Hon. Chijioke Chukwu from Bende Northeast State Constituency of Abia State has been living in fear since he contested for the state House of Assembly in the April 11, 2015 General Elections on the platform of Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA).
His sins were his effrontery to defile the appeals of the Umunna PDP opinion leaders, who wanted him to collect a N30 million settlement offer given to him as well as withdraw his case at the Election Petitions Tribunal, sitting in Umuahia and allow his political opponent from the PDP, Ndukwe Cosmos Chukwu, to represent them at the state Assembly.
As stated by Chukwu, it has become easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for him to get anywhere near his hometown since he murdered sleep. He has written to all relevant security authorities over the plan to either assassinate or kidnap him to permanently silence him, yet he was yet to get any response.
In this interview with Daily Sun, Chukwu said: “What I want to tell the public is that should anything happen to me, now and after, they should know who to hold responsible. The PDP caucus in Umunna and their collaborators from Umuahia that vowed to permanently silence me by all means, either through assassination or kidnapping, should be held responsible.”
Excerpts:
Why his life is under threat
I contested for the state House of Assembly in the April 11, 2015 General Elections on the platform of PPA. Actually, at the end of the elections, INEC declared results unacceptable to the PPA and APGA candidates. I strongly believe that I had the highest number of valid votes cast yet INEC declared result to the contrary. So, I headed for the Election Petitions Tribunal.
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In addition to the irregularities noticed during the elections, particularly in three wards in Bende North, Item Ward A, B and C, there were many other minor ones in other wards where PDP disrupted the elections in few polling units.
There were some polling units cancelled outright by the supervisors but where we have serious challenges were in Item where the PDP and APGA candidates came from. There was massive deployment of thugs to disrupt the elections coupled with the compromise by most of the INEC staff and ad-hoc staff.
In fact, it is on record that most of the ad-hoc staff slept in the residence of my opponent on the eve of the election and were deployed to the various polling units from there. Besides, I equally discovered that Ndukwe engaged in double registration. In Eziama Ward 1, polling Unit 005, he dubiously registered as Ndukwe Cosmos Chukwudi but registered again in Item Ward C as Ndukwe Chukwudi C. yet INEC, unfortunately, declared him winner with the name he registered at Eziama Ward 1 005 in Aba North.
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However, all these issues are before the tribunal for determination. Both parties have canvassed our positions and we believe the Judges that listened to us will pass judgment in my favour.
Constant threat to his life
The point is that they did not know that I would head for the Election Petitions Tribunal and when I did, they became jittery after I finished canvassing my position.
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The first thing they did was to reach out to the former member of the House of Representatives in my constituency, who I have tremendous respect for, to beg me to compromise my position in return for material reward and a position in the PDP-led government in Abia.
However, I made it clear to them that my primary aim of going to the House of Assembly was not for any material reward but to offer service to my people. I further made it clear to them that it was very impossible at that point because lots of sacrifices had been made.
I told them it was not just about settlement because my integrity was at stake in addition to the pain I would inflict on the people that believed so much in me that would feel I had betrayed them. I also made it clear to them that it was not as if I didn’t want to yield to their appeal, but the truth is that I have no iota of doubt that I will do better than he in the Assembly.
Expectedly, the discussion broke down at that point. However, they did not give up, as they reached out to me again through another lawyer and a former assistant to former Senate President from Item. They know very well that I have tremendous respect for him.
They reached out to me again, inviting me for what they called an enlarged stakeholders meeting of all the opinion leaders from Bende to compel, not even to persuade me, to withdraw the case from the tribunal, which was against the position of my party in the first place and against my person who believes in justice, equity and fair play.
When I went through the list of the people they termed opinion leaders, I noticed that they are PDP leaders. Members of APGA party, my own party, the PPA, were not represented in the proposed opinion leaders meeting.
It immediately dawned on me that I would not get any fair hearing and justice. Their interest was only for me to withdraw my case from the tribunal. They equally came up with an inconsiderable argument that being the Deputy Speaker in the Abia State House of Assembly, Ndukwe is the highest ranking political office holder from my place.
They further argued that even if I succeeded in winning the case at the tribunal, it would be practically impossible for me to be the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly. I felt that what they were canvassing was improper because they forgot that he was first a member before becoming the Deputy Speaker.
I equally reminded them that being a Deputy Speaker would not automatically translate to him having the interest of our people more than me. There is no rule that says that a floor member cannot do better than the principal officer of the House.
His problem is that he sees himself as a very wealthy man, who has the interest of his people at heart and who can touch their lives better than I. I told all the emissaries they sent to me that my hands were tied since the case is not a community affair but a matter before the tribunal. I told them that if it were a civil matter, we could sit down and resolve it.
I warned that I did not even go deeper to disgrace them because we are brothers. There are more serious criminal dimensions to the case, which I did not pursue before the tribunal. In fact, the results he submitted to contest the election from the beginning were all forged.
