The contest for who emerges the Speaker of the soon to be inaugurated House of Representatives is on. Different zones and individuals are scheming to grab the plum position. One of such areas is the south-east geopolitical zone, which insists that for equity and fairness to reign, it deserves to produce the Speaker of the House. In this interview with Anthony Iwuoma, Chief James Isilebo, a former banker-turned politician and currently board member of the National Commission for Mass Literacy, Non-Formal and Adult Education, insists that his principal, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, HCN, is the most qualified and deserving of the office. Isilebo was one of the arrowheads of the head of the HCN Victory Movement Campaign Train.
Congrats on the eventual victory of your principal. As leader of the victory campaign train, could you recall some of your experiences?
Thank you so much; we give Almighty God all the glory for the journey so far. There is no doubt that the foregone electioneering campaign was one of the most challenging, but though enriching experience I have had in politics. It was more of an uphill task because it was akin to marketing a very good product encased inside an unknown and unpopular packet.
My principal, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, was the very good product, whereas Accord Party, on which platform he ran, which wasn’t well known in our geopolitical environment, was the unpopular packet.
Another daunting challenge was having to transverse the length and breadth of the most challenging terrains of our Federal Constituency day and night, and coming in direct contact with a critical mass of indigenous population, facing abject poverty and unfair penury. But in all we give Almighty God all the glory.
The battle for who represents Okigwe South Federal Constituency was tense, why was it so?
Yes, your assertion is very apt. The battle wouldn’t have been so if not for some extraneous influences, traceable and largely to the initial crisis that rocked All Progressives Congress, APC, the ruling party in the country and ditto, Imo State. This ultimately trickled down to zonal LGAs and ward levels and eventually fractured the party, leading to several candidates, seeking for other largely unknown party platforms to actualise their ambitions. Unfortunately, ours happen to be one of such instances.
Secondly and most importantly is the extreme undue influence the governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, exhibited by his selfish quest to deploy huge resources of the state fund to foist all sorts of people, as candidates against the will of the people. This, of course, has backfired in most instances, with Okigwe-South Federal Constituency, as typical example.
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Why did you and your team stick out your neck for HCN?
Our people have a popular adage, which says, “A good product markets itself.” This is clearly exemplified in the personae of Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, whom we discovered to posses huge human resource potentials that we really tapped into for the political benefit of our people.
Do we need to mention his rich political profile, spanning over twenty five years back; his intimidating academic qualifications, culminating in acquiring a doctorate degree in law; his infectious meekness and humility and innate drive to impact positively on the less-privileged segment of our population as well as majority of those that cross his path?
Did you expect the result that was announced and endorsed by INEC after the electoral exercise; what went wrong?
Being the only contestant that clearly undertook the most organised and well structured campaign, under the umbrella of HCN Victory Movement Campaign Train, among the rest, we least expected the results that INEC eventually came up with after five weeks of conducting one of the most contentious elections in our recent history. Recall that this election had to stretch into a re-run after an inconclusive first round, by which time most of the principal actors were already contest-weary. It was that unwholesome window of opportunity that gave both the incumbent and some obviously compromised staffers of the Electoral Commission, the leeway to their sordid indulgence of figure manipulations.
We are happy on the turn of events today, as Providence and due legal diligence of our legal team aided in upturning all that in our favour.
Now that HCN is back in the House, what next?
Well, we can’t rightly assume that HCN is back (though we are halfway the mark) until we actualise the ultimate intention of the HCN PROJECT 2019, which is assuming the headship of the Green Chambers, and then we can beat our chest that our dreams have come to fruition. At the moment, the race is at its crescendo, and we are not leaving any stone unturned, God willing.
Did you lose hope at any time; felt discouraged?
I will say yes and no. Yes, in the sense that at certain point, I was so exasperated to start losing hope in our faulty electoral process, rather than the HCN project. But one thing that kept my hope alive was my life’s principle and maxim, which is “locate a genuine aspiration, and assiduously work towards its actualisation, regardless of distractions.”
The people’s expectations are high; do you think HCN can deliver?
Definitely. Though we quite appreciate the huge task ahead, we do not have any doubt about the HCN expectations delivery. Experience has shown that the main disconnect between failure and success is planning.
