AYO ESAN (Abuja); CHRIS NJOKU (Owerri); SEGUN AYINDE (Abeokuta); HENRY IYORKASE (Makurdi); ALTINE MAIHARAJI (Gusau); AGNES IGWE (Abakaliki); & OZO RAY (Awka)
Imo, Anambra, Ogun hotbeds -Investigation
Voter apathy likely over security concerns
No cause for alarm, INEC assures
As governorship and House of Assembly elections hold in many states of the federation this weekend, there are fears that certain politicians are determined to either hijack the process or resort to violence, should the Independent National Electoral Commission insist on standards.
As such, INEC ad-hoc staff members across the country are reportedly backing out of the exercise, if their safety cannot be guaranteed by the security agencies.
The situation, according to The Point’s investigation, may turn an escalation of what the electorate witnessed in the last Presidential/National Assembly elections, in which political thugs launched lethal attacks on INEC officials and voters that tried to stand in their way.
Our correspondents gathered that the pervading atmosphere of fear and anxiety in most states across the country is shared by both the electorate but to the personnel of the INEC as well, who are urging the security agents to up their game.
INEC workers in Imo State, for example, are said to be expressing great fears over the safety of their lives, particularly in areas considered to be volatile in the state. Investigations revealed that the experience of some of the INEC workers during the presidential and National Assembly elections had particularly heightened apprehension, giving the conviction that the elections might take a violent trend.
In Ngor Okpala Local Government area of Imo, some hoodlums reportedly kidnapped an INEC official and made away with ballot papers during the last election, while Ohaji-Egbema, popularly known as “militants’ zone” and Orlu also recorded cases of violence, snatching of ballot boxes and subjection of INEC staff to forceful declaration election results.
Some of the workers, who craved anonymity, told our correspondent that they were specifically warned by some thugs in some polling units in Orlu and Ohaji Egbema not to contemplate coming out for the governorship election as their safety could not guaranteed.
“We are afraid to take up the job again because we were threatened not to come for the next election,” they told The Point.
“Some thugs warned us not to come back for the governorship election if we love our lives because they will not guarantee our safety in the polling booths,” one of the staff interviewed said.
“One man specifically told me that I should not come back and that he was telling me because he liked me,” another staff reported.
It was learnt that in some areas, the police were nowhere to be found when the workers were attacked by the thugs.
The spokesperson for INEC in Imo State, Mrs. Ben Opara Emmanuella, said it was the police’s duty to protect the INEC staff as well as all Nigerians that would participate in the coming elections.
She said that the responsibility of the commission was to provide both sensitive and non-sensitive materials for the election, but the role of securing those materials was the job of the police.
“As for us, we are prepared with our materials for the election. It is the duty of the police to guarantee security for both staff and material. They provide the architectural design for security,” she maintained.
Similarly, tension is seriously mounting in the states, following the determination of the governorship candidates to do all humanly possible to sway the votes in their favour, findings have revealed.
It was learnt that some political thugs are currently planning to stir violence in some areas in readiness to snatch election materials.
SITUATION NOT DIFFERENT IN ANAMBRA
The situation is not in any way different in Anambra State as a House of Representatives member, Obinna Chidoka, seeking re-election for Idemili North and Idemili South Federal Constituency, called on security agents in the state to ensure adequate security ahead of re-run election by INEC in his constituency on Saturday, along with the governorship/ State assembly elections.
Recall that Idemili North and South Federal Constituency in Anambra was the only Constituency out of the 11 constituencies in the state, which result was declared inconclusive after the February 23 election by INEC.
The lawmaker decried the harassment and injuries inflicted on innocent electorate and election officials, especially youth corps members, by armed gunmen, allegedly backed by a candidate in the election.
He said, “During the February 23 presidential and National Assembly elections, I cast my vote peacefully at about 10am and left; at about 1pm, I received a distress call that armed thugs were at School of Health, Obosi, beating up people, destroying and carting away election materials. My people identified the leader of the group, invited security agencies, who repelled the hoodlums and stopped them from causing further commotion.
“Around 6pm, I got several calls that the same candidate that masterminded the attack was going from polling unit to polling unit in Odume to snatch INEC materials and set them on fire.
The ugly incident also took place in Awada, where a clergyman sent us a message to come and witness the election materials that were scattered there, which we later brought to the collation centre.
“At Chuke Memorial Primary School collation centre, around 10 pm, the gunmen stormed the venue and started shooting again. They destroyed result sheets and carted away materials, making it difficult for collation of results in Obosi.”
According to him, more than six persons are in various hospitals with serious injuries.
