Ex-Anambra Deputy Speaker Explains Why They Impeached Ex-Governor Peter Obi

Hon. Ozo Ughammadu from Nibo in Awka South local government Aea and a chieftain of APC until recently is a former Deputy Speaker of the Anambra State House of Assembly.

 In this interview with CHINEDU EKEJA, he speaks on why they impeached ex-governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, his political career and other national issues.
You have been out of public view since 2011 when you lost your election to Emeka Nwogbo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to represent Awka North and South in the House of Representatives. What happened?
Well, you may not be exactly right because after the 2011 elections, which I won but there were some mathematical errors in the addition of figures, I have been active. During the last governorship election in Anambra State, I was still in All Progressives Congress (APC). We supported Dr. Chris Ngige. I did the much I could because in my own area, APC won, even though Ngige lost in that election, I delivered my area. Since then we have been in the rear watching the game.
You said something about election result, what really happened?
Some non-existing votes were added, so I headed to the tribunal but the court did not accept the result we tendered for the reason that it was wrongly tendered. They said it was tendered by a wrong person. They rejected the result on that basis. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and APGA could not tender any result because they know there was no result before them. When the tribunal rejected the one I tendered on technical reasons, we headed to the Appeal Court, and the appellate court sorted it out on the ground of 180 days.
That was a shock to me which gave me an impression that Nigerian Judiciary somehow is a place where justice goes to the highest bidder particularly by rejecting those results on the ground of inappropriate person tendering. Even when I tendered the result myself and presented myself as the person who contested the election, it was still rejected. We were thinking that at the Appeal Court, the whole thing would be sorted out but the court couldn’t hear it because of the delay occasioned by this process.
Do you think you can still make an impact if you are to contest another election?
Many things have happened. I will rather say my popularity has grown, more than it was in 2011. And again I have changed party. I just joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from APC. After declaring at the ward level, I moved to the PDP national secretariat where I was part of the people that were received by the national chairman, Dr. Adamu Mu’azu. So that is the position now, whatever assessment one is going to do will be on Hon. Ughammadu on the platform of PDP and not APC again.
Why the defection from APC?
In the first instance I left PDP in 2011 to APC, the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for one reason. There was lack of internal democracy in the party then. I felt I was the most popular person to fly the flag of my party for House of Representatives elections, but along the line, I discovered from my investigations that the party leadership in the state, and some of them at the national level had already taken sides and there was a sharp division in the party.
There were two groups sharply opposed to each other. I discovered that running in PDP was not going to do me any good, so I went to ACN and competed against APGA and won that election. But like I told you, there was a mathematical error. PDP came fourth in that election. The mighty PDP lost to APGA, ACN and Accord Party as a result of the division in the party and anti-party activities played against members by members.
I foresaw that and left for ACN. The PDP is now more focused and organised, it lost election in Osun state and quickly the national leadership accepted defeat, but if it were before, it won’t be so. So I believe that if you join PDP now, you are joining a PDP that has been greatly restructured.
You were part of the lawmakers that saw to the impeachment of Peter Obi in 2006, how will you appraise the relationship between the lawmakers and the present day executives?
As a matter of fact, the relationship has always been very good in many areas. In most cases, it is not the legislators that are the problem. The problem comes from the governors. In the case of Anambra State in 2006, when Obi came, even though he is a gentle-man with a good heart, he still had some elements of bitterness against the PDP because he felt that his mandate was stolen. He never knew that he was going to serve out his full tenure, that the court will grant him an extension in his tenure. So when he came, he began to take some actions that in his opinion were morally right, but for us in the House of Assembly, they were constitutionally wrong.
I will give you a clear example. The issue of the dissolution of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), a statutory body and that of Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC), there is no way the executive can dissolve those bodies without reference to the House of Assembly. The governor can dissolve those two on assent of two-thirds of the members of the House of Assembly. But you cannot go to the press and announce that such bodies have been dissolved as if it was a military era. When you do that, the JSC that has the Chief Judge as the chairman will call on the House of Assembly to do its duty.
Then the ANSIEC that conducts the state election will call upon the House of Assembly to protect them, because of checks and balances that exist. These were the backgrounds of what happened. Nobody, even I, foresaw that it was going to lead to impeachment. The governor on the other hand did it not out of hatred or disregard for the House or the Judiciary, but he was in a hurry to change guard from PDP controlled boards to APGA controlled Boards, and in the process, he ran afoul of the constitution.
Do you foresee such arising in the current leadership of the state, especially with the defection of some lawmakers?
I don’t think so. From the experience everybody has seen in Anambra, the issue of saying that a governor stole N2 or N3billion and because of that you want to impeach him should not arise. It is only when there is a clear breach of the constitution. That the governor has misappropriated funds could be handled by the EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) and if found guilty the appropriate sanction will be applied. But I don’t support a situation where you begin to probe a governor saying that he has overspent by N2 or N3billion and therefore should be impeached. The governor’s attention can be drawn to where he is crossing the line and maybe after one or two warnings; you can then apply the hammer.
Are you saying that a governor siphoning money does not constitute gross misconduct?
I am not saying it doesn’t, but let him know first that you are aware of what he is doing so that he will stop. The consequences of impeachment can sometimes be great.
The National Conference has just come to an end, with the conference, what do you expect from its recommendations?
The conference has done a nice job. They have been able to look at various issues dispassionately, and come up with decisions that will be of best interest to Nigerians. I can tell you as a political scientist and legislator that the critical decision that they took will enable Nigeria move forward.
I will give you an example. Look at the state Independent Electoral Commissions, (SIECs). They have not been conducting any election in states. How can the ruling party score 100 per cent in an election? Where has such a thing happened? But I am happy that the National Conference took a decision that the state elections should be conducted by INEC so that governors will have no control over the elections. But I have some reservations on some of the decisions of the conference. One of such is their decision that ex-speakers and House of Assembly members should not be paid their entitlements and allowances.
I know that they did not do that out of true sense of nationalism, but out of sheer hatred for the lawmakers. I am against that decision not because I was a deputy speaker of House of Assembly, but because they are not justified. The military generals are paid their entitlements even though they have been there for long, and a state governor who did one term is paid pension. I am not talking about severance allowance; I am talking about a situation where one collects a stipend every month to keep him going. Governors, collect, the judicial arm collects, why not the legislators.
So on what basis? If you look at that appropriately, how can you say that a former speaker of House of Assembly after being there for four years will be seen riding on an okada four years after his service to his state. Is it not an eyesore? There should have been a provision even if not for the person, for the office of the speaker. And Nigerians are saying it is right, it is not right. It is not borne out of morality but out of political hatred. If the Senate President and speaker of the House of Representatives can collect, what happens to state House of Assembly speakers?
What are your expectations of the 2015 general election?
Much as I agree that the North should have a slot, they should not come with a preconceived expectation that Jonathan should not contest. If any of the parties decide to field a candidate from certain zones, it is their decision and not the decision of Nigerians, but they should be able to allow Nigerians vote for whoever is their choice candidate.
Let the president emerge on the basis of wide acceptability and competence, and not because he is from a certain part of the country. For instance, I will support Jonathan because he is humble and has been able to hold Nigeria together at such a critical time, so will another person have his reason for supporting another candidate. For me, 2015 is going to be peaceful.