As l type this, my Governor, Owelle Rochas is on phone with the Channels Television 2015 election monitrs, and he is complaining bitterly about the alleged militarization of the elections in Imo State. As someone who monitored this election in seven out of the twenty seven LGAs in the State, I am surprised with the Governor’s allegations, as I did not observe any unwieldy interferences from the military all through my movements around the State. Emeka Ihedioha, the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives and the controversial candidate of the PDP in the governorship election punctured Governor Okorocha’s arguments and instead alleged that the Governor is not conversant with the laws of the land, and was only complaining because he was stopped on his manipulative tracks.
Anybody who follows politics in Imo will tell you that Chief Ikedi Ohakim did not lose the you 2011 elections because the people wanted him out, while their were people who were vociferously opposed to Ohakim’s return, it was obvious that the powers that be ganged up to push Ikedi Ohakim out of power, and in doing that they deployed the military massively to achieve their aim. It was Dr. Ethelbert Okere who wrote a book immediately after that election with the title: DEMOCRACY BY MILITARY TERMS, and the agents of the Okorocha government tried everything possible to thwart the publication and distribution of the book, as they believed that the information contained in the book casts serious doubt on the credibility and even legitimacy of the Okorocha government. They even went as far as attempting to obtain an injunction from a Court to stop the renowned journalist and author from launching the book.
In 2011, Imo State was turned to a military den, as voters were intimidated and even harassed by men in different shades of uniforms, and various unfounded allegations bandied to blackmail the former Governor. Till date, Oguta LGA, which has over two hundred thousand registered voters and a strong support base of Chief Ohakim were deprived of the right to cast their votes for whoever they wanted to rule them as Governor. This is without regard to that clause in the electoral act which demands that election be declared inconclusive should the margin of victory be lower than the number of voters in any ares who were yet to vote. Okorocha ‘won’ the 2011 election with less than forty thousand votes, while Oguta LGA with more than two hundred votes did not cast a single ballot in the governorship election. The military was used to discredit their earlier ballots.
Today, anyone will agree with me that the military presence being experienced across the Federation during this election is far less than what happened in 2011. During the supplementary election of 2011, in which Rochas was declared victorious, the home of every politician who was seen as an Ohakim loyalist was converted to a makeshift military barrack, just as the movement of even the sitting Governor was curiously curtailed.
It is imperative that the same man who orchestrated and benefited from the injustices meted out to his fellow man, is today complaining about the same things, even though they do not seem to exist at the moment. Rochas is crying wolf, where there is not a single rat. His allegations that the Peoples Democratic Party is rigging the election is very far from the truth. Okorocha is experiencing some form of nemesis, as a little bit of the arsenals used he colluded with the enemies of the State to unleash against Imo in 2011 are being unleashed against him this time around, and he is already crying foul.
If I were Okorocha, but I will definitely not be him, I will simply recoil into my shell and begin to lick my wounds. I will also use the remaining two weeks before the governorship and House of Assembly elections to do some reparations to appease the gods of the land who are obviously bitter about the huge injustice that played out in 2011. One of such reparations should be to apologize to Governor Ikedi Ohakim and tell Imolites and the whole world all the truth about the conspiracies that led to the ousting of the Okohia born technocrat from Imo Government House. Outside this, there is no amount of complaints and cries that can turn the tide in favour of himself or his political Party.
Ikedi Ohakim will definitely not throw his support behind his second term ambition as himself (Ikedi Ohaki) still holds a very credible hope of being returned as Imo’s Governor come April 11th, 2015. However, he can forgive him and at least go a long way in healing Imo from the injurious lies that have held Imo down since 2011.
