Unpopular statements have been swarming the media outlets in recent times with most frivolous insinuations regarding the Tribunal judgment of October 13, 2015 of the petition filed by Dr Ernest Ndukwe against Senator Andy Uba, regarding the non-compliant manner the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC conducted and declared a winner of the senatorial contest of March 28, 2015.

Ndukwe, Former NCC Boss

That exercise, as conducted in Anambra South Senatorial District, generated a lot of interests as the Tribunal in Awka took exactly 180 days to review the election results and deliver its judgment. Justice Joseph Nayai Aganaba from Bayelsa State dismissed the petition for reasons he and other members of the Tribunal could not convincingly explain. But that is not the main crux of this piece.

Statements credited to a group calling themselves Uga Democratic Vanguard are propagating certain sycophancy theories that are obviously dangerous.

According to the Uga Democratic Vanguard, “Anambra people and the PDP will not forget in a hurry how Dr. Andy Uba brought a new lease of life into political campaigns since his entry into the murky waters of politics in Anambra State and would even wish that his likes would aspire for more elective positions in the future.

Uba has influenced most political office holders positively and even the petitioner, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe benefitted immensely from the people’s Senator when he used his position with the Presidency then to protect Ndukwe from being disgraced out of office as the then Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission.” Interesting how glaring facts could be distorted in the face of politics of corruption, sycophancy and greed.

Senator Andy Uba

Putting the perspectives straight, let us recall that during the tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Senator Uba was his Senior Special Assistant on Domestic Matters. In fact, the Uga-born politician was widely reported as usually the last person who saw Gen. Obasanjo to his bed.

Probably this explains the statement from the Uga Democratic Vanguard as outlined above. The people of Anambra South Senatorial District will no doubt wish to be properly educated on this ‘new lease of life’ being bandied by an organization with questionable identity.

They may start by being honest in telling Ndi Anambra the new “lease of Life” their community man brought to Anambra. Could it be the July 10th 2003 broad-day kidnap of a sitting governor?   Or probably the Oba -Nnewi -Uga -Okigwe federal highway that passes through his community which has remained a death trap till date amounts to new lease of life even while he was acclaimed to be more powerful than the then Vice President, Atiku Abubakar?

Or perhaps the new ‘lease of life’ is the guerrilla rigging technique   introduced in the last senatorial election in the zone?   The fact that their paymaster did not even campaign during the build-up to the March 28th Anambra South Senatorial election, did not bother to visit wards and communities like his opponent, Dr. Ndukwe religiously did should be a new ‘lease of life.’   The dear people of Anambra South Senatorial zone will be certainly eager to be shown one good thing that has happened to the zone or even anywhere in their state courtesy of Senator Andy Uba.

Even more outrageous and outright arrogance is this one, “Engr. Ernest Ndukwe benefitted immensely from the people’s senator when he used his position with the Presidency then to protect Ndukwe not to be rubbished out of office as the then Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission.”

Still on Engr. Ernest Ndukwe (OFR), it is important to note that this University of Ife graduate was the first Executive Vice-Chairman of NCC that organized the most transparent GSM spectrum auction in Nigeria. Previous attempts at GSM licensing processes failed due to ethical shortcomings. The licensing process led by Dr. Ndukwe was acknowledged internationally as the most transparent auction in Africa at the time.

Furthermore, during the tenures of previous Executive Vice Chairmen of NCC, the number of  mobile telephone lines was just about 25,000 compared to the revolution that happened with the addition of 80 million lines during Ndukwe’s 10-year tenure at the NCC.   Without mincing words, Dr. Ndukwe is the architect of GSM revolution in Nigeria and he has been acknowledged locally and internationally for his work in the ICT field.

How could one with such intimidating pedigree and jinx-breaking achievements be under the canopy of Uba who was yet to join President Obasanjo’s cabinet when Dr. Ndukwe was appointed the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC in 2001? How could Uba have ‘protected Dr. Ndukwe from being rubbished out of office’ when indeed, the GSM revolution was clearly President Obasanjo’s best singular achievement in eight years?

Those who spew without chewing usually end up embarrassing themselves and these statements from this Uga Democratic Vanguard is a huge embarrassment to the association, if indeed, it is one.

Valentine Amala Ulasi wrote in from Onitsha