CHUKS NWEZE in Enugu reminisces the unpleasant incidents of March 18 that dotted the Enugu state political landscape during the governorship and state assembly elections
Predictions
Before the March 18, 2023, the rescheduled date for the governorship and House of Assembly elections took place last Saturday, there was apprehension in many quarters that the elections were going to be either bloody or characterised by violence.
Some were of the view that vote buying would take place to influence the poor electorate to vote in the particular way.
How Ugwuanyi lobbied voters
True to the apprehensions held by political watchers, probably in a bid to lure and to sway the voting masses to vote in favour of PDP candidates, Governor Ifeanyi quickly paid the retired secondary school teachers two months arrears of their pensions out of the three months arrears he owed them.
One of the pensioners who spoke on the development said that if that was meant to motivate them to vote for PDP candidates, they have failed.
“They were owing us arrears of pension but decided to pay us two months out of the three months arrears they were owing us Maybe they want us to be happy and vote for PDP candidates. If that is their intention, then they have failed. We know who to vote,” the pensioner said.
Vote buying
Why this would not be termed as vote buying, actual vote buying took place in some polling booths in some of the local governments in the state on the day of the election. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially, allegedly indulged in vote buying by inducing the voters with money at the polling centres.
In Ward 3, Unit 005, at Ehamufu, Isi-Uzo local government area, a lady whose name was given as Patience Odobra who caught red handed by soldiers on duty trying to buy voters at the polling centres with N1,000.00 per voter. The soldiers who caught her made her to sit on the bare floor with her black Jean trousers.
According to source, the Isi-Uzo local government chairman, Hon. Obiora Obagu, who she was probably working for, came to her rescue but the soldiers would not hear but handed her over to the policemen for prosecution.
Though it was expected that PDP would not let the opportunity pass them by as they failed woefully during the presidential and National Assembly elections, nobody knew that they would brazenly indulge in vote buying in a brazen manner.
For instance, the sitting Senator for Enugu East senatorial zone, Dr. Chimaroke, two days to the election was said to be throwing money about to influence voters to vote in his favour.
Groups upon groups were said to have converged in his country home, Agbani, to collect their own largess. The doling out of cash to the prospective voters was so much rampant that vehicular traffick developed from every street leading to his house.
“We we’re held up on the way to his house on Thursday when I went to buy oil from Ekeh Agbani. When we inquired what could have caused such traffic and influx of vehicles. They told us that it was caused by people who were going to collect money from Chimaroke Nnamani,” a trader said.
Surprisingly, Senator Nnamani was suspended by his party for anti-party activity and even wrote to INEC to that effect that they didn’t have a candidate for the Senatorial position for Enugu East. This did not deter Nnamani as he still went ahead to campaign on the premise that INEC said that time to effect change had elapsed.
Deployment of thugs
Reports from various local governments in the state indicated that thugs were allegedly used by PDP to harass voters not to vote or force them to vote for their party candidates alone in the elections.
Few days to the elections, about thirty hoodlums suspected to be political thugs imported from Anambra state to foil the election were arrested by soldiers at Ikem, Isi-Uzo local government area. The thugs were recruited allegedly by the local government chairman, Hon. Obiora Obagu.
On the election proper proper Saturday, March 18, reports from the social media had it that PDP thugs invaded many voting centres, to snatch ballot boxes, scare away voters, and to beat up people believed to be loyal to the opposition parties. The story was the same in many polling centres in the 17 local government areas that made up the state.
Speaking to newsmen after he cast his vote in his ward on Saturday after, the Labour Party (LP), governorship candidate, Barrister Chijoke Edeoga, alleged that the elections were marred by violence.
He said that he came late to the voting booth because he was busy receiving calls from various places on what was going on at various parts of the state.
He told the newsmen that it was for the love he had for journalists that made him to come out when he came because he was busy attending to various concerns from many quarters.
He, however, thanked security agents who he commended for doing their jobs well in apprehending thugs hired by the opposition party to disrupt the election.
While acknowledging that thuggery was a localised issue because it happened in some local governments but not in all the local governments, Edeoga also thanked the media for their objective reportage of the events of the election.
Arrest of thugs
“I thank the media. You have reported objectively. I thank the security agencies. They are doing well. They have made several arrests. In Isi-Uzo about 30 thugs were arrested. They were arrested at Mbu Akpoti. In Nsukka local government, many thugs were arrested at Carolina Hotel. They were there in preparation to go and disrupt the election in the area.
