Don’t Congratulate Orji Uzor Until After Re-trial — NUJ Boss … OUK’s Incarceration, Lesson From All

Chief sir Innocent Igwe is the National Trustee of NUJ, South East, Zone C the immediate past Chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, in IMO state. He is also the Deputy Director, Imo Broadcasting Corporation, News and Current Affairs and is involved in many other social, religious and community activities.

In this interview with Charity Uwakwe, Chief Innocent Igwe highlights the lessons as could be drawn by every Nigerian citizen from the incarceration and release of Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, a former Governor of Abia. He goes further to outline what bad omen the Igbo nation would suffer should OUK be reconvicted, the insistence of the EFCC on the immediate re-trial of the former.

Excerpts:

Ques: Sir, how do you feel about the release of Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu from Kuje prison as directed by the Supreme Court of Nigeria?

Well, I’m not sad, I’m not happy either, but I only accepted it as one of those good accidents of life, because in life there are things that happen that give you the impetus to reflect on your activities; there are things that happens to also make you bad; there are things that happens that will label you as a devil or demonize you; there are also things that happens that reenact your good works in the society. So, in that case, it was a good accident that will now give the former Governor the opportunity to clear his name, and if he is unable to do that he will be indicted and that will be most unfortunate. So, I welcome it as one of those things that happen to give people an impression of a levelled playing ground for everyone, that’s why it’s say that the Judiciary is the hope of the common man. And more importantly, I feel comfortable with that development in the sense that it proves once again that our Supreme Court has not been compromised in any way at whatever reason, because the supreme Court is the apex Court in the land.

It is also the most important and primary image of the judiciary, so when the Supreme Court makes a pronouncement, a verdict or a judgement in whatever case it’s always the precedent, so that is why the supreme Court is taken very seriously, it is the number one image of the Judiciary and once the supreme Court is compromised it becomes “to your tenths o Israel”. But, with the developments in recent times where some people believe that the Supreme Court can be compromised, development like this gives one a hope that we can still fall back on the judiciary by virtue of the activities of the supreme Court to either clear our names or become indicted for whatever we are being accused of. So, in this case I take it as one of those accidents of life that happens for the good and bad society.

Ques: Alright, sir. But, then, come couple of hours after the apex Court’s verdict, the EFCC insisted on the immediate re-trial of OUK despite Supreme Court’s verdict. Do you envisageany possibility of him being returned to his state of incarceration?

Well, until that happens, of course what the EFCC said and started acting on is what is expected, we shouldn’t have expected them to go home, fold their hands and just let go that way, the impression would have been that probably they manipulated whatever proceedings, charges and convictions that happened on 5th of December last year. If they had kept quiet or if they didn’t call for the re- arrest or a new prosecution and all that, it’s expected.

So, besides they need to know that, because the supreme Court did not exonerate the former governor from the charges, they didn’t say he’s not guilty, they only looked at the technicality of the prosecution and proceedings and the protocols of the judicial trial, they felt that justice Mohammed Idris was elevated to the appeal court and, therefore, shouldn’t have gone back to the federal high court to conclude or hear a case at the federal high court, so that is just it. And that is the true position of the law, because they’ve been president to such, the supreme Court has earlier issued such verdict in two previous cases in Nigeria, one was in 1976 or so, another one was in 1993 or thereabout.
I’m not too sure of the date but there have been two previous precedents to date, so it’s expected that even though we didn’t remember, you know we are humans and we tend to forget what had happened but issues like this make you think back. So, what they did is not new, even though we didn’t take it along that line, but then it has happened and every body is now looking back at the issue and now acclaiming what the supreme Court has done, so the trial according to EFCC will now commence retrial, the evidences will be provided or produced afresh, from the federal high court and so on and so forth until finally the former governor will have the right and a larger opportunity now to either defend himself or allow them indict him. So, that is the way we see it and it’s a healthy development, I think it shows there is division of labour both within the judiciary and within the arm of government, and its a healthy thing for democracy

Ques: But, then, from inception, were you pleased upon hearing about the level of humiliation meted out to OUK considering his affluence, being a former Governor and a serving Senator? Could you share your feelings.

Well, he has already served five months in prison, and you don’t expect anybody in prison to be treated well. So, the former Governor himself saw it coming when they gave the verdict and the ruling so he was almost crying at the verge of hearing the ruling so he knew what awaited him in prison, and he has tasted some of those bitter pills and he’s now out of prison for the trial of the Matter. So, I’m not happy about it personally because I believe that somebody at that level of political leadership and a prominent Igbo son should not be treated that way. A former governor at that should not be treated like that. It’s quite dehumanizing.

