EDO LG BY- ELECTION: PDP kicks as Oshiomhole’s APC wins Anenih’s council

EDO LG BY- ELECTION: PDP kicks as
Oshiomhole’s APC wins Anenih’s council
on october 26, 2013 at 12:55 am in politics
By SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY
The much awaited Local Government Council by-
election in Esan North East Local Government
Council of Edo State had come and gone, with the
opposition Peoples Democratic Party at war once
again with the All Progressive Congress (APC),
accusing the later of rigging the election. Elections
in the council were postponed twice due to
violence, while the Edo State Independent National
Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) successfully
conducted elections in other 17 Local Government
Councils on the 20th of April, 2013.
The tension in the area was not surprising to many
due to the caliber of politicians in the council. The
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the PDP, Chief
Tony Anenih and the Minister of Works, Arch.Mike
Onolemenmen are all from this council. Before the
coming of Oshiomhole, Esan land was in firm grip of
the PDP leader, Chief Anenih who has empowered
his loyalists from the area, particularly his Uromi
brothers and sisters. However, the coming of
Governor Adams Oshiomhole changed the politics
of the area due to the developmental strides of the
Comrade Governor, which eventually helped
Oshiomhole in winning the entire five Local
Government Councils in the 2012 governorship
election.
Governor Oshiomhole
Following his recent political fortunes, it is not
surprising that the Leader will not want to relinquish
his Local Government to the APC even though it is a
local election. His foot soldiers prepared for the
election, just as the APC members went to the
election in full confidence based on the
achievements of Oshiomhole. However, the
Tuesday election commenced peacefully despite
the late arrival of voting materials in some wards.
Prior to the elections though, APC leaders
expressed concern about the presence of
‘imported’ mobile policemen from Abuja and Lagos
for the election. Infact, the Edo State Police
Commissioner Folunso Adebanjo confirmed that the
security arrangement was “water tight” and warned
political leaders to warn their supporters to stay out
of trouble.
All was actually going well up till about 1pm when
the leader of APC in ward 5, Prince Joe Okojie
raised alarm that a Mopol Commander of Uromi
origin, who is based in Lagos was arresting APC
members including their leaders and detaining them
at the police station. At ward 7, the member
representing the area at the Federal House of
Representative and PDP chieftain, Mr Friday Itulah
said though the election commenced late, he was
happy that people are voting peacefully.
He however alleged that an EDSIEC official was
seen with ink all over his body indicating that he
may have been thumb printing for the APC
candidate. However, tension heightened in ward 5
when political thugs snatched ballot boxes and
there was free for all fight between APC youths and
that of the PDP. The police shot sporadically trying
to recover the ballot boxes but to no avail, as the
youths ran into the bushes destroying the votes.
Suddenly, the ward which boasts of the highest
number of voters in the council became a burial
ground as only security operatives were observed.
The state Police Commissioner and the State
Director of DSS,Bello Bakori brought the situation
under control but was unable to appeal to voters to
come back and cast their votes as they all ran for
their dear lives.
At about 6pm, there was mass arrest of APC
leaders by the police and they were subsequently
detained at the Uromi Police station allegedly on
orders from above. APC chieftain, Prince Joe Okojie
who spoke from his detention cell, accused the PDP
of alleged rigging, harassment and intimidation of
their members.
According to him, “somebody from this our
community who is a MOPOL Commander based in
Lagos who obviously is working for the PDP came
this morning arresting three of our members. I went
to the Police station to bail two of them but I was
shocked while I was coming from the Police station
when he came to arrest two more persons.
“It was at that point that our people resisted him.
The PDP tried to use their federal might to intimidate
and harrass our people but we will resist them.
Now, they have arrested me and other APC leaders,
but we will not be intimidated. They saw that we
were winning and decided to destroy the ballot
papers, disrupting the election. But I thank God our
people have spoken in one voice, no more
dictatorship, we are free at last”.
