oath of Neutrality. It does not change the confession by INEC that the register used on November 16, 2013 was different from the register displayed to the public in August 2013 and had to be so after a ‘sanitisation of the register’.
Hence, the statement of congratulation in deference to the supreme nature of the Supreme Court has not stripped Sen. Ngige and the APC from putting out the facts in words and action to the remaining courts –public opinion and God.
In the words of Ngige : ‘ The judgement f the good people of Anambra State have since been delivered to me when the good people of Idemili North, Idemili South, Awka South, Ogbaru and my other strongholds were disenfranchised on that fateful day of November 16, 2013. We as mortals will now wait for the eternal judgement of the almighty God on the same matter at the appointed time’.
Therefore there is nothing to wait for in terms of ‘Ngige being true to his words’ because the statement is conclusive. We can only acknowledge the end on an era and the beginning of another in the state.
It would therefore be an unkind cut, if anything is misconstrued in Sen. Ngige’s conclusive statement that clearly demonstrates passionate love for Anambra State, which it represented in full in the Senate at some point as the only surviving senator and which one-thirds (Anambra Central) he effectively represents today, standing in the verge of becoming a ranked senator.
For: CHRIS NGIGE CAMPAIGN ORGANISATION
Okelo Madukaife, Deputy Director, Media & Publicity