*Uduaghan’s sack, set back for 2011 elections—Nwodo

By Daniel Idonor & Henry Umoru

ABUJA—SACKED governor of Delta State, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, yesterday stormed Aso Rock, and met with President Gooduck Jonathan behind closed door.

The ex-governor whose election was nullified by a Federal Appeal Court sitting in Benin City, said he was set to do battle with political opponents in Delta State election in the next 90 days.

Fielding questions from newsmen, Uduaghan said he was waiting for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to set the date for the re-run electionThe former governor, who said he had taken his sack by the Appeal Court in good faith, added that he was confident that he would be victorious in the forthcoming re-election.

Asked if he was confident that he would win the re-election, the former governor said “it is only the electorate that will decide.”
On why he came to see the president, Uduaghan said as the political leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, he owed it a duty to brief the president on the current event in the state.

Meanwhile, the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, said yesterday that the removal of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State by the Court of Appeal and order of a fresh election three years into the tenure of an incumbent complicates the electoral process.

Nwodo, who described it as a set back to the nation’s democracy and the 2011 general elections, said, “a decision to annul an election and order a fresh one three years into the tenure of an incumbent complicates the electoral process, especially against the background of recent judicial interpretations on when the tenure of elected persons should begin.’’

Nwodo asks Delta PDP members to work together

Nwodo boasted that the PDP was ever prepared to win it again anytime elections were scheduled, but appealed on behalf of all the members of the National Working Committee, NWC, that all members of the party in Delta State should close ranks and remain calm.
He told party members in Delta State to “be assured of the total support of the national secretariat as we prepare to recover the state.’’

The National Chairman, who noted that Uduaghan’s sack had certainly inflicted incremental damage to the nation’s democracy, stressed that it was, indeed, one case too many, adding that “the court verdict, coming at a time the entire nation is getting ready for general elections, is a huge set back, both to our democracy and the logistics put in place for the smooth conduct of the 2011 general elections.”

In a statement yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Professor Rufai Ahmed Alkali, the party’s National Chairman noted that he received the news with total disbelief and consternation, adding that the judgment also brought to the fore the ongoing debates on when litigations should come to an end.

“It has certainly inflicted incremental damage to our democracy and is, indeed one case too many. However, not withstanding this temporary hiccup, we are confident that Delta State remains a solid fortress of the PDP and we are ever prepared to win it again anytime elections are scheduled,” Nwodo assured.