However, at about 8pm, that Tuesday, the Chairman
of the EDSIEC, Mr Solomon Ogoh announced the
results declaring Sam Oboh winner of the election
after he polled 12,672 as against his PDP opponent
John Yakubu who polled 3,314 votes. The next day
Wednesday, the elected chairman was sworn in by
Governor Oshiomhole while angry PDP members
led by Chief Dan Orbih, its state chairman,
addressed journalists rejecting the results and
threatened to go to court.
According to Orbih, “the result the EDSIEC chairman
announced was not the true result, what he
declared was variance with the results announced
at the different polling units, wards and collating
centers by the presiding and returning officers
appointed by the electoral body. What he announced
has no bearing with the actual results announced by
the presiding officers. He has no result from the
various wards and collating centers”.
He further claimed that the results will not stand the
test of time, alleging that it was very clear from the
results announced by Presiding and Returning
officers from the various poling units that it was the
PDP that won both the chairmanship and
councillorship elections in Esan North East and the
six other wards in the state where elections were
conducted. He declared that copies of the election
result were with the DPO in Uromi, DSS, Civil
Defence and other security agencies and asked the
media to verify this from security agencies. Orbih
claimed that “ the PDP chairmanship candidate won
the election by scoring 11,212 against APC
candidate’s 6,143”.
But in a swift reaction, the interim chairman of APC
in the state, Thomas Okosun, described Orbih’s
declaration as laughable and wondered when the
police, DSS and others “suddenly became EDSIEC
members”. His words, “we read in the papers that
PDP said they were rejecting the results of the
election,Orbih was saying that the authentic result
sheets are with the police, SSS and Civil Defense,
without saying that the results sheets were with the
EDSIEC staff who are the authentic umpire for the
election.
The first question we are asking Orbih is, who
requested for the services of these people during
the election because it is the responsibility of the
EDSIEC to request for security during elections? So
these people who requested for their services were
they from Edo state or other states and if they were
from other states, who brought them to Edo state?
My second question is, since when did the police
become returning officers such that they now have
the authentic result sheet according to what Orbih
declared as authentic result which he manufactured
with his hired policemen from Lagos and Abuja.
“Because in an election, outside the  presiding
officers and returning officers who have access to
the authentic results, the other persons entitled to
the authentic results are the agents of the political
parties participating in an election. So Dan Orbih
cannot claim that he has authentic results or that
they are with the hired police men instead of the
EDSIEC.
“I think his problem is that it is because himself and
his party the PDP failed in their attempt to stop the
election the third time, they are looking for avenue
to discredit the election won by APC inEsan North
East” he asserted. He added that “Orbih should
know that just in 2012, ACN, now APC ,won Esan
North East Local Government in the gubernatorial
election and that was an election conducted by
federal INEC, the same people that voted for us in
that election and many more people that joined us
again voted for us in this last election. Let me tell
Orbih and his party that the people of Edo state will
not give PDP opportunity to drag Edo state
backward. PDP is dead and buried in Edo state. I
urge Orbih and his people to accept defeat and the
outcome of the election in Esan North East or go to
court as they said”.
But the Coalition of Registered Political Parties in
the state led by Dr Samson Isibor hailed the
election, asserting however that “we are hearing
this lamentation from the PDP today because the
Comrade Governor is even a democrat. PDP never
conducted Local Government elections all the while
they were in government, but because this man
decided to conduct an election, the PDP is taking
advantage of him talking rubbish. But we commend
the Comrade Governor for the free and fair election
he conducted. APC members have conscience but
PDP does not and that is why God is punishing them
today in this state”.
Saturday Vanguard recalled that in 2005, Osaro
Obazee the current chairman of Oredo LGA, was
denied the chance to become a councilor in ward 5,
oredo Local Government even after he won the
election convincingly.
Oshiomhole broke his silence on the issue, during
the swearing in of the elected chairman. He said,
“Nigerians fought for democracy, many paid the
supreme price , they did not survive to witness the
birth of the present republic. Others including my
humble self moved from one police cell to one
prison, not on account of any dispute over our
father’s land but on account of our contribution in
the system that Nigeria must return to democracy
in which the people and only the people can
determine who governs them. So some of us have
paid our price.
