Victor Umeh: Why Justice should finally prevail, By James Eze

No one is surprised anymore. Indeed, no one should be surprised. Some people don't want to see Chief Victor Umeh in the Senate. And their intention is not hidden. It would put an abrupt end to their narcissistic satisfaction if Umeh is admitted into the Senate.

What should surprise everyone who cares about Ndi Anambra Central and the rest of the South East is rather simple...the people who are bent on halting Umeh's triumphant march to the Senate are people who have always pretended to live and die for their people.  And you wonder why anyone who consistently postures as a lover of his people would work assiduously to ensure that Anambra Central has been denied it's dues from the legislative arm of government for over three years. You wonder how these sanctimonious people who never miss the morning Mass can religiously work against the well being of their own people. Indeed,  how could you love a people so much that you want their rights and privileges denied? Picture that!

There's no overlooking the place of overarching pride in the affairs of men. It is called hubris in ancient Greece. Of course it is well known that what turned the last Anambra gubernatorial election into a high drama of epic proportions is that at the very heart of all the rivalries lay hubris in thin disguise.

Someone had sworn by his own blood to thwart the will of the people. But in the end, it became clear to everyone that na mmadu aburo Chukwu!

Sadly, as the 13th January re-run of the Anambra Central Senatorial election draws closer, hubris is once again tugging at the heart of the contest. It would seem that nothing was learned from the crushing victory of the last Anambra election. This probably explains why some youngsters were seen the other day bearing placards with inscriptions demanding that the election be put off. Put off for who?  Irrational as that seems, we hardly need a seer to figure out that the same impulse that made some people swear by their blood over the last gubernatorial election is behind the energy behind the placard bearers. It is also the same energy that has induced a rash of poorly cooked legal opinions swarming the social media on the impropriety of INEC conducting the Anambra Central election. It is absolutely absurd to read people like Mike Ozekhome's empty articles that are hollow rambles on why INEC should desist from holding the Anambra Central election. Men who you would have thought should know better but who for reasons that make them patently Nigerian now cut the pathetic picture of gods standing on clay feet.

But Chief Umeh knew exactly what to do with these men and their two-kobo legal opinions. Speaking with his usual candour at the rally for his senatorial bid in Dunukofia onTuesday, Umeh alleyed fears over such issues when he declared that "there must be an end to every litigation." According to him, "the high court cannot wrestle with the court of appeal under our constitution. It is not possible. Or the Supreme Court. When the court of Appeal nullified that election the PDP candidate went to the Supreme Court where the nullification was confirmed. We know the law. We are not intimidated. APGA has set legal records on tenure interpretation in Nigeria and I was the one who initiated it."

Indeed, Umeh's knowledge of Nigeria's electoral laws is beyond the competence of many unprepared lawyers. It was him who as National Chairman of APGA insisted on the epic battle over the reclamation of former governor Peter Obi's mandate and the landmark legal decision on the statutory beginning of the term of office of an elected governor in Nigeria. So, Umeh should know!

The Senatorial candidate also used the opportunity of the rally to clearly define his mission in the red chamber. In his own words -

"People say that if I go to Abuja, I'll do this, I'll do that. I'm not going to Abuja to fight anybody. When I get to the Senate, you will see me contribute intellectually to the whole debates that will strengthen Nigeria as a country. My contributions will be anchored on equity and fairness. I'm going to ensure that I provide a robust support for Igbo citizenship rights in Nigeria. All Nigerians should be equal. So, when I am in the National Assembly, I will contribute in a manner that will ensure that the equity of Nigeria is preserved. The only way it can be preserved is through the practice of equity and fairness. Egbe belu ugo belu."

This, in its entirety is what Chief Victor Umeh, Ohamadike Ndigbo, is bringing to the National Assembly. And this, to my mind is what most senators from the South East seem totally incapable of doing with the exception of Senators Ike Ekweremadu and Enyinnaya Abaribe.

In the end, Umeh's long walk to the Senate is therefore a fitting epilogue to a long battle for justice and to my mind once again, a perfect confirmation of the timeless submission by Theodore Parker that "the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."