By Chidi Nkwopara
When Governor Ikedi Ohakim addressed Imo stakeholders January 4 this year, he promised that local government elections, which had been on hold in the last six years, would be conducted in August.

In making the promise, the Governor also gave his words that the reforms in the local council system will continue no matter whose ox is gored.

His words: “We would conduct elections when it is most auspicious and the conditions must be right. The laws will be in place, the reform processes fully institutionalized and the people, including political parties, properly orientated to ensure the emergence of credible leaders”.

In line with the synergy between the legislature and the executive, Imo State House of Assembly enacted the enabling law, while Governor Ohakim reconstituted the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC).

The leadership of the reconstituted ISIEC went into business, fixed the date for the polls, commenced the sensitization of the citizenry, provided the guidelines for the polls, as well as had periodic dialogue with party officials.

On July 29, 2010, Ohakim again addressed Imo stakeholders. This time, he urged the citizenry among other things, to “shun all the lies told by enemies of the state”, as well as disregard all the rumours they disseminate, while remaining calm and steadfast.

“You must all troop out en masse on Saturday, August 8, 2010, to vote in the local government election.

The election offers you a golden opportunity to elect credible leaders to serve you at the local governments. Agents of confusion must not be allowed to hold the state to ransom, distract or deter us from sanitizing and re-branding local government system in the state”, Ohakim told Imo stakeholders.

Truth is that Ohakim’s administration was getting crude bashing from the PDP family than from the other registered political parties. His supposed PDP compatriots filed several cases in different courts of the land. Some of the cases sought to scuttle the just concluded local council election. Some of them are still subjudice.

In one of the decided cases, an Owerri High Court presided over by Hon. Justice Nonyerem Okoronkwo, struck out a suit filed by a group of people, led by Mr. Vitus Onyeukwu, seeking to stop the State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC) from conducting the August 7, 2010 local council polls in the state.

Justice Okoronkwo also granted the application filed by ISIEC and the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prince Ken C.O. Njemanze (SAN), who represented the state government in the suit.
It was the considered opinion of the fiery High Court Judge that the plaintiff did not disclose any reasonable cause of action and the in circumstance, struck out the matter.

Reacting to the judgment, Mr. Oneme Okudoya, who stood in for Mr. Obiora Obianwa (SAN, representing ISIEC, said that “all the parties are bound to respect the decision of the court”, which he said “is the last hope of the common man”.

Irked by the situation, the Association of Registered Political Parties (ARPP) in Imo State warned it will stoutly resist any attempt by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to cancel the local government election slated for August 7, 2010.

Reading the riot act during a press conference in Owerri, the ARPP Chairman, Dr. (Mrs.) Ada Mere, also warned that PDP is one out of the over 50 registered political parties in the state and cannot force Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC) to work according to its dictates.

Fuming with anger, the group further said that if the PDP was not prepared to take part in the polls, they should quietly withdraw their candidates, stressing that in 2007 general elections, the party told Imo people in clear terms that they had no gubernatorial candidate in the state.

“About 20 political parties are fielding candidates for the local council polls. If the PDP is not happy with the arrangement, they can as well stay without fielding candidates. They did it during the 2007 governorship election”, Mere said.

ARPP also warned: “ISIEC is not a party controlled organization and cannot be influenced by any single political party. ISIEC is an independent body with full statutory and legal authority to conduct elections in Imo State. It has done its homework and is fully prepared to conduct the forthcoming election”, ARPP leadership said.

ARPP recalled with grief that the enthronement of democratic principles at the local council level been effectively stalled in the state over the years, pointing out that people should come out, show their patriotism, allegiance and support for the progress of the state, despite their political affiliations.

The poll went on as planned despite the torrential rain that spanned through Friday and Saturday. Over 4,000 candidates fielded by 20 registered political parties took part in the election. Answering a question from Vanguard, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Sanitation and Transport, Chief Willie Amadi, said he was pleased when the defeated Action Congress councillorship candidate of New Owerri Ward 1, Mr. Nnabuchi Okorie, congratulated the victorious PDP candidate as soon as the result was announced.

Okorie thanked his loyalists for the support they gave him and promised to try again in the next two years.
In his own reaction, the State Chairman of All Nigeria Peoples party (ANPP), Chief Vitalis Orikeze Ajumbe, lamented that voting materials were delivered late to all the voting centres in Ikeduru local government area, adding that PDP agents snatched ballot boxes in three out of the eight booths where materials were delivered. Vanguard could not confirm this allegation at press time.

Addressing a post-election press conference in Owerri, the Leader of the Presidential Monitoring Team, Prince Celestine Ekwe, said “the turnout was impressive and there was calm in various polling booths” monitored.

“Another area of serious attention was the effort of some criminally minded persons I inviting thugs to disrupt the election. The case in mind is the Isu local government area election where some men brought from outside the state for the singular purpose of disrupting the smooth operation of the election”, Prince Ekwe said.

Continuing, Ekwe recalled that the Sole Administrator, Mr. Austine Mbanali, informed the police and the local vigilante, who fished them out for onward movement to the State Police Headquarters, Owerri, for investigation.

“We observed that prior to the election various communities had adopted zoning formula for effective distribution of political offices. The case in mind is Nkwerre local government chairmanship election had no rival, having been selected by the consigned communities”, Ekwe recalled.

While saying that the team did not witness any intimidation to the electorate, Ekwe, who is the Director General, Centre for Leadership Organization, however recalled that “we met one or two who actually did not understand our mission in the state”.

In his words: “The electoral process in Imo State, during this election, was based on the zoning formula as individual communities presented their candidates in line with the said formula. This has made the election free and fair without rancour”.