“I went to see a poll official who lost her pregnancy in an attempt to escape from the gunmen, she has been operated upon. The good people of Idemili, especially Obosi, are not feeling safe; they feel terrorised by the activities of these thugs who are sponsored by a desperate politician and candidate in this election, who brags that he has powers to do anything to scale through the contest. We are calling on the police and other security agencies to ensure that lives and property of the good people of Idemili, who want to carry out their civil responsibilities, are protected,” he said.
Confirming the violence, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Mohammed Haruna, said no fewer than 14 persons were arrested in relation to thuggery during the election in Anambra.
RESIDENTS PANIC IN OGUN
In like manner, residents of Ogun State have expressed concern over the possible outbreak of violence in Saturday’s Governorship and State Assembly elections in the state.
While some said that the election would be trouble-free, others said that the crisis rocking the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress could make the election crisis-laden.
Trouble started in APC, when the National Working Committee of the party kicked against the candidacy of Hon. Adekunle Akinlade, the anointed candidate of Governor Ibikunle Amosun and upheld the candidature of Prince Dapo Abiodun as its gubernatorial standard-bearer in the state.
This recent suspension of Amosun from the party by its NWC, due to what played out during the presidential rally in the state, where President Muhammadu Buhari was stoned, coupled with his support for Akinlade, the gubernatorial candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement, according to the residents, may lead to serious crisis during the governorship election in the state.
A resident, Ayodele Sowemimo, said the APC and APM might engage in a bloody clash on the election day.
“I pray that we do not lose lives on Saturday because the APM guys and agents have been boasting that they will unleash terror on anyone who tries to stop their candidate from winning on Saturday. Even the APC boys are afraid, and that may work against them. Many of my relatives who travelled to Abeokuta for the last election, for instance, have told us to hold our town, that they will not come for the governorship election because they don’t want to lose their lives,” he said.
Another resident, Michael Oladipupo, also believes that there will be “serious crisis” in the forthcoming governorship election in the state, owing to inadequate security measures.
Oladipupo, who cited the crisis that occurred during the presidential rally of Buhari in the state, where the crisis between the APC and APM’s supporters led to the stoning of the President, said the development showed that the state governor was desperate to make Akinlade his successor, a situation which the national leadership of APC won’t take easy with him in the governorship election.
He said, “There is a probability that there will be serious crisis during the coming Governorship election in Ogun state if care is not taken. You would discover that there is no security in Ogun State again as the CP is working for the Governor.
“If you witnessed what really happened during President Buhari’s campaign visit to Abeokuta, where he was stoned alongside the APC leaders, you would know that Governor Amosun has cockroaches in his cupboard and he is very desperate to win the post for his consensus candidate in APM for the atrocities he had committed not to be revealed after he must have left office. Meanwhile, APC won’t fold their arms and let other parties, like the APM, take over the state.”
However, a resident, Adefunke Adebiyi, said that she did not foresee any crisis coming up during Saturday’s governorship election, adding that Amosun’s suspension by the NWC of the APC and his support for Akinlade would not stop the election from being peaceful.
“I really don’t see any chaos or trouble during or after the election. Amosun’s suspension should not be a thing to be particular about. The party sanctioned him based on what they term party disloyalty; that should not, in any way, interfere with the conduct of the election,” she stressed.
UNCERTAINTY IN BENUE
In Benue State, uncertainty appears to be surrounding the governorship election billed to take place on Saturday.
Each of the gubernatorial candidates jostling for the governorship seat appears to have had their morale dampened due to the outcome of the presidential and National Assembly elections.
Front runners in the governorship election in the state include the incumbent Governor Samuel Ortom of the PDP and Emmanuel Jime of the APC.
Others are: Hon. Hingah Biem of the Social Democratic Party; Dr. Paul Angy of Labour Party, and Pastor Fredrick Ikyaan of the Peoples Redemption Party.
The 2019 governorship election appears to have put all the contestants at daggers-drawn, as each of the front-liners are already laying claim to victory.
Already, there seems to be mounting tension and apprehension with some eligible voters expressing fears over a likely outbreak of violence.
Meanwhile, a Makurdi-based clairvoyant, Prophetess Gift Obaike, has enjoined eligible voters to be cautious during the exercise.
She reasoned that the elections appeared beclouded with power tussle as each of the candidates wanted to make it at all costs, and urged them to put God first in all considerations.
LOW TURNOUT ENVISAGED IN ZAMFARA
There are strong indications that a low turnout of voters might be recorded in Zamfara State as majority of people who spoke to our correspondent declared their lack of interest in going out to vote on Saturday.