“In Enugu South, Offor Chukwuegbo used thugs to disrupt the election at Amichi Awkunanaw and at Maryland, Freedom Nnam and his group were beating people and telling them to vote for PDP. At Legga, Nsukka, one Omeke brought in thugs and he was arrested. He brought in about 100 machete-wielding thugs from Kogi state.
“In Uzo-Uwani, Cornell Onwubuya was allegedly using thugs to disrupt the election and the Chairman, Nnaedozie too allegedly used thugs to disrupt the election,” he points out.
According to the LP guber candidate, the Chairman of Enugu North local government, Emeka Onunze, aka Tata was said to have deployed thugs to attack and disrupt the election.
Before the Saturday polls, the senator-elect for Enugu North Senatorial Zone, Barr. Okey Ezea was allegedly quoted as saying that the election was going to be a war between Nsukka and Nkanu people and told youths to prepare to make sure that their vote count.
This probably wass what might have spurred the PDP hierarchy to deploy thugs to disrupt the election to make way for their candidates. They saw Ezea’s statement as a call for physical war and were prepared to fight, hence the alleged importation of thugs.
Alleged compromise of officials
Prior to the elections, younger brother to the slain LP Senatorial candidate for Enugu East, Oyibo Chukwu, Chief Lucky Chukwu alleged that INEC boss in Enugu state, Dr. Chukwuemeka Chukwu had compromised to rig the election in favour of PDP.
He said that political thugs camouflaged as party agents to disrupt the election while INEC would use malfunctioning BVAS and employed other means to rig the election in favour of PDP.
Chukwu, also the Chairman, Peter Obi/Edeoga Campaign Council, for Enugu East senatorial zone, expressed fear that the Enugu state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Joseph Chukwuemeka Chukwu, might not be capable of conducting a credible, free and fair election.
Chukwu, while addressing newsmen on Wednesday before the Saturday election day, in Enugu, insinuated that INEC had compromised with the ruling PDP in the state to rig the election.
His words, “a lot of undemocratic acts are happening under the Resident Electoral Commission of Mr Joseph Chukwuemeka Chukwu and we don’t have confidence in him conducting free, fair and credible election in Enugu state.”
The LP chieftain who believed that INEC had compromised had this further to say, “the supervisory President Officer (SPOs) as we speak are negotiating on how much they will take for their own corrupt roles in the election.
“Sensitive INEC materials such as the BVAS was alleged to have been tampered with and made nonfunctional with fake code so that in trying to rectify them outside the ward level, they feed wrong figures in favour of PDP and against the Labour Party,” he alleged.
Chukwu, flanked by other members of his family, Labour Party chieftains, also indicted the ruling party (PDP), accusing them of having concluded arrangement to deploy local thugs into the forest.
“They (PDP), he said, “will deploy thugs to serve as canvassers who will go out and threaten voters to vote only PDP or be shot.
“They intend to disrupt elections in some polling units where the thug canvassers fail to coerce the people to do their bidding by shooting sporadically. They may start this from Friday, and eve of the election to scare away voters,” he also alleged.
He explained that INEC officials intend to come to polling units with photocopies of results sheets so that they will change the original sheets afterwards.
“They have planned to use community leaders loyal to PDP to warn those who may not vote PDP to stay at home just like it happened in Lagos. As we speak, His Royal Highness Okechukwu Nwobodo Egbuna is under threat.
Continuing in his allegation, Chukwu said that most of the INEC ward returning officers, Local Government Returning officers as we as all the State Returning Officers were lecturers and individuals “recruited by PDP, and forwarded to INEC and ratified by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC).”
Based on the above alleged collusion of the INEC and PDP to rig the March 18 elections in Enugu state, Chukwu, therefore, called on the security agencies to be at alert to ensure free polls.
“We hereby call on security agencies – the Polices, DSS, EFCC, and ICPC to investigate the Enugu State Residential Electoral Commissioner.
“The Ebeano political cult is suspected to have masterminded the assassination of Chief Barr. Oyibo Chukwu (Owelle), Enugu East Senatorial candidate on Wednesday February 22 2023 on his way home from a campaign meeting, has recruited thugs and other cultists to cause violence in every strong hold of Labour Party in the district and other part of the state, therefore we call security agencies to put him on watch,” he appealed.
Fielding questions from newsmen, Chukwu said they had notified the security agencies about the fears they raised and were equally poised to ensure that the election would not be marred by artificial factors.
“We have alerted all our supporters to look out for photocopies of result sheets to say no and to follow the results from the polling units to the ward levels. We shall make sure that they don’t rig the election,” he said.
Like someone that saw tomorrow, Chukwu’s predictions and phobia seemed to have come to play with many arrests carried out by security agents before and during the polls.