Otuekong Jackson Udoh is a stalwart of the All Progressives Congress APC, an industrialist and respected elder in Akwa Ibom state. He was a member of the Buhari Presidential Campaign Council. In this interview with journalists in Uyo the Akwa Ibom State capital, he spoke on some of the current political issues particularly relating to issues at the Akwa Ibom State Election Tribunal. Excerpts:
By Chioma Onuegbu
What would you say about the issues surrounding the ongoing Election Petition Tribunal especially the relocation of the tribunal to Abuja?
Well, I understood the tribunal has been sitting although I have not been around and that some of the requests the judges asked from the tribunal have been refused by either INEC or some members of the PDP group. And recently I understood that the tribunal has moved to Abuja. I think that is good for the interest of fair play, and for the interest of this nation.
I was surprised to hear from some quarters that some PDP leaders are now saying that Buhari has started with impunity because he has moved the tribunal to Abuja. It is an issue I would not want to discuss because I don’t know how the tribunal was appointed and how they were sent to the state but the little I know is that tribunal was not appointed by President Buhari nor APC government. It was there on ground even before Buhari was sworn- in, and it was appointed by the previous government.
And we believe in APC, that what money cannot do, justice can do it, and that is exactly where we are standing at. If they use money and more money to do what they did in order to frustrate and destabilize the electoral process of this state and claim that it is only money that can do it, we believe that justice can do it better. We believe in APC that justice can always give us what is our right.
Now that the tribunal has been moved to Abuja what is your expectation from the process?

Udoh
My expectation is that there is going to be fair and free conduct of the tribunal on the job they were sent to do. Of course the activities during the elections show that there wouldn’t have been any peaceful atmosphere for them to conduct whatever they came in here for, so moving to a neutral ground is just the best thing that has ever happened to the people of this state and this nation because we want peace, and we want justice.
The Inspector General of Police Arase issued a letter to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG Criminal Investigation Department to investigate Akwa Ibom and Rivers states RECs on the alleged fraudulent conduct of the election. What is your take on this?
I think the Inspector General of Police is doing his work the way he is supposed to. I don’t also believe that anybody should take the law into his hands.
If a letter had been issued by the Inspector General of Police to such action, I believe normal action will be taken. And I don’t see the IGP to be somebody that could be cowed around, because for a very short moment we have seen that the man is coming up with a clear understanding of the job, and I strongly believe he will do what he is expected to do.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner Akwa Ibom State, Austin Okojie had some weeks ago alleged that some INEC officials and APC members threatened his life. As a stakeholder of APCwhat do you say about that?
I can tell you that the APC stakeholders or members in this state cannot unilaterally go to threaten his life. They are all very law abiding citizens. When you are led by a leader who is after the rule of Law, there is no way the followers will go and behave otherwise. So such allegation is false, and that is what I can say about that.
Akwa Ibom people are anxiously waiting for the outcome of the tribunal. How prepared is the APC should another election come up?
We are always prepared. We were prepared before and we are getting prepared. We are ready even if the election is coming up tomorrow as I am sure that the Tribunal will not accept any of the past elections. So we are prepared for the election and we are quite ready for it. If the elections were to be free and fair, if the thuggery and all kinds of violence were not used to maim APC supporters and their agents, nothing would have made them to claim the won the elections and they knew
But the immediate past Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Chief Godswill Akpabio boasts that even if election is conducted five times that the PDP in the state will still win five times. What do you say about that?
That is in his dreamland. If free and fair election is to be conducted in Akwa Ibom State, I don’t mean election with violence like what they did, they imported all kinds of thugs and all kinds of secret police; secret army and what have you. And they knew what they did.
But if the election is going to be conducted again, he (Akpabio) is not going to be allowed to use all those things because the law has taken care of the situation now. Let the election be conducted and let me see how he will win. He was just talking because he believed that the whole country was in his pocket; that is what he believed. Let him now talk and let the election come up, and let us see how he is going to win even in his own ward in a free and fair election.
No comments:
Post a Comment