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Miraculous escape: Gunmen attack Chukwumerije in Abia!
Chaka Chukwumerije, son of Uche Chukwumerije, former Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, barely cheated death by the skin of his teeth, after some unknown gunmen, reportedly launched a deadly attack on him while driving from Umuahia, Abia State to Okigwe in Imo State.
In a lengthy account by Dike Chukwumerije, the elder brother about his sibling, who is currently, the Commissioner for Lands in Abia State, the gunmen fired steadily on the car in which he was travelling with three other persons, but were not able to hit target, in an attack, which nobody seemed to have an idea of the reason behind it.
In the account, titled Eyes Forward, the older Chukwumerije, a renowned poet and public affairs analyst did not state the identities of the other passengers in the car, but attached pictures of how it was badly riddled with the windshield perforated with bullet holes to show how serious the attack was.
He wrote: “Two nights ago, my brother, escaped an attempt on his life. He was on his way from Okigwe to Umuahia, when the car behind him opened fire. It was not his time to die. So, he and the 3 others with him escaped unscathed. Even though the car was riddled with bullets. Two years ago, my brother was appointed a Commissioner in Alex Otti’s government.
“No, we didn’t send him off with a wish list. All we asked of him was – do not bring us shame. Don’t take what is not yours. And use every resource within your power to help our society become a better place for us all. My brother has been a faithful supporter of Alex Otti for at least 10 years.
“Every election since, at least, 2015 he has poured his heart, soul, and resources into campaigns. And when his team did not win, even when they were clearly rigged out, he came back home, and licked his wounds in quietness and dignity. Where we come from, no matter how provoked, we tend to keep a civil tongue. So, he has always played the sort of politics that has sat well with my own conscience.
“I did not fully understand his loyalty to Alex Otti. But knowing him, and having implicit trust in his judgement, I stood by my brother in his chosen political path. Till Alex Otti won, and I came to see why my brother had placed such trust in him for so long. In 2 years, Abia has turned around. I don’t praise politicians lightly, because – to me – one should not be effusively praised for doing one’s job. But he is doing the job, and doing it to a level that we have not seen in Abia in many, many years. And, today, I am proud to be Abian.
“My brother is a part of that government. And I know that he is totally aligned with the principles and developmental drive of his Principal. So aligned, so committed, that I have not seen my brother (like proper seeing) in, at least, 8 months. But I understand that politics is public service. That a family member in politics is a family member lost. We know this. And take it in our stride.
“When you have finished, you will come back and meet us. And so, my brother has buried himself in his work. Buried himself so completely, so selflessly, that we are constantly picking up the slack in other areas of his personal life. Unfortunately, it is people like this – who are totally, selflessly, committed to public service – that are too often the victims of our current socio-political order. For we are not yet a meritocratic society.
“We are still very much a society riven with materialistic greed, nepotism, and the toxic type of tribalism. Not just in our politics but also in our social spaces. And so the incentives everywhere are skewed. Those who are comfortable with doing things anyhow-anyhow are safe and ascending. While those who are not, are not. This is the struggle we all, who are true change agents, face. And the further threat of being physically harmed for nothing more than doing the right thing.
“Still, Death does not scare me. But I can only speak for myself. I know it is coming. And when it arrives, it will find me alive, from the very core of my being. And unafraid. I thank God for sparing my brother’s life. I pray he continues to keep us all who are living true to the purpose for which He made us. May His shield of protection continue to hold until we are done. And on the day He calls us home may we step forward without a single reason to look back. For, as Patty Obasi once soulfully put it, ‘O si mu gaba a tula ujo’. Yes. Eyes forward, no fear.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
“He is running in contempt of the court. Justice Lifu should be arrested because he is acting in contempt of the court which is a criminal act,” were the exact words with which the African Democratic Congress (ADC), demonstrated its angst over the court ruling on Monday, ordering its de-registration as a political party in Nigeria.
A furious Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the party, told his host while appearing as a guest on Monday’s edition of Politics Today, a public affairs programme on Channels Television that the judge of the Abuja Federal High Court who gave the order was actually playing with fire because of the consequences.
Directly accusing him of playing the script of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to ensure that President Bola Tinubu emerged the sole candidate for the 2027 presidential election, the party spokesman, was emphatic that the plan would not work, as head or tail, ADC must be on the ballot in all the elections.
Hear him: “There is a Court of Appeal order saying don’t hear this case until October 27. So, on what basis? You can’t place something on nothing. The Court of Appeal said don’t act on this until I hear it on October 27. So, on what basis did he deliver the judgement
“So, for us in the African Democratic Congress, what we’re convinced and they know is what they have done has no leg to stand on legally. What they want to do is to create doubts in the minds of the people that this ADC has too many legal cases, can we actually run on this? And to distract us. But we’re not distracted.
“We’re very clear. It was in spite of all they have done since ADC came on board that we ran one of the best and one of the most comprehensive direct primaries in the history of democracy in Nigeria. So, we are strong enough to withstand this. And that’s why I’m saying that we are going to contest in 2027. We’re ADC. We don’t buckle before dictatorship.”
Stressing on the implication of the judgement, which also affected Accord Party (AP), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) for allegedly failing to meet constitutional and electoral performance requirements, following a suit by the National Forum of Former Legislators, he said it portended grave danger.
He added: “We are not surprised. We know that the Nigerian people believe that there is a problem with the judiciary, but what we did not expect is the level of judicial rascality that was demonstrated today.
“What we are saying is that we reject it in its totality, and we are saying that the people behind this are playing with fire. Hundreds, if not thousands, have obtained nomination forms and contested elections and emerged as candidates on the platform of the ADC.”
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