Barely one week to the proposed September 21 Chairmanship and Councillorship elections, nothing has been heard from the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission(ISIEC) as regards their preparation/preparedness for the election.
Ideally,within this time in any(every)electioneering period,plans are usually in top gear if not already concluded and the citizens constantly briefed by the electoral body on preparations for the conduct of a credible election.
Such preparations include but not limited to: recruitment and training of adhoc election officers,publishing the list of participating political parties with their candidates,regular interface with leaders of political parties,security agencies,civil society organizations,journalists and other such stakeholders.
As a matter of fact,the publishing of participating political parties with their candidates ought to have been done almost immediately the window for the conduct of primary elections by political parties as scheduled by the electoral body was exhausted.
Particularly,that of the ruling All Progressives Congress is being shrouded in unnecessary controversy as the party says the list being circulated around social media(and other news media) is not official and as such did not emanate from them. Yet,just a week to the election,she has refused to come clean with the much touted official list of their candidates.
And as election adhoc staff have not been recruited let alone being trained,one wonders how ISIEC intends to still go on with the September 21 election as scheduled.
Expectedly,the silence of ISIEC has not only caused an atmosphere of uncertainty and anxiety within the state’s sociopolitical sphere, especially among participating opposition parties and their candidates,it has also occasioned a lot of conspiracy theories.
Some proponents say that the behavior of ISIEC is because there is no intention to conduct council elections in the first place. Another says that ISIEC is an appendage of the 3R Government of Sen. Hope Uzodimma and by extension,the APC.As such,they are walking in the pace of the government/party of the day. A third proponent believes that the election had already been conducted with all the candidates of the ruling party returned as duly elected- that a convenient date is being contemplated for the ritual of name-calling by ISIEC in the guise of an election.
Imo State’s major opposition party;the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has been the most vociferous among the opposition parties in accusing the ruling party of being in bed with the electoral body.
For whatever they are worth,these theories are enlivened by the way the APC conducted her primaries without prior information to supposed aspirants.This is exacerbated by the claims in certain quarters that people who did not buy expression of interest/nomination forms were announced candidates in certain local governments and wards.Also factor in the fact that 80% of the Sole Administrators(SOLADs)- currently superintending over our various LGAs, were declared candidates without them first resigning from their positions as stipulated in our constitution.
Understandably, candidates of the ruling APC(supposedly)are not as much perturbed as their opposition party counterparts.This may not be unconnected with the popular notion that they are ‘Kings-in-waiting’ who are just waiting for the formality of an election to be crowned;any day it may hold.In all fairness,it is necessary to state that candidates of the ruling party in council elections; especially chairmanship positions, are usually declared winners in every state. States like Kogi,Adamawa,Delta,Bayelsa who have conducted Council elections since the Supreme Court verdict, readily come to mind.
In conclusion,all these are a pointer to an election that may be flawed and roundly rejected.
Needless to say that the integrity of ISIEC and her helmsman is at stake.
He can keep mum all he likes.He can pretend all he wants.He may refuse to accept it or even announce it. But the situation on ground suggests he cannot hold this election on September 21.A postponement is his likely escape!
LINKING THE DOTS WITH;Iheyinwa Alexandar Emeka(07064795821)