But, then life is like that, sometime, it’s good for every body to taste such conditions and treatments and go through all that so that you know what people in there are going through, so that next time if you are out of the facility you’ll know that those there are also human beings. So, if for example you find yourself in government like he is the Minority Whip in the Senate, anytime issues of prison facilities and inmates are mentioned, he’ll appreciate it more than those who have never been there, like I said it’s one of those accidents that brings out both the best, the good and the bad that becomes a huge lesson for everybody including those of us seated here. When you now imagine that the former governor who was king at a time who had everything at his Beck and call is now in prison sharing room facilities with ordinary citizens, some who may have come from the poorest of homes, you will now know that this life is a lesson to everyone. So for us it’s a lesson, just to him but to all of us, so we know that we are human beings, we’re all equal before God and man. And should you have opportunity of treating any body well please don’t miss that opportunity because you don’t know where you can meet that person again in life.

Ques: Well spoken, sir. Right now, sir, in your own view, what lesson can you possibly imagine that OUK might have drawn from his period of confinement.

He must’ve learnt that in life there are ups and downs. The fact that you’re a governor today doesn’t mean that you cannot become an ordinary citizen in the next few years or after your tenure. It’s not impossible, so it’s a lesson to everyone to treat humanity with dignity and respect, and he must’ve remembered that there is God who is the Overseer and Chief Supervisor of every activity of man on the Earth and who pays every man according to his deeds both in the private and in the open. So, he must have learnt his lesson.

Ques: Sir, some people argue that OUK’s predicament was a conspiracy by some political leaders across the various regions in their quests to silent the active voice in the South East ahead  of 2023, hence OUK posed a greater threat to them. What is your take?

Well, like I said I don’t want to dabble into politics, but there is that high level suspicion that Orji Uzor Kalu is one of those prominent Igbo politicians, one of those radicals that will always take their neck for Igbo issues. He is one of those politicians that would fight for the freedom of the Igbo people, and if it is going for Igbo Presidency or going for Nigerian presidency of Igbo extraction that will help him get the dues of the igbo people, he will always do that. I’m sure many other prominent politicians in Nigeria must have also noticed that in him and are prepared also to make sure that he is pulled down before the pre- 2023 activities.

There is nothing anybody can logically adduce as to why he’s being arraigned and all that, but I’m not saying that its the reason. So, those who say that he’s being persecuted because he’s an Igbo or he’s likely to stand for Igbo race and that he might throw his heart into the 2023 Presidency, they are all correct permutations or rumours or expectations. But, the fact is that the law must take its course on anybody who truly commits an offense. So, we were speaking then that we are not happy the way he was treated, the way he was arrested, arraigned and all that, that is because probably he’s an Igbo because of his future political interest which they’ve perceived will be a threat to some of them.

I’m not talking of the government but there are other powerful political heavy weights in Nigeria who are also interested in the 2023 presidency, who believe and know that Orji Uzor Kalu is also interested that might be a threat to them so the best way is to start hunting and pulling him down before the actual race would start so that he will be weak to stand in for the contest. So, that was why, and know that he seem to have another opportunity to clear his name, I’m sure he will not want to let this opportunity down, I’m sure he’ll do his best to make sure that he will be a proud son of Igbo land because if at the end of the day he is reconvicted and jailed, then, it will be unfortunate for Igbo land. So, it’s a golden opportunity for him to clear his good name and stand up again as a prominent politician that is worthy of respect of Ndi igbo and Nigerians as well.

Ques: Alright, sir, do you think it is yet time to congratulate this illustrious son of Igbo land as many have already begun doing that and would you also like to congratulate him?

No I wouldn’t congratulate him because it’s not a matter of congratulating him. What if I congratulate him now and at the end of the day he’s convicted in the retrial that will be commenced by the EFCC, we’ll wait up until the end of the matter, and that will be when the congratulation will be more resounding and more useful to
every body including himself, so congratulating him now doesn’t make a sense at all. It will look as if we have other political interest or some other thing that are not there. I’m talking as a journalist and as a Nigerian who believes in the rule of law. Okay, so like I said, the supreme Court is the apex court of the land, it’s the number one judiciary institution in the country and anything the supreme Court rules or delivers is a precedence for eternity, so we should be very careful with the supreme Court matters, so but he as opportunity now to write his name in gold and also to allow people mess him up, so we are only encouraging him to stand up for his name and for indi Igbo because he is a prominent son of Igbo land that people are very proud of. So, we wait until the end of the day, probably when we now see him clear his name and EFCC will now see that probably they could not convict him because probably all the allegations are not substantiated or cannot be true to the matter as expected. That is when we’ll now congratulate him and then it’ll be more meaningful to him and to everyone.