I come from Imo State, but, please, before you begin to jubilate, that fact is inconclusive. Ok, if you want to argue with me, what part of it do I come from? You don’t know except I tell you? Brothers and Sisters in Crisis, you see, that was why I told you earlier that the fact of me coming from Imo State is inconclusive.
As you must have read, Uche Nwosu, formerly of APC (one tablet in the morning, one in the afternoon and one at night), but now of Action Alliance (film trick people, are you set? now action!, but please, no alliance!), wants the Imo election in which he polled 190,364 votes, as against the INEC (Independent National Electoral Commssion)-announced winner, Emeka Ihedioha, 273,404 votes, declared inconclusive, not only because of some electoral irregularities noticed in the three local government areas of Aboh Mbaise, Ahiazu and Ezinihitte but also because, according to him, Ihedioha did not meet the mandatory 25 per cent spread in the votes, at least, in two-thirds of the number of Local Government Areas where the election was held.
Everybody that knows me too well would tell you that I have always disagreed with Nwosu, starting from his decision to adopt the chieftaincy title, Ugwumba, of all the chieftaincy titles bestowed on him by “good” people from across Imo, Igbo land and Nigeria, to his decision to dump APC for AA, but on this one about declaring the Imo election inconclusive, I agree with him. In toto!
So, as a proof of my agreement with him, I won’t tell you what part of Imo I come from – Ohaji Egbema, Njaba, Oguta, Owerri, Okigwe, Akokwa, Orlu, Obowu, Mbaise, Etiti, Mbano, Anara, Ehime, just name it. That fact about me remains inconclusive. If anybody asks you, tell him that I come from Imo, that’s all.
I don’t want anybody to accuse me, at this stage, of supporting anybody. I am for everybody – Uche Nwosu, Ifeanyi Ararume, Ikedi Ohakim, Hope Uzordinma and Emeka Ihedioha and every one of them is for me. Ask these governorship candidates that I mentioned their names if they are not for me. I am seeking their votes to become a conclusive citizen of Imo State just as they are seeking for mine. If onye utara (the foofoo man) will not go to onye ofe (the soup man), then onye ofe should find his way to onye utara. After all, they are all hungry men, abi?
And, if you ask me, since this is the era of inconclusiveness, I would suggest that INEC leaves his request inconclusive. That is to say, it should cancel the result but makes sure no other election is held even if Okorocha were to leave office. How about that? Or, better still, hand over to whoever they will except Uche Nwosu and Rochas Okorocha
In fact, I would even suggest that we cut into two the names of all the Imo governorship aspirants. Imagine a situation where the state Resident Electoral Officer, would mention Uche but forget or refuse to add Nwosu or vice versa, and you challenge him and he begins to say something like names of the governorship candidate being inconclusive in the spirit of the election. The same thing goes for Ihedioha, Ararume, Uzordinma and Ohakim. Imagine what would happen if you make Emeka Ihedioha’s name inconclusive by creating a division between his name, Emeka and his surname, Ihedioha! Whereas, anybody bearing the name “Emeka” including Emeka Ojukwu Jnr and Etiaba would claim to be the one being referred to by INEC, any family in Imo State bearing Ihedioha would swear also that it was them that Imo people voted for.
Just imagine all those bearing the names Uche or Nwosu streaming out from every corner of Imo State and claiming to be the one voted for and tell me if Imo State which Ohakim once told us is in the hand of God, will not remain perpetually on inconclusive list because, if I understand the pace at which justice moves in Nigerian courts, you would require more than eight years or two terms to pacify the number of the aggrieved or claimants to the votes, to get every Uche and Nwosu to agree that he is not the one being referred.
The same thing goes for every Emeka and to all the families bearing the name “Ihedioha” in Imo State. I believe that’s what Fela had in mind when he spoke about confusion breaking bone and overtake overtaking overtake. I don’t know how many people that bear the name “Ikedi” or “Ohakim”. As far as I know, I have not met many people bearing such names. But if there are, Ikedi Ohakim is going to have tough time convincing us that he is the one we voted for if anybody bearing such names should come forward to lay claim to our votes. So, you think that declaring an election inconclusive, for whatever reason, is a child’s play? You better think again and again!
My uncle, Dede Clement Abanobi, has a son that goes by the name, Hope. If the election, is, by any means, declared inconclusive, I would not be surprised to see him coming out to lay claim to the said 96,458 votes won by Hope. After all, Hope is Hope whether uzo o di ma or uzo adighi nma (whether the road is good or not). Imagine all those answering to the name Ifeanyi doing the same with Ararume’s 114,676 votes!
Apart from the confusion that could rise with the inconclusiveness over names, other factors could also come into play. Imagine, just imagine, those who support Araraume storming INEC collation centre with kukorokoo (white cocks or red one), and with all of them clucking, and see whether Prof. Francis Atunta, Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, Umuahia who acted as the Returning Officer during the election and who eventually announced the result, would not take to his heels leaving the final result sheet behind. If you don’t know how to make ideas work for you, na you sabi.
Or, Ihedioha’s supporters storming the same venue with all shades and sizes of umbrella! Come to think of it, in any contest, who will eventually win: the person with broom, white or red cock/cockerel, or one with umbrella? Which one will send the other running for dear life, with or without two third of the total votes cast? Brothers and Sisters in Crisis, I believe that it is the one with umbrella. Take that argument anywhere you like.