By Chibuike Chukwu
Hon. Uko Nkole, a member of the House of Representatives between 2015 and 2023 for Arochukwu/ Ohafia Federal Constituency of Abia State, is the Abia North senatorial candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), ahead of the 2027 elections. He speaks to CHIBUIKE CHUKWU on a number of issues, stating why he is more qualified to lead the senatorial district ahead of the incumbent Orji Uzor Kalu, among other issues. Excerpts:
You recently urged the incumbent senator for Abia North, Orji Uzor kalu, to retire and pursue presidency. What informed your call?
It’s not out of any fear but out of having someone give him advice. Number one, it is high time the youths are allowed to occupy those spaces. His Excellency Oji Uzor Kalu, with all due respect to him, has tried as a governor way back from 1999 to 2027. He also became a presidential candidate of the defunct Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA). He is the mate of the current president; they are political mates, they were governors at the same time and today, Tinubu is the president. That’s where he should be aiming to be. Going back to the senate means he will be going back to be clapping for his mate. For me, there’s no responsible father that will sit down and watch to see his son clapping for his mates; it’s an abnormal situation. So my take is that Senator Orji Uzor Kalu should be talking about the presidency and not going back to the Senate because the general opinion of Igbos today is to have a Nigerian president of Igbo extraction, and Senator Kalu is eminently qualified to be the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I want to encourage him to look upwards and not going backwards. It’s not something that is worth it. Kalu, by his age, is a father and the prayer of every father is ‘let my child be greater than me’. For him to be coming back for the food that is meant for the children is something that is not right. My advice to him also bothers on morality. If he listens, fine. If he doesn’t listen, it’s also good for him.
Is your call based on performance?
Yes, I’m also asking him to withdraw from the race based on performance and capacity because I’m more experienced, more qualified than him. One, I was a federal civil servant for 12 good years. Also, I have seen eight consecutive appropriations in the National Assembly, which is cumulatively 20 years – one as a public servant in the civil service, and also as an elected public servant, who is more endowed with and also has more requisite knowledge on how to run a representation. So I have 20 years’ experience, which he doesn’t have in the public service and administration. It’s an advantage to me that the Abia North will get going forward. Why do I say so? Today, the entire Abia North, save for Arochukwu clan, Ihechiowa and Ututu clan, and perhaps Bende clan, where the Reps Deputy Speaker had done an off-grid solar energy that is supplying Bende, there is no electricity supply in the rest of the communities in Abia North. Isuikwuato is the same. In his own area, Bende, the Umuna Section, there is no electricity. Ohafia witnessed electricity last when I was in the House of Representatives. The same thing also goes to Abam. The last time they had electricity was sometime in June or July, August, 2023 when I was there, and its attendant consequences on the economic well-being of the people are many. Unfortunately, we have a senator that is in Abuja and his community, the people he represents in this modern day and age, except for three or four clans out of over 20 clans that make up the senatorial district, are in darkness, including his own Igbere. So, if you measure his impact on the people; if energy supply is the yardstick for measuring impact, he shouldn’t contemplate going back to the senate to reinforce darkness in Abia North, and I believe it’s not what Abia North desires at this particular point in time. I have the magic wand to ensure that Abia North gets power supply back in their fold. We have three major substations that are moribund as we speak now. One is at Isuikwuato and nothing is happening there. It was facilitated under the watch of the then senator in 1999, General Ike Nwachukwu. Today, that project is moribund. There is also Ohafia substation, which is also moribund because it was vandalised, and nobody’s saying anything about it. There is also this one in Arochukwu. For the Arochukwu substation, it was under my watch and His Royal Majesty Engineer Dr. Eberechukwu Orji, the Eze Aro that it happened. Under my watch, I reactivated it with my motion on the floor of the House of Representatives. It was given attention under the then President Muhammdu Buhari and the reactivation came on stream. The current gubernatorial candidate of NDC in Enugu State, Chief Chinyeaka Ohaa, was then Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Power. We came here to commission it. Up to this moment, its potential have not yielded the required usage to translate it into improved energy supply. There’s need for a booster station on the 33kv line that supplies the majority of Abia to empower EEDC in order to step up their power distribution. There’s also a wide gap in the energy cap for the entire Abia North, and these are areas that an effective senator of the people would engage in order to understand the issues. That is where experience comes in because the drivers of this are controlled by the Federal Civil Service, of which Senator Kalu doesn’t have the idea or experience. So that is why, when I say step down, it doesn’t mean it’s out of fear or just rhetoric. It’s to the fact that there’s a wide gap, there’s a wide gulf between the role of a senator and the people at the grassroots, and the people cannot fathom other extra years in darkness with him. The only grade A federal constituency project, in terms of road infrastructure over there, was the road I facilitated under my tenure in the House of Representatives.
Can you mention some of the road projects?