HCN quite understands this truism and has adequately planned towards fulfilling what was promised during his campaign, by the grace of God.
You said your principal’s ultimate ambition is to become Speaker of the House of Representatives. How’s this possible since he’s from the south-east, an area where APC supposedly doesn’t enjoy warm acceptance?
Being a south easterner is even a more valuable credential and qualification for Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba’s aspirations to the Speakership of the Green Chambers. There have been some strident calls across for some time now to fairly distribute elective and non-elective offices across all the six geopolitical zones, and the case of the south-east zone has been the most harped about. Therefore, HCN’s aspirations to the Speakership couldn’t have come at a better time than now. Being a two-time member of the House of Representatives (thereby making him a ranking member this time around) is another. Being a foundation member of APC and, in fact, the secretary of the Constitution Drafting Committee that produced the documents, which gave birth to APC, is another reason.
Bear in mind that his decision to actualise his ambition into the Green Chambers on the platform of Accord Party was a mutual understanding between him and the party. This was as a result of the man-made war of attrition and consequent acrimony, orchestrated and selfishly inflicted on the Imo State chapter of APC by the state governor. In addition, my principal holds a Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate degrees in Law/Jurisprudence. His political reach and sphere of influence cut across all the six geo-political zones of the country, where he enjoys a huge fellowship and patronage amongst the political class. He is currently the Board Chairman of TETFUND, one the largest parastatals of the Federal Government. This invariably gives him the added advantage of interactive relationship with virtually every part of the federation. Obviously, no other person is more qualified or deserving to be the Speaker of the 9th National Assembly than Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba. His unassailable credentials and antecedents speak eloquently for him.
What lessons did you learn from the electoral experience?
The lessons are quite enormous and varied. Some are heartwarming, while others are unfortunately disheartening. The most amazing lesson is that Nigerian elections defy any known and tested template as is practised in more mature and developed democracies. Our political actors and practitioners are always negatively ahead of any process, no matter how well designed. It can be quite infuriating and exasperating, planning how you intend to campaign and convince the electorate to buy into your ideas and manifestos, while your opponents will be plotting ingenious schemes to cut corners and pollute the entire process, by compromises or thuggery.
If you are an avowed principled individual, at times, you wonder if it’s all worth the while, but on another breath, you are encouraged to strive on and see whatever inputs you can bring to the table for the purpose of making your modest change on the status quo.
What advice do you have for the gladiators in the elections?
My candid advice, for all contestants is buried in the adage that “There are seasons for everything,” i.e. to rain, and for the sun to shine.
We have just emerged from the rain, which is the electioneering season, and looking up to sunshine, which is akin to close ranks, bury the hatchet by all contestants to support the victor.
Incidentally, HCN, who does not believe in the doctrine of “winner takes all”, has immediately commenced the process of extending his hand of fellowship and Olive branch to other co-aspirants, for the purpose of working in conjunction with them to deliver his mandate.
How do you rate the performance of INEC and the judiciary in the election?
Your question can only elicit answers, depending on which end of the stick (short or long) you are holding. This, of course, will render your respective answers very subjective, depending on if you are a beneficiary or injured. But on a general scale, whereas INEC still has a lot of room for improvement from the last exercise, the judiciary on the other hand seems to be gaining some grounds, because of some critical legal reforms being put in place by the current administration. In all, as we fall and rise, I am still very optimistic that we will get it modestly right one day.
What in your view can curb electoral violence?
Honestly speaking, this monster called electoral violence is one of my worst fears in the improvement of our electoral process. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be abating as we grow in our democracy. The frightening dimension these days is the dangerous involvement of some personnel of formal security agencies.
I witnessed this ugly development first hand during the last election in my constituency, where their degree of taking sides to each candidate or party is a function of who is highest bidder. A particular principal contestant in Okigwe-South Federal Constituency in the last election, virtually depended on this highly condemnable aberration, as a primary vehicle towards actualising his victory, but unfortunately, this time around, his evil plans failed him, as he came out the worst.
I still believe that we will continue to have recourse to our extant laws, which elaborately provides for checks and order to curb it. All we need to do is to activate the provisions for diligent prosecution, which is still lacking. A situation where hundreds of arrests will be made in each electoral circle and less than one percent passes through the crucible of proper prosecution can never help the process.