Uche Onyeagocha served as Secretary to the State Government (SSG) under the short Emeka Ihedioha administration in Imo State. In this monitored television interview by INIOBONG IWOK, he reacted to the Supreme Court decision that dismissed Ihedioha’s application seeking a review of its earlier judgment nullifying his victory at the March 9, 2019 gubernatorial election. Excerpts:
You said that the Supreme Court judgment was not going to move Imo State forward; are you saying that Emeka Ihedioha is not ready to give any suggestion or advice on how to move the state forward if there is an opportunity for him to do so?
Of course, the Imo State people knew what he was able to do in the eight month period he was there. If the unelected Governor, Hope Uzodinma is interested he is free to copy whatever he can lay his hands on in the Government House. But the truth remains that we would not work with Hope Uzodinma, the unelected governor; and he should feel free to run the state as he likes and understands. The truth is, we know this is not about Imo State alone, it is about 2023. APC is determined to steal a state from the Southeast so that they can now say they have made an inroad into the Southeast. Because it is about the preparation toward 2023, and we know all the players involved in this. This is because immediately after the general election, APC was grossly demoralised and disappointed that they could not win any state in the Southeast. It was open and glaring and now they have confirmed it with the Supreme Court that they would steal a state from the Southeast by force, by every means, and that state is Imo State where they felt they already had a presence. So, why are we going to cooperate with that kind of attitude? We have come this far before; this is about dictatorship trying to reign supreme in the country. Whenever they are about to fall they start showing their excessive greed for material acquisition and excessive greed for political power acquisition in Nigeria. And it is already being displayed at the highest level.
You said earlier you have accepted the ruling. Are you now saying that the APC arm-twisted the five or six Supreme Court judges in the panel?
I am not just saying that, I am also adding that there were no five Supreme Court judges; it was APC intimidated judges, their judgment can’t stand any test of time, and their judgment can’t stand any law school examination. All those Supreme Court judges should be ashamed of themselves with the judgment that they passed and in fact, we dared them by going to challenge them with a review and if they had the courage like they displayed in the Bayelsa State case they should have imposed on us the kind of fine they imposed on the lawyers in Bayelsa State case. But they could not; because they have found out that they are complicit in the earlier judgment they passed. They can’t impose any kind of fine like they did in Bayelsa State on us. That judgment is bad and to say that you cannot over rule yourself means that you do not recognise your role as judges in which you are to prevent injustice; nothing more or less.
You are a lawyer also; these are some of the most senior and finest justices that we have in the bench in Nigeria. Don’t you think the comment is not charitable?
Yes, I am saying that, I am placing my wig and gown on the table to say that if the judges had the slightest degree of integrity they would not have gone head to dismiss this application. It is interesting that they could not have the courage to assert their mind to the submission made by counsel to Emeka Ihedioha but to simply throw up their hands in the air to say that they don’t have the power to review is like saying that for example; there is a law in Nigeria that no pregnant woman can be executed. But what if the Supreme Court in error sentences a pregnant woman to death and then the woman is about to be executed and then you suddenly realise such a woman is pregnant, would you say, because the law does not allow me to review or overrule myself she should be killed? The law says that nobody under the age of 17 who commits a criminal offence can be sentenced to death or executed, but if the Supreme Court in error gives a judgment for the execution of the person, are you going to say because you are a Supreme Court you cannot over rule yourself?
Justice Oputa and many other justices of repute in the past have said that we are humans and we are entitled to make mistakes, and when we do make mistakes we have a right to overrule ourselves and even in such circumstances it is better to correct the error than to preserve it; and to show you that this Supreme Court justices have done a great disservice to the people of Imo State, I challenge them to allow this judgment to stand in the future.
But many members of the PDP have moved to the APC including lawmakers and are now willing to work with Hope Uzodinma. Is it only Emeka Ihedioha that is not willing to work with the governor of Imo State?
There are loads of people who worked with Emeka Ihedioha and are not interested in working with Hope Uzodinma, all the commissioners who served under Ihedioha are not interested in working with him. All the Advisers are not interested in working with him. We believe he should have his team; we should not struggle with him, he should have his people to go and show the Imo State people what he really has in stock. But we must look beyond that and get back to the issues at stake; why are the Supreme Court justices afraid of addressing the issues raised in the substantive argument in Emeka Ihedioha case? Why were they playing the ostrich to hide their head under the armpit and say; sorry we can’t overrule ourselves when the law allows them as a court of justice at all the time to do justice, whatever it takes to do justice, the Supreme Court has a right to take that step and do just that and they have refused to do justice in this particular instance and rather chose to give a 419 judgment in Imo State.
