By Michael Jegede
Former National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, a quintessential democrat and dogged fighter, was sworn in on January 18, 2018, as the Senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District. Umeh’s inauguration, as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, came after he won a tortuous legal battle, which lasted close to three years, before the conduct of Anambra Central rerun where he emerged triumphant at the polls.
Mrs. Uche Ekwunife, then of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as winner of the 2015 Anambra Central Senatorial election. But Umeh of APGA rejected INEC’s pronouncement and headed for the tribunal. At the Enugu Division of Court of Appeal, the last court for National Assembly election matters, Ekwunife’s victory was quashed on December 7, 2015, and the electoral body was directed to do a rerun poll for Anambra Central, within 90 days from the date of the judgement, disqualifying the PDP from participating.
However, the ordered rerun did not hold until January 13, 2018, after another Court of Appeal ruling on the annoyingly unnecessary litigations, arising from the refusal of the PDP to accept its disqualification, was delivered on November 20, 2017. The second Appeal Court verdict which came from its Abuja Division, gave INEC the nod to go ahead with the conduct of the rerun election excluding PDP. The legal warfare made the Anambra Central senatorial seat to be vacant for over two years, during which the people of the district stayed without a representative in the Red Chamber, and as a result, suffered outright denial of all the benefits that should have accrued to the zone.
Just about ten months after Umeh’s assumption of office as the representative of the people of Anambra Central in the Senate, he is back in the field to seek for re-election in 2019. Has Umeh lived up to the expectations of his people? Does he deserve to be given another opportunity in 2019 to enable him serve a full term of four years?
Certainly, the erstwhile APGA’s helmsman has done excellently well to deserve the mandate of his constituents for another chance. His showings in the last 10 months in the Red Chamber have been remarkably wonderful and outstanding. The valiant and astute politician, wasted no time in acclimatizing and getting used to the process and business of lawmaking, as observed from his robustly valuable input to discussions, sponsorship of important people-oriented motions and bills, almost immediately after he officially resumed sitting on the floor of the Senate.
The people of Anambra Central appear to be quite pleased with Umeh, as he is evidently doing them proud with his quality representation of the senatorial district, Anambra State and the entire Ndigbo. Just like he did as a delegate at the 2014 National Conference, where despite his late entry, he demonstrated an inimitable boldness in championing the cause of the Ndigbo, Umeh has been a potent voice on issues affecting the Igbo nation in the short period he has spent in the Senate.
Different individuals and groups have so far endorsed his re-election bid with the strong belief that his performance would be much more superlative if given a second term. Umeh’s supporters are of the view that his return in 2019 will preserve the noble jobs he has begun in the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly, while arguing that no other candidate could be sufficiently courageous to do the much he has done already. Even though Ekwunife, Umeh’s main political rival, would be standing as a candidate in the 2019 Anambra Central senatorial election, loyalists of the estate manager and surveyor are fully confident that their man will carry the day. They believe that there would be a repeat of the landslide victory he had in the rerun poll where he won in all the seven Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the senatorial zone.
One of the many groups that have given their endorsement to Umeh’s second term ambition is the Ndigbo United for Democracy (NUD). The NUD noted that it would do Ndigbo a lot of good to allow Umeh to “Continue his remarkable, superlative and excellent legislative duties that have deepened the nation’s democracy.” The group maintained that his performance within a short time in office remains an eloquent testimony that he is the best man to represent Anambra Central and indeed, Ndigbo, in the highest legislative body of the country.
NUD further averred that “His motions on ‘The Urgent Need to include the Eastern Rail Lines in the Nigerian Railway Development Project, Illegal Confinement of Underage Offenders and Infants in the same prison with Adult prisoners, Increase in armed roadblocks along major expressways in the South East geo-political zone’- which he seconded the motion sponsored by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, showed a leader in touch with the feelings of his people.” It urged “the good people of Anambra Central Senatorial Zone that produced this outstanding grassroots political icon to vote massively for his candidacy in the forthcoming Senatorial election. Nigerians need courageous patriots with the milk of human kindness in the Senate who will give direction to the ship of the Nigeria state in our collective efforts at building a strong, progressive and prosperous democratic nation.”
Some of the other groups that have argued vehemently in support of Umeh’s re-election bid include: Nigerians for Democratic Action (NDA), Ogilisi Foundation, an Igbo socio-cultural organization and Traditional Prime Ministers Council (TPMC) in Anambra State. Members of all these groups are in total agreement that Umeh, who co-sponsored the bill for the establishment of a Federal University of Education, in Aguleri, Anambra State with Senator Stella Oduah, has done well to merit another term.
The ex-APGA boss, who has remained a strong pillar in the party and a force to reckon with in Anambra politics, is well-known for his philanthropic activities, through which he has been putting smiles on the faces of many underprivileged Nigerians long before becoming a Senator. Umeh, the Ohamadike Ndigbo, has been variously described as a compassionate leader who derives great joy in ameliorating the sufferings of the poor masses. His Education Foundation Scholarship Programme, which came into existence over ten years ago, has made significant impact on the lives of many youths, who ordinarily may not have been able to acquire education.
Umeh, one of the most reliable and consistent politicians from Anambra State, has received several awards of excellence for his laudable contributions to nation building and sustenance of democratic growth in Nigeria, since he joined politics. His impressive outing in the Senate earned him the Anambra State Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Man-of-the-Year 2018 Award and the 2018 Best Senator Award in Overall Motion by the Senate Press Corps in the National Assembly.
Michael Jegede, a media professional writes from Abuja
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