It was almost the same scenario of threatening to sue me for libel when I raised the issue of double registration before the tribunal. He even went on air to deceive the public that he attended and obtained a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communication from Abia State University. He equally claimed that he obtained Masters Degree at the same institution, specialising in Broadcasting.
But, unknown to him that as at the time he was claiming to have done part-time programme in Mass Communication in the institution, there was no such programme. What they had then was Idea Programme.
Obviously, they did not approach me with sincerity, otherwise they ought to remember as student of history, that it was not the first time this type of situation played out.
In 2011, when the late Hon. Orji Lekwuwa of PPA was declared winner against Hon. Sunday Ugwa of the PDP, the latter headed for the Election Petition Tribunal, yet the Bende leaders did not consider it expedient to organise a meeting of this nature to compel Ugwa to withdraw his petition, even when they knew that Orji had better parliamentary experience, having spent eight years in the State House of Assembly.
I don’t understand why it should be so in my own case when they knew that I won the election free and fair but was rigged out. In 2011, I contested this same position under PDP and won the primaries twice, but they did not allow me to contest the general election for a flimsy reason that I was new in politics and they didn’t know where my loyalty resided.
Now that they have known where my loyalty is, why do they still want to pervert justice? I have told them that we should all allow the tribunal to do its job.
They should forget the issue of offering to give me N25 million or N30 million to step down. It is not about the money but the welfare of our people. If I lose the case at the election tribunal, I will happily go home and thank my people for their support and wait for another time.
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The confidence that he will win the tribunal case
The tribunal will not give you what you did not ask for. I have canvassed my position very well to convince them and I am very sure they will give me justice. This is the last hope of the common man and if I fail to get justice at the tribunal in the face of the overwhelming evidence I have provided, then I will know that there must be a problem.
I want to emphasise that I have confidence in the Judges at the election tribunal in Umuahia, considering the way they handled the proceedings there. I have no iota of doubt, therefore, that I will get a favourable justice.
Petitioning Police over threat to my life
Since I refused their overtures to take money and compromise my stand and position and go against the wish of the people, they started issuing all manner of threats to me. In fact, in my meeting with one of the Umunna opinion leaders, who is a man I respect so much, he advised me to withdraw the case from the tribunal in my own interest to avoid assassination.
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Besides that, I have had threats from some boys, some of them I know their names others I cannot identify, who are close allies to the PDP, warning me, directly and indirectly, to either withdraw the case from the tribunal or face the consequences.
When I brought my witnesses to the tribunal, they went as far as visiting them in their houses to warn their wives. There was a case of one Onyekwere Aniezi that the PDP people personally warned on telephone on the consequences of standing as a witness for me.
Even after testifying for me and doing creditably well, he still called him again and told him to be ready for the consequences. They did that to many of my witnesses. Some of them knew the boys that even visited their houses to threaten their wives.
I can categorically tell you that I have received threats to my life directly and indirectly. It was so bad that I hardly enter Aba now without doing it under cover. It is the same thing if I want to go to my village because I already know that there are plans to kidnap me by certain persons I would mention their names at the right time.
The plan to kidnap me was hatched at the meeting they had in Umuahia. They have resolved to find a way of taming me. I was reliably told that they have agreed that the best option is to kidnap and permanently silence me if I fail to step down or withdraw the case before the tribunal.
I have a traditional ruler friend from my place that lives in Abuja, Eze Ifeanyi, that has equally been visited with threats because he refused to abandon me. They planted hemp in his compound to rope him in and ensure that he was dethroned, but his subjects rose to his defence and stood solidly behind him.
There are still threats to that traditional ruler, even as I talk to you from a certain traditional ruler in Bende, who has equally vowed that he must ensure his dethronement sooner or later. We are waiting for him because we know that God is on our side.
I want to use this opportunity to call on the traditional rulers in Bende, the chairman of the Umunna Traditional Rulers, Eze Gerry Akpala, to call his subjects to order. I am equally calling on the Umunna youths to rise up for justice because this is the time for them to defend what rightly belongs to them.
What I want to tell the public is that should anything happen to me, now and after, they should know who to responsible. The Umunna PDP caucus and their collaborators from Umuahia that vowed to permanently silence me by all means, either through assassination or kidnapping, should be held responsible.
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No response from police yet
I have done a letter detailing these threats to the AIG Zone 9. I have equally done a letter detailing the threats to the Commissioner of Police, Abia State, and copied the Uzuakoli and Bende Police Stations, but I am surprised that up till now, I am talking to you, none of them deemed it necessary to invite me to know the nature of the threats and plan how to protect me.
Appeal to supporters
Let me, however, use this medium to appeal to our supporters to remain calm. They should not take laws into their hands in the face of provocations. They should have confidence in the judiciary because I know that we will get justice at the end.