The just concluded
national assembly elections revealed a peculiar trend among Imo
politicians that clearly went beyond desperation to the point of
paranoia.
The state governor,
Ikedi Ohakim, and an ambassador, Kema Chikwe, both of the ruling
People’s Democratic Party (PDP), had played into the hands of
opposition political parties through a series of perceived political
misdeeds and miscalculations that had set the stage for an inevitable
humiliation of the ruling party in the state.
For obvious and
contestable reasons, Mr Ohakim did not get the spanking he bargained
for, but it was not the same for Mrs Chikwe who was resoundingly
trashed in her bid for the Imo East senatorial district ticket.
This is no longer
news, but what may yet prick one’s curiosity is the campaign by Mr
Ohakim and Mrs Chikwe to heap the blame for their loss of the state
capital to the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) on the suspended
minister for Interior, Emmanuel Iheanacho.
Mr Iheanacho’s
nomination for ministerial position was openly contested and
antagonized by the state government and his appointment was made at the
decision of President Goodluck Jonathan. The state House of Assembly
even passed a motion calling on Mr Jonathan to remove Mr Iheanacho.
During the botched
national assembly election on April 2, youth of the Owerri North
council area, where Mrs Chikwe and Mr Iheanacho hail from, had
suspected that the PDP was up to some pranks and besieged the INEC
office in the council, refusing to allow any voting material leave the
office without all the result sheets.
Efforts by
political leaders such as Mrs Chikwe and Lemmy Akakem to wade into the
matter only provoked more angry reactions that clearly aggravated the
matter. Mrs Chikwe was actually heckled out of the council. But Mr
Iheanacho assuaged the fears of the youth, informing them that neither
the PDP, Mr Ohakim, Mrs Chikwe nor the electoral officers were
responsible for the unavailability of the result sheets. He urged them
to give the electoral officer ample space to operate and endeavour to
vote with their conscience. Not long after wards, the crowd dispersed
to their various communities.
That action was
interpreted as evidence of a collusion between the suspended minister
and the leaders of APGA and, a day after the election, the state
governor and his aides ambushed Mr Jonathan on the tarmac of the Sam
Mbakwe airport in Owerri, to level charges against the minister.
A similar episode
almost played out earlier, during the rescheduled election of April 9
when the community had insisted that accreditation will not commence
unless adequate ballot papers were provided by INEC. It was Mr
Iheanacho’s long explanation that made the angry youths decide to allow
the commencement of the exercise.
At odds with the governor
Addressing the
crowd, Iheanacho had noted the significance of the electoral
transition, saying that economic, social, infrastructural and human
development were all tied to democratic stability.
The same day,
during the live monitoring of the election by Radio Nigeria’s Heartland
FM, Owerri, the suspended minister was interviewed on the adequacy of
security arrangement for the election. He went as far as assuring Imo
people that adequate security measures were in place to ensure a
hitch-free exercise and enjoined them to go out en masse to vote for
candidates of their choice.
“President Goodluck
Jonathan has extended to us free and fair election. At every
opportunity, he has reiterated to Nigerians that their votes will count
in this election, which is why he has at no point mandated anybody to
rig or manipulate the electoral process in his favour,” Mr Iheanachor
said. “And with the visible autonomy of INEC today, the people believe
him; which is why you all have suddenly become very much alive to the
process.”
Unknown to the
minister, his statement riled the state governor, who allegedly called
the director-general of FRCN to demand that live coverage in the state
be stopped. Operatives of the State Security Services (SSS) later went
to the station to effect Mr Ohakim’s demands.
The government
accused Mr Iheanacho of inciting the people against the PDP, most
likely because he urged people to go and vote candidates of their
choice and not PDP. While this was unfolding, government officials were
pushing out false information that the minister of Interior had been
arrested.
But Mr Iheanachor
defended himself against charges of anti-party activities leveled
against him, saying he was only following the script of Mr Jonathan.
“The weapon I
choose to fight with is forthrightness and truthfulness,” he said. “The
candidates should go and sell their candidature and not coerce the
people. Most importantly, they must not turn our youths to hoodlums to
achieve their political ambitions. Votes must count, that is the stand
of Mr President and that is my stand.”
