Why impunity of March 18, 2023 Aboh Mbaise State Constituency election can’t stand

By Ori Martins

The open armed robbery which tragically took place in Aboh Mbaise, on March 18, 2023, during the Imo State House of Assembly elections was the worst rape ever committed against democracy in the name of election in recent time in this clime.

On that date which will clearly go down in history as a day of infamy, the people of Aboh Mbaise, in view of their avowed democratic principles, anchored in freedom of choice, rule of law and due process, thronged out in their numbers to express their constitutional rights of choosing who would represent them in the state house of assembly for the next four years.

The exercise which got underway between 10am and 11am, went on largely peacefully till when voting concluded at about 2pm in some wards and 3pm in others.

Trouble, however, reared its ugly head when the votes collated at the ward levels were transmitted to the INEC council headquarters at the Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area for final results to be made. It was at that point that some men in security uniforms or security personnel in armed robbery disposition, took over control of the entire process.

From their actions as well as inactions, sources revealed that those armed thugs who acted as security men, allegedly worked for the All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate Hon. Obinna Edward Iheukwumere.

Eyewitnesses and the agents of the other political parties confirmed that the hoodlums, thugs and  armed urchins worked closely with the APC agents, candidate and their supporters. Those unwanted faces were openly seen discussing with the APC candidate, Hon Obinna, even as they freely shared jokes and laughed issues over, indicating familiarity as well as ” a concluded deal superbly sealed”.

While all those unpleasant drama and theatre of the absurd were playing out, all efforts made by the other parties for the Returning Officer (RO) to declare the results of the election which had been concluded since 3pm, fell on deaf ears.

It got too late into the night and between 10pm and 1am, the APC hired armed men that dressed as police, army and civil defence corps, who started harassing, intimidating and engaged in  total assault of the other party agents,  particularly the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and Labour Party, LP, of whom some  of them were thoroughly beaten and severely wounded.

Following such a totally non – envisaged assault and disruptions, the hugely traumatized other party agents were cowed out of the council collation centre. It was at that juncture  that what would be regarded as the worst electoral fraud, at least in Imo State, was perpetrated as the results of an election which was fair, peaceful and orderly was turned into a scam, sham and ultimately massively manipulated and eventually rigged.

Not considering there was no perfect crime, at least, in election, the perpetrators of that heinous election fraud, committed the worst electoral manipulation. They were clever by half.

For instance, in the original results as computed from IREV portal and PDP agents, APC had 5,570 votes from the 12 wards in Aboh Mbaise LGA., the PDP polled 7856., LP had 1,264 and 248 votes from  the 12 wards in the council, for APGA.

 It was very evident that the candidate of PDP, Ezinwa Princewill Ugochukwu Amuchie won the Aboh Mbaise State House of Assembly election of March 18, 2023.  Sadly, this result was not what the Returning Officer  declared.

He rather accepted the notoriously manipulated figures as conjured and put together by the APC candidate and his band of armed men. To that effect, the Returning Officer, Iroegbu Ikechukwu, declared a result that was clearly falsified and terribly forged to wit: APC – 39, 940., LP – 9,638., PDP – 13, 319., and APGA – 2792. With this reckless mindlessness, the RO, Iroegbu Ikechukwu, returned the APC candidate, Edward Obinna.

As it is, and from all available credible sources, especially from INEC IREV portal  report, a total of 17728 voters were accredited for that election but APC’s  Edward Obinna was notoriously declared winner with a total of 39, 940!!! What a tragedy. It was  more than double of the accredited voters on the day. If you add their allocated votes to other candidates you will be having almost 60,000 voters. That was very untrue and it never happened. The RO just handed over the APC that  ridiculous and unfathomable figures – mathematically falsified.

It is important to highlight and bring to the fore, how the RO, working hand in hand with the EO, forged the results in favour of APC.

 Before the doctored results were announced, the armed men had stormed the collation centre in Aboh trice but were resisted. They eventually returned in more than 20 Hillux vans, chasing away the PDP candidate for the election, severely dealt with the PDP lead agent for the election, Hon Mike Iheanetu ( Akwaa Akwuru) and roughly scorched the INEC ad hoc workers by hand coughing them, bundled them in the vans and zoomed off to Owerri.

As it were, the results and all electoral materials were carted away to unknown destination in a gestapo fashion, with masked men shooting rapidly in the air while people scampered for safety.

Let the truth be told for the sake of democratic growth and development,  there was never a time  the RO showed up to introduce himself to the agents of the parties there present, as stipulated in the electoral guidelines,  for the purposes of announcing election results and subsequent declaration of a  winner.

The  Returning Officer,  a lecturer at the Federal University of Technology Owerri,  FUTO, who could not borrow a leaf from his Vice Chancellor, who stood her grounds to do what was right in the tensed Abia State governorship election,  resorted to helping Edward Obinna and his APC thugs to  compromise the results and, against the wish of Aboh Mbaise voters, wrongly declared APC’s Obinna winner.

Quite unfortunately, the candidate of PDP who won clearly and his agents were beaten like common criminals by the reenforced APC armed  men who were masked. It must be reported that the RO and EO had concluded plans to carry the results to Owerri where they claimed was safe but  were refused by the law abiding citizens at the venue who saw that move as a mere decoy to compromise the results of the election.

It was when that attempt failed  that the people present urged them to start collation of the results. After eight wards were comprehensively collated, the PDP candidate recorded a comfortable lead and was poised for eventual victory. However, while the ninth ward was about to be collated, the hoodlums took over the centre,  commenced shooting in the air and ultimately carted away all the materials to an unknown destination. It was a dangerous gamble that worked against election codes. It was quite disturbing and disgusting when  waking up the following morning, the good people of Aboh Mbaise heard through state radio announcement that  APC  was  the winner of the election.

The fact remains that at no time did the RO return the APC candidate,  Hon Edward Obinna before the party agents or Aboh Mbaise people as the winner of the election as there were no  videos or pictures, or records,  to confirm that illegality because it never happened. That is, the Returning Officer never duly declared the APC candidate winner of the election according to the electoral guidelines as enshrined in the Electoral Act ( as amended). This is an obvious fact that cannot be disputed.

The bewildered voters and the entire masses only heard to their chagrin the next morning that Edward Obinna had won an election which he clearly lost. This is definitely not how to conduct an election and it is not how to declare a result in which the masses freely expressed their wishes.

Following the tragic event that overshadowed the March 18, 2023 house of assembly election, the EO in Aboh Mbaise LGA, Godfrey, has to explain to the people and Imolites at large why he allowed that kind of anomaly and evil practice to take place as he played along  with the manipulators and riggers.

He never reported what happened that night to the REC who confirmed how the RO narrated to her how he slept in the bush when this evil  operations were going on. The REC demanded he should do a report of the incident but he never did because he  compromised the entire process by allowing the wrong things to be done.

The prayer here is, the Imo State election petitions tribunal should carefully, painstakingly look into the Aboh Mbaise LGA State Constituency election of March 18, 2023 and allow justice to take its full course.

The tribunal must, as a matter of necessity, and for the sake of humanity and humanities, do the right thing by  declaring Ezinwa Princewill Ugochukwu Amuchie as the authentic and real winner of the election, in the interest of the masses and for the advancement, growth and development of democracy and democratic processes.