Anthony Iwuoma
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Imo State, Chief Jim Isilebo, has expressed optimism that the senator-elect for Imo North Senatorial District, Sir Francis Ibezim, would still deliver on his mandate despite joining the Senate half-way.
After a protracted legal tango that spanned over five months, the Supreme Court, on Friday, declared Ibezim winner of the December 5, 2020 by-election, thereby dashing the hope of Sen. Ifeanyi Araraume to return to the Red Chamber where he had previously held away for two terms.
Ibezim would be taking over the seat vacated by the late Sen. Ben Uwajimogu, who died towards the tail end of 2019. The zone had remained without representation, resulting in unquantifiable losses.
However, Isilebo vouched for the capacity of the distinguished Senator-elector to still deliver on his mandate regardless of the lost time.
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He said, “I agree with the fact that life of the 9th Senate has gone midway, but knowing the ultimate winner, Sir Frank Ibezim, as a man who excels under this type of circumstances, he has definitely worked out plans for a “catch-up” policy for the remaining part of the senatorial session, having in his mind, the humongous quantum of time already wasted right from the time of the untimely demise of the former senator, the late Benjamin Uwajimogu till date.
“It is very disheartening that this needless waste of time as a result of long-drawn litigation has cost Okigwe zone the opportunity of fully participating in two budgetary years at the National Assembly, consequently depriving her of the constitutional benefits of Federal Government interventions in all strata in the zone.”
Isilebo added that the Senate needs to give special consideration to the zone in the light of its peculiar circumstance.
“I guess the Senator will most likely present these arguments to the leadership of the Senate and I am sure it will receive a favourable consideration,” he said.
The party chieftain commended justices of the apex court for a flawless judgment.
He noted that apart from the matter being statute-barred, it was unbelievable that the Federal High Court and Court of Appeal could even consider the allegations of certificate forgery against Ibezim, a matter they could have thrown to the trash bin on first contact.
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Describing the allegations as ‘wicked’, Isilebo noted that Ibezim’s accusers deliberately avoided calling the West African Examination Council, WAEC, as witness because as the owner of the purportedly forged or fake certificates as witness since WAEC was the only authority to confirm whether the certificates were fake or not.
The party chieftain also condemned sponsored publications that are intended to deceive the gullible public or impugn the apex court’s ruling. He cited one ‘pathetic’ online publication that claimed that Ibezim had three certificates, bearing different names.
“There was never a time during the trial that such came up. Ibezim only presented his statement of result from Uboma Secondary School, Etiti, and his WAEC result. Both certificates bear his names, Ibezim Francis Chukwuma in the same sequence. Where this writer got Chukwemeka from is between him and his sponsors.
“All that is history now anyway. The Supreme Court went through all this and still found Ibezim validy nominated and elected.
“The man is focused on delivering democratic dividends to his people. In fact, he is in a hurry to do that and my appeal to all is that nobody should distract him for the sake of the zone,” he said.
