20th October, 2010
Now that it has been proved beyond reasonable doubt by unanimous decision of all the Appeal Court Judges in Ilorin led by President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami that Dr. Kayode Fayemi of ACN won that election fair and square, what is going to happen to Mr Segun Oni who presided over Ekiti State illegally for 41 months? What happens to all the budgets of almost four years which he appropriated illegally? What happens to Mrs Ayoka Adebayo who saw the rigging of Ekiti State re-run election and accepted it? What happens to INEC Chairman Professor Maurice Iwu who knew the truth and yet handed over victory certificate to Mr Segun Oni? What happens to all the innocent people who died because Iwu and Ayoka failed Nigeria and Ekiti when it mattered most?
What happens to all those INEC officials, government officials and PDP officials who connived to rob the people of Ekiti State of their freedom of choice? Will Mr Segun Oni continue to be addressed as former governor of Ekiti State with the weight of evidence on the ground that he and his party stole the mandate illegally for almost 4 years? Will his photograph be on the wall of Ekiti State Governor’s Lodge as a onetime Governor of that State? Can Nigeria or Ekiti State set up a high powered probe panel to unravel all those who worked in tandem to steal power in Ekiti State for close to 4 years?
Outside Ekiti State , the same questions are still bothering me about similar situations in River state, Ondo State , Anambra State , and Edo State . What have we done to those who criminally denied Governor Rotimi Amechi his victory for almost one year in River State ? What have we done with the votes robbers who seized Ondo State by the throat and denied Governor Segun Mimiko his mandate for more than a year? What of Professor Osunbor and his criminal gang who stole Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s sacred mandate in Edo State for close to two years? What of Anambra State ? This is a State where five (5) known persons namely Chief Chris Ubah, Chief Chris Ngige, Ikechukwu Abana, Chuma Nzeribe, and Okey Udeh and many other political armed robbers turned the politics of one of the most civilized States in Nigeria upside down and appropriated its resources for 3 years with impunity.s
I am raising these questions because I want Nigeria to move forward. We have swept a lot of criminal offences in Nigeria under the carpet and today the world see us a criminal country. Impunity should be taken as a criminal offence. As 2011 elections approaches, it is pertinent that we must get election riggers since 1999 to answer questions about their sordid deeds in the past so that Nigerians will learn their lessons and behave accordingly. If these votes robbers are allowed to take part in 2011 elections, Prof. Jega may not get it right. Ecclesiates 8:11 says ‘’When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with the schemes to do wrongâ€. The late Chief Nwafor Orizu, former Senate President once said that ‘’the problem of the world is not that the offended cannot forgive but have the offenders repentedâ€
Offenders and law breakers must be punished in Nigeria if we are serious about building a Nation.
•Joe Igbokwe, Publicity Secretary ACN, writes from Lagos
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