There are Ohafia, Umuahia, Bende, Ozuabam; Ohafia, Arochukwu, section one and section two that was facilitated under my watch in 2017-2018. For the Ohafia Highway, which is a 35-kilometer stretch between Old Soldier to Arochukwu, what I did was to break the road into two sections to bring two grade A construction companies, one working from point zero to about 19 kilometers, and another one working from point 35 kilometers to the rest of the 16 kilometers. KDI was working from Arochukwu, though I inherited it from my predecessor. That’s from Nkwunabo, coming towards Ututu. The road project stopped at Abuma, Otutu, if you are conversant with that road. Till now, nothing has happened on that road again. Now, from the Ohafia end, crossing the 14th Brigade, going to Isiugwu Junction, to Akanu, Ohafia, to Ndi Uduma Awoke, Ohafia, where I stopped funding is also where that road project stopped. Then, there were earth works between Ndi Uduma Awoke to the boundary of Umuchiakuma, and also a binders course with drainages from Umuchiakuma to the last point with also an earth work continuing towards the boundary. Cumulatively, it was 14.5 kilometers as I left on binders course, with drainages and culverts already delivered, just waiting for asphalting. Where that road stopped is where it stopped, except for the intervention of some sections by the current governor of Abia State, where the earth works are being done, where he’s doing stone bases and other stuff. You come to the section two, which is from Old Soldier junction which is the point zero. It’s a 44 kilometer stretch to Umuahia town. Under my watch, I was able to fund the project, to enable the contractor to be on ground. Under my watch, I was able to facilitate the reconstruction of that road with drainage up to the Mmori Bridge. From where I stopped that road project, nothing has happened again. If an incumbent senator cannot lift a finger on that road, what is he going back there to do? There is also this Akanu Ohafia Water Rehabilitation Scheme. Up to this moment I speak to you, the first phase of the project was achieved under me, with a complementary aspect of a solar-powered light for the entire Akanu Ohafia. And the water project, over 400,000 cubic capacity holding water facility, was being reticulated to homes in Akanu Ohafia, being the largest concentration of people in the entire Abia North. Those projects are abandoned but we have a sitting senator.
*Governor Alex Otti is reportedly doing well in Abia and his party, Labour Party, has a candidate in Chief Onuoha Ogba Bourdex. Are you not bothered that the electorate may swing their votes to the ruling party? *
Dr. Alex Otti is not running for senate. Because of that, he’s not going to tell the masses who to support. What is most appropriate is that the electorate will revisit previous performances and vote accordingly. I respect my opponent in the Labour Party, Chief Onuoha Ogba Bourdex has a lot of tremendous achievements to his credit as a private person. Don’t forget Chief Bourdex Ogba has also had his time as a public office, though appointed in that capacity by the same government of Dr. Alex Otti as a Transition Committee Chairman of Ohafia. Under his watch, Ohafia Local Government accrued about N10 billion funds allocation. Now, you ask Ohafia people, can he point out a project under his watch that he facilitated as TC Chairman? Today, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), his Ohafia Local Government Chapter, has issued a trade dispute notice of accumulated salaries of three years or so that were not paid. Is that not an indictment on the administration of Chief Bourdex Ogba? Now, what of the water project I earlier talked about? As a local government chairman that got up to N10 billion, did he intervene to resuscitate it? What of the roads that I also talked about, even up to the boundary? Did he do anything? Rather, what he did as a TC Chairman was to go and lease Okpuachi, the local recreation facility in Abiriba to PPA to make money for the local government. The implication is that anybody coming to relax at Okpuachi to get fresh air will be paying money. It means that if he goes to the senate, all village recreational areas, if he has the opportunity, they will also be privatised. That’s not what representation is all about.
*But we know that as a lawmaker, he will not have such executive powers…. *
But he has shown you that by the time he brings it as a bill, it may sell through. So that is why we need to start this conversation early for people to understand the importance of what we’re saying. And again, Bourdex is also in the same age bracket with Kalu, over 70 years. He’s also a grandfather and the prayer of every father is to see that his children excel more than him. I’m happy that you have also pointed out that he wouldn’t have executive powers. He fits into the executive arm. That is the more reason I say he too should also join and fight for the presidency. Who says he couldn’t have been the presidential candidate of the Labour Party because he fits into that category? He should join the quest for Igbo presidency to correct the marginalisation of Igbos at that highest office. That is where they belong and I will support them wholeheartedly. So my call for them is that I am more experienced if you put two of them side by side because I’ve worked in federal civil service for 12 years. None of them possess that. I’ve also been at the National Assembly for eight years. I’m their senior when it comes to the National Assembly. I wouldn’t want His Excellency, Kalu, to continue clapping for his mate. He should be running for the presidency. He’s our leader. He was a governor in this state and we have all respected him. So that is the more reason we advise him accordingly, but like I did say, it’s just an advice hinged on competence, capacity and service delivery. Based on what I have said earlier; I’ve done better than them.
NDC, as a new political party, comes against political heavyweights at the centre is Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar. What are the chances of Peter Obi?
NDC is new quite alright but the politicians there are not babies. There is also a list of heavy political actors that have come together in NDC. The NDC came the same way the APC was giving birth to in 2013. APC was able to use propaganda to win election in 2015 within two years of its formation. NDC came on board with the prominent personalities like Peter Obi. The party has made inroads and has a presence across the nation. Today, NDC has fielded over 100 senatorial candidates, out of the 109 seats. It’s the same in the House of Representatives out of the 360 seats. So if you look at those records, it does not show that NDC is not rooted. I can assure you that NDC will win the election in 2027. Take it to the bank because Nigerians are eager to see a change in their situation. The obnoxious policies of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has put Nigeria in a very bad situation. All the reforms of the present administration have deformed Nigeria economically, socially and security-wise. Days ago, the killings in the North Central prompted protests from citizens. The soldiers too are not spared. The security agency and communities are also not spared from the killings. So Nigerians are helpless and we can’t continue in that trajectory. So people are yearning for that change. The undecided voters are the determinants of who will lead Nigeria. It is not NDC, APC or any political party. Yes, constitutionally, a political party must sponsor candidates, but it’s about the people and what they want.
Credit: Independent