Our correspondent who went round Gusau town, the state capital, and other villages in the state to interview registered voters, discovered that most of them were not willing to go out and cast their votes during the forthcoming governorship and House of Assembly election, believing that the APC candidates would be the ones to sweep all positions like what happened during the last presidential and National Assembly elections.
A prominent Islamic scholar in the state, Malam Abubakar Gusau, said he would not waste his time to vote on that day because “the elections have already been concluded because only APC candidates would emerge victorious.”
Malam Abubakar added that, going by what happened during the last presidential and National Assembly elections, APC would still capture all the seats to be contested for in the state next Saturday, and as such, “whether one votes or does not vote, it will not change anything.”
Speaking to The Point, a political commentator and veteran journalist, Malam Shuaibu Bagwai, said a low turnout of voters was imminent next Saturday throughout the country due to the fact that many people were disenfranchised in the last election.
Sani said many people who cast their votes during the presidential and National Assembly elections were not happy and satisfied with the election results and, as such, they would prefer to stay at home next Saturday, to avoid repeated humiliation.
“I, for one, will not vote next Saturday because my vote will not make any difference. I prefer to stay at home and wait for the election results over the television,” Shuaibu quipped.
Another factor that would lead to low turnout of voters next Saturday, according to Shuaibu, is the recent declaration of over 40 governorship candidates of other political parties to withdraw from the contest and support the ruling APC in the state, a situation which he said had already discouraged their supporters to come out and vote next Saturday.
Similarly, the remaining three opposition parties in the state (PDP, APGA and NRM) who are yet to declare support to the ruling APC are currently deciding to withdraw from the contest as they expressed lack of confidence in the INEC to conduct a credible and fair election. This could be a factor that could lead to poor turnout of voters next Saturday.
The governorship candidates of APGA and NRM, Alhaji Sani Abdullahi Shinkadi and Saidu Mohammed Dansadau, respectively, had petitioned INEC to cancel the last presidential and national assembly elections’ results, threatening that they would not participate in the next Saturday election unless their complaints were addressed. Up till the time of filing this report, no action had been taken.
FEAR OF BETRAYAL IN EBONYI
In Ebonyi, the fear of possible betrayal of the PDP is a major cause for concern with the state Chairman of the Traditional Rulers Council, Ezeogo Charles Mkpuma, pronouncing curses on his colleagues who would want to betray their collective undertaking to support Governor David Umahi in Saturday’s election.
Our correspondent in Abakaliki gathered that such might not be far from the anticipated victory of the generally accepted Ezza born immediate past Secretary to the State Government and 2019 Ebonyi APC Gubernatorial aspirant, Prof Bernard Odoh in court.
Recall that Odoh, the first runner-up in the primary, is challenging the outcome of the election, which produced Sen. Sonni Ogbuoji as the winner and APC governorship flagbearer in Ebonyi. The suit was filed on October 19, 2018 at the Federal High Court in Abakaliki.
The case is expected to be determined on March 6 by the presiding judge of Abakaliki Federal High Court, Justice Phoebe Ayua.
Mkpuma, who is also the paramount ruler of Ezzama ancient Kingdom in Ezza South Local Government area of the state, had berated his colleagues for the low turnout of voters during the presidential and National Assembly polls.
The chairman expressed his feelings at the Akanu Ibiam International Conference Centre, Abakaliki, during a meeting of Governor Umahi with traditional rulers, representatives of farmer groups, government empowerment beneficiaries, head teachers and principals of selected schools and other agriculture stakeholders.
He corroborated Umahi’s remark that some traditional fathers’ failure to diligently discharge their earlier agreement was responsible for the poor turnout of voters and cautioned against a repeat of the scenario.
The chairman further alleged that some of their members still received money from some political parties in the State against their earlier resolve, thereby mortgaging their conscience.
He decreed that anyone who would flout the agreement and continue to engage in such anti-corporate act would incur chaos and betrayal for himself and his generation.
While addressing the gathering earlier, Umahi had expressed concern over the low turnout of voters in Saturday’s elections, indicating that the traditional rulers in the state did not mobilise their people adequately.
NO CAUSE FOR ALARM – INEC
Meanwhile, INEC has said that Saturday’s gubernatorial and state Assemblies’ elections will hold as scheduled despite the fears being expressed in some quarters, stressing that there is no cause for any alarm.
Speaking with The Point in Abuja, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, said, “There is no cause for postponement. Everything is going on as planned and we are not envisaging any postponement. Let Nigerians be assured that the election will hold as scheduled.
“The (initial) postponement of the presidential/ National Assembly elections was due to logistic reasons and this we have explained several times, that it was unavoidable. We are going on with elections this Saturday; no cause for postponement.”
