Abia-North re-run election: The joys, gains ,regrets

 From PETER OKORE, Umuahia



 The much-talked about  March 5, 2016 re-run election for
Abia-Northsenatorial district of Abia state has come and gone, but the
joys and regrets stilllinger-on. Tongues have continued to wax,thus
giving reasons why they won or lost thecontest.

Indeed, the keenly contested re-run , conducted by the Independent
National Electoral Commission,INEC, saw weighty political gladiators,
with different assumptions and intentions,at the centre- stage.

 From their Manifestoes andcampaign intentions, for instance,Mao
Ohuabunwa  came out under the stronghold to continue fromwhere he
stopped at the Senate; having been elected in the 2015
generalelection. To his credit, he put forward, that he had  done 8
(eight) years in the House of Representatives representing
Arochukwu/Ohafia Federalconstituency and rose  to become Speakerof
ECOWAS Parliament, which translated very  little in the lives of the
sufferingconstituents at home. This time he wants to make a mark at
home.

Former governor of Abia state, Orji Uzor Kalu worked on the premise
thatSenators Enyinnaya Abaribe representing Abia –South and Theodore
Orji for Abia- Central went to the Senatehaving had a taste of the
Government House. Orji had imagined that having beengovernor of Abia
state for 8years, that Abia- North electorate would see reason to,
also allow him easy movementto the Senate to equalize status of
representations (from Abia) at the senate.

Ms.Nnenna Lancaster-Okoro of the APC, had reasoned  that as a mother
in the Senate  and of the same party with  President Buhari that
people of Abia-North would heave a sigh ofrelief for greater things to
happen in the area. She hoped that with her thereshe would easily lure
 President Buharito flag-off construction; and probably commission
completed work or fixing ofthe  long-  abandoned dilapidated
Umuahia-Ohafia-Arochukwu federal road.

 Onuoha had wanted to ride on theback of Dr. Alex Otti,APGA
Governorship candidate in the 2015 election, toenter the Senate to
learn legislation for the first time.



 Incidentally, as luck would haveit, at the end of the collation, some
hopes were dashed.  INEC declared Mazi Mao Ohuabunwa of thePeoples
Democratic Party(PDP) as winner of that election, having knocked
hisopponents , notably, former Abia State governor, Chief Orji Uzor
Kalu of theProgressive Peoples Alliance(PPA),a businessman, Bourdex
Onuoha of the AllProgressives Grand Alliance(APGA),Barrister Nnenna
Lancaster-Okoro of AllPeoples Congress,(APC) and the others, to the
floor. This is also just as  the victorious Ohuabunwa is telling those
hefloored ;”we are ready to meet you (his opponents) in court.”



However, the last  Saturday's re- run election in Abia NorthSenatorial
district  was characterised by  low turn-out of voters .
On the other hand, the exercise was generally adjudgedpeaceful and
hitch- free; although some candidates traded allegations ofattempts by
some thugs to snatch electoral materials in some wards.

Areas mostly affected bythe voters apathy were Arochukwu , Ikwuano ,
Isiala Ngwa-South, Osisioma,Umunneochi , and Umuahia-South, and
Aba-South Local Government Areas.

Five out of the affected state constituencieswere initially won by
APGA candidates while PDP candidates won twoconstituencies.

 Be that-as-it-may be, Results of the re-runelection released by the
INEC, showed that  Ohuabunwa polled 26,009 votes to defeat theother
candidates of the Progressives Peoples Alliance (PPA) Chief Orji
UzorKalu  and Chief Bourdex Onuoha of the AllProgressives Grand
Alliance (APGA), who polled 25,814 votes and 13,633
votes,respectively.
The Returning Officer,  Dr. Ojike Nwankwo,who announced the result
declared Ohuabunwa the winner of the election havingpolled the highest
number of lawful votes cast at the poll.
However,the electorate were thrown into another confusion,Saturday
night, when Nwankwo ,at the end of collation declared the election as
inconclusive.
 But the Head,Education and Publicity in the INEC office in Abia state
, Mr Edwin Enabor,later explained that Nwankwo acted in error by
declaring the election  inconclusive.
Said he:"The returning officer erroneouslydeclared the re-run election
as inconclusive. This was wrong. In a re-runelection, a winner must
emerge by simple majority. The issue of the margin oflead, vis-a-vis
the number of registered voters, does not arise in are-run  election."
 Meanwhile,the state Chairman of APGA, Rev . Augustine Ehiemere, has
described the resultas a sham, saying:"its all fraud and unacceptable
to us."
Ehiemere in a telephone interview toldBusinessHallmark that "PDP is in
control of the instrument of power andthe local government councils,
where election results are manipulated."
Conversely, in his own reaction, the PDP stateChairman, Sen. Emma
Nwaka, however, expressed delight over the result of there-run
election, saying that it affirmed Ohuabunwa's victory in the March
28,2015 general elections.
Nwaka, in a telephone interview, faulted thereturning officer for
initially declaring the election as inconclusive, sayingthat one could
not have an inconclusive election in a re-run election.
 Hiswords:"In fact, some of the issues we have in elections in Nigeria
are causedby INEC officials."
In spite of the glaring handicaps and agitations, the three
candidates commended the conduct of there-run election in Abia –North.
Speaking with newsmen after casting his ballotat Onuibina Primary
School, Igbere Ward 8, around 10:00 am, the candidate ofthe
Progressive Peoples Alliance ( PPA), Chief  Orji Uzor Kalu, expressed
satisfaction withthe exercise.

The former Governor also commended the Army andother security agencies
for their neutrality, saying that Nigeria's democracyis gaining roots.
He also hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC)
for the use of card reader for the exercise which he said was
acommendable innovation.

