{"id":52834,"date":"2016-09-04T17:34:05","date_gmt":"2016-09-04T16:34:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=52834"},"modified":"2016-09-04T17:34:05","modified_gmt":"2016-09-04T16:34:05","slug":"edo-set-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/edo-set-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"Before Edo is set on fire\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Political extremism was an outrageous flaunt by the All Progressives
\nCongress (APC) during the 2015 general elections: to win at all costs. It
\nwas accompanied by virulent propaganda never seen in the history of
\nelectioneering in Nigeria, which was, overall, sustained by a bare threat
\nto destabilise the polity. The APC put aside all decorum and threatened to
\nform a parallel government if the outcome of the presidential election did
\nnot favour them.\u00a0 Some political analysts had, at that point, rightly
\ndubbed the APC as an amalgamation of political extremists and desperate
\npoliticians whose common purpose was to hijack power by force of threat.<\/p>\n

But before that assertion is faulted, I invite you to also take a critical
\nlook at political events in Edo State ahead of the September 10, 2016<\/span><\/span>
\ngovernorship election.\u00a0 There is no doubt that the fortune of the APC in
\nEdo has plummeted, and since there is no likely quick fix in sight, its
\nmain political actors have resorted to threats. They want to unleash
\nArmageddon on a State that is already gripped by hunger.\u00a0 By allegedly
\nplanning to rig the forthcoming election, the APC government is preparing
\nthe ground for anarchism.<\/p>\n

The fear of possible mayhem is real.\u00a0 The fear is strengthened by a
\nbizarre development in Edo, which has further fuelled suspicions that the
\nAPC is committed to perpetrate electoral fraud. The development is called
\nhunt for thugs (similar to the talent hunt show), and it is basically
\nfashioned out to assemble the most daring of the area boys in town ahead
\nof the governorship poll.\u00a0 Today, thuggery is considered as, perhaps, the
\nhighest paying job in the State, with a lucrative recruitment scheme such
\nthat if you can stake the unexpected as an area boy, just expect a call
\nfrom Oga at the top to be enlisted for the task ahead. It is that bad!<\/p>\n

At the center of this despicable political gambit is a certain Brother
\nAdams, demonstrating a do or die attitude in his conduct at rallies in a
\ndesperate bid to impose a “puppet-candidate” on Edo State. He has thrown
\ncaution to the winds in his extreme disposition to enforce his third-term
\nby other means.\u