“But during this period, there were others who were
embedded with all manner of military dictatorship,
they compromised, they sold mandate, they traveled
around foreign capitals to rationalize the futile
attempt to defeat the forces of democracy and they
failed. Some have returned and they are today
among the key manipulators criminally trying to
subvert the will of our people and misusing the
instrument of state in their futile attempt to impose
their will on the people of our country particularly, in
Edo State. What I heard yesterday and I am still
investigating; if the reports are correct, then
Nigerians must be put on notice that the police may
well have chosen to become the INEC or EDSIEC
and over thrown by the force of fire arms, those
who are authorised by law to conduct elections.
“As a Nigerian, I am embarrassed that the police
are involved in carrying electoral materials,
arresting EDSIEC returning officers and coercing
them into a police station and converting it into a
collation centre supervised by policemen imported
from Abuja and Lagos in order to subvert the will of
the people of Esan North East. As a civilised man, I
felt ashamed that men in uniform at rather very
senior level supervised this criminal act of the
police in yesterday’s (Tuesday) election.
A federal  Minister and other federal functionaries,
including Assembly men used their exalted
positions, taking unfair advantage  of the police
assigned to protect them and deployed  them for
election purposes, detaining returning officers and
treating them as  if they  were prisoners of war and
under duress, compelling them to sign fake results
and police becoming Returning Officers writing
result sheets. But thank God for modern technology
that what the people have signed in full freedom is
what matters, not what they signed under duress in
a police station.
The law establishing the electoral commission is
very clear, the location for collation of votes is very
clear. The location for announcing winners and
losers is very clear and it does not include a police
station.
“Law enforcement officers were involved in
converting a police post to a collating center in
order to subvert the will of the electorate and for
me, it is a matter of national embarrassment. And I
want to state that no one will live forever but our
reputation will live after us. Temporary gains are
not worth our place in hell, if we choose to
mortgage what is good in order to sustain evil
practices. But Edo State under my watch will not
submit to intimidation. My duty is to remain one of
the forces of democracy.
Neither my voice, nor my physical efforts can be
exterminated by the forces of darkness. Anyone
who is under the illusion that they can use the
instrument of coercion to intimidate us are poor
students of history. We are at our best when we are
challenged because we know that when we will die
cannot be postponed by one day” he asserted.
Oshiomhole appealed that “ the Federal authorities
and the security agencies should remain faithful to
their oath of office which says they shall respect the
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They
shall not be influenced by affection but each time
they behave in such degrading manner, they violate
those office serially and brutally. Yesterday, the
police high command in their wisdom chose to turn
Esan North East to a police state, such that we had
more policemen in that local government than the
population of the Local government .
If we have such number of policemen, how come
we are at the mercy of kidnappers? We have such
ruthless determination to deal with decent civilians
and yet weak to deal with hardened criminals. I fail
to understand that. I fail to understand why the
police high command who has the tradition of
posting away Commissioners and assigning new
ones at the eve of every election, ostensively to
ensure that there is fairness and impartiality.
“That in the case of Esan
North East local Gov
ernment election, they chose to bring senior mobile
police commanders who are of Uromi origin
knowing fully well that the fact of their origin means
that they cannot be neutral in matters affecting
some sections of that local government.
“In their wisdom, those are the officers they chose
to deploy believing that they can help to subvert
democracy. All of us remains in prison any time we
keep quiet in the face of operation.We remain
detainees each time we fail to speak our minds
even in the face of abuse of office. And we are dead
the day we keep quiet in the face of injustice. God
gave us life, brain and mouth to speak, not just for
nothing. So, I want to appeal to all those who need
to listen that this country is greater than any of us.
“We want a free and fair election, the police chose
to detain very senior APC leaders including the APC
candidate for election on election day in order to rub
it in that the police rather than the people will decide
the winner. The police used instrument procured by
our tax payers money including the resources I
provided them to conduct this election to brutalize
and assault APC members for the simple reason
that they are leaders of APC. They hoarded them
into cell and according to them, under orders from
above, they have moved them to Benin. They can
eat their flesh if that gives them some comfort but
they cannot eat their soul”.