Kalu said there was no incident of any violencein his area and
commended the security operatives for their vigilance, and thepeople
for their orderly conduct.

Similarly, the candidate of the PeoplesDemocratic Party ( PDP),
Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, expressed satisfaction with thepeaceful conduct
of the  exercise.

Ohuabunwa who spoke with our correspondent onphone said he voted in
his Ndikoro Mgbeke Hall, Atani Arochukwu ward around1:00 pm. He said
few cases of card reader malfunction around the area  were rectified
immediately and that the election progressed smoothly.

He, however, alleged that thugs suspected to beloyal to the  PPA
candidate, smashedwindscreens of vehicles at Bende Local Government
Area on Friday, preceding theSaturday election-re-run; an action he
said could have marred  the exercise; but for the timely
interventionof security agents.

On the low turn out of voters, Ohuabunwa, whoalso was the former
Speaker, ECOWAS Parliament, declared "voter apathy isa common feature
in re- run elections, all over the world. It is not peculiarto Abia
North”. He, therefore , thanked the electorate for their
peacefulcomportment during the exercise.

In his reaction, at his Enuda High School AmaekeWard 7, after the
voting, the candidate for APGA, Onuoha, also expressedsatisfaction
with the exercise. He commended INEC for the use of card readerand
provision for Incident  Form in theeventuality of the card reader
failure , saying Nigeria's democracy isgradually beginning to work.

The APGA candidate, however, expressed concernover alleged security
breach at Nkporo , the country-home of the Deputy Governor,Sir Ude Oko
Chukwu , where he accused PDP thugs of attempts to snatch
electoralmaterials on Friday night. He alleged that about seven
vehicles were destroyedin the fracas that erupted following the
botched attempt, saying that “Nkporo wasnot properly policed".

 In asharp reaction, the PDP Chairman, Senator Emma Nwaka distanced
his party fromany attempt to snatch electoral materials, dismissing
the allegation as a cheapblackmail to whip up sentiments.

Nwaka, however,  told our correspondent that the exercise wasgenerally
peaceful in his Isuikwuato council and other parts of the
zoneaccording to reports available to him. He agreed that the exercise
recorded lowturn out in the area; devoid of any violence, except  in
Acha community where,he alleged that  the opposition brought in
stranger elements.“The villagers were alerted immediately and the
police called –in  to take care of the situation".
Meanwhile, the secretary to Abia state Government,SSG,Dr. Eme Okoro at
a news briefing  in Umuahia, faulted the 14000 votes allegedly
credited to PPA candidate in the Bende LGAduring the re- run, saying
the figurewas falsified.

According to Okoro,no election was held in hisEtitiozu  Town Hall
polling booth with three units. He alleged that some PPAchieftains in
the community colluded with the INEC to relocate the centre toEtitiozu
Primary School.

According to him voters in the polling units,numbering over 3000, had
queued at the Town Hall to cast their ballot but neverdid until 7 pm
when they dispersed as INEC officials with electoralmaterials  were
nowhere to be found. He said he was bemused when resultswere later
announced, crediting to the PPA candidate, 14,000 votes from
Bende,including the polling booth where no election was held.
 Okorodescribed the action as the height of fraud and called for the
cancellation ofthe votes ascribed to PPA  in Bende LGA which he
claimed was highlymanipulated.
Moreover,still smarting from his victory in the re-run election for
AbiaNorth, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa,  Monday, called-off the bluff of the
Progressive PeoplesAlliance (PPA) and its defeated candidate, Chief
Orji Uzor Kalu, over theirdecision to challenge the outcome in court.

 Just a few hours after thedeclaration of the re-run election
resultfor Abia-North Senatorial district, Sunday, the National Working
Committee(NWC) of PPA reportedly rejected the defeat of their
senatorial candidate andvowed to challenge it in court,  just asthey
did after the 2015 National Assembly poll.

But Ohuabunwa, who spoke with journalists in Umuahia said that by
goingto court,  Kalu and his party would shootthemselves on the foot,
because of therevelations that would come out concerning their
activities during the electionof March 5, 2015.

Said he:“We are prepared and ready, we will expose them,” he said.

According to Ohuabunwa, the court would provide a good opportunity
forhis legal team to review and prove the extent to which PPA went in
manipulatingthe poll in Bende local government, where Kalu scored over
14, 000 votes.

He said that he was leading his closest rival by over 7, 000
votes;having won in all the five local governments only for his
opponent to bringanother version of Bende result to the collation
centre and was accepted by thecollation officer against strong
objection from PDP agents.

Ohuabunwa stated that given the “machinations and manipulations of
thePPA” it was only by divine intervention that he was able to win by
just 195votes having polled 26,009 as against 25, 814 votes scored by
Kalu.

He advised Orji Uzor Kalu to retire from, from what he described
as,competitive politics; having tried and failed on three occasions
since 2011 toget Abia- North mandate to represent them in the Senate.

The Abia- North Senator said that Kalu should by now realize that
thepeople of Abia-North “no longer want him” having done eight years
as governorwith nothing to show for it, adding that the people have
continued to expresstheir minds.

He assured the people of Abia-North that he would continue to give
themeffective representation in the senate , noting that he had
already started ona high gear before he was interrupted by the Appeal
court verdict thatnecessitated the rerun.

Senator Ohuabunwa promised that Abia North would witness economic
andinfrastructural transformation and called on his opponents to
support him togive Abia North a strong voice in the National Assembly.



It will be recalled that theCourt of Appeal, sitting in Owerri, Imo
state reversed the judgment of theNational and House of Assembly
Tribunal, sitting in Umuahia, which affirmedOhuabunwa's election, and
ordered a re-run election in Abia- north.