- Accuses him of complicity in the burning of INEC facilities in the Southeast
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
For disagreeing with the process that threw him up as the governor of Imo State and linking the Imo State governorship debacle with the assault by unknown gunmen on electoral infrastructure in the Southeast in general and Imo State in particular, Governor Hope Uzodimma on Tuesday launched a blistering verbal attack on a former National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Lai Olurode.
The governor accused the former INEC chieftain of complicity in the raging violence in the Southeast zone and urged security agencies to quiz him.
A statement by Uzodimma’s spokesman, Oguwike Nwachuku, said “the governor believes that Prof. Olurode’s inciting comments over the attacks on INEC offices were mere smokescreen to cover up what the unsuspecting members of the public may not know, but which the former INEC official knows about the attacks for which he should be properly investigated.”
Prof Olurode had said in a story published in The Guardian newspaper on Monday that the court ruling that produced Hope Uzodinma as Imo State governor and the agitation by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) were likely reasons for the recent attacks on INEC’s offices.
Olurode said the perception that elections do not always reflect the will of the people in the country was another factor that should not be ignored.
He pointed out that argument in some quarters that INEC’s facilities across the country were not well fortified did not hold water, as hoodlums had also attacked other critical assets including police stations.
His words: “Most of the attacks in Imo State was caused by the ill-fated election. It was more of judicial victory, because the election in which someone, who lacked the formidable electoral strength became governor.
“Another reason is the activities of IPOB members, who are against the conduct of elections in the region. But I also think that the argument would only carry weight if there have not been attacks prior to the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the court.
“The perception that elections do not always reflect the will of the people in the country was another factor that should not be ignored …. Most of the attacks in Imo State was caused by the ill-fated election. It was more of judicial victory, because that election in which someone, who lacked the formidable electoral strength became governor.”
But in his rebuttal on Tuesday, Uzodimma said Prof Olurode was either directly involved in the attacks on INEC offices as recently witnessed in parts of the country or deeply connected to those perpetrating the ill.
The governor said the only way Prof. Olurode can absolved from the attacks on INEC offices is if he is properly interrogated by security agents.
Mr. Nwachuku’s statement reads in part: “Governor Uzodimma noted that Prof. Olurode has shown that the years he spent in INEC were a complete waste if he could not come to terms with the role of the judiciary in the electoral process.
“The governor wondered how possible it is for any politician in the country to win or lose an election through the Nigerian courts without INEC’s involvement.
“Governor Uzodimma reasoned that Prof. Olurode and his likes have done great damage to the Nigerian society by playing the ostrich and feigning ignorance of how the judiciary contributes in deepening our democracy, particularly in an environment where electoral fraud and criminality are elevated to a faith.
“The governor therefore urged members of the public not to look beyond their shoulders for those destroying our democracy and of late, burning INEC offices and other government property, as Prof. Olurode from every indication, fits the mould and ought to be made to face the law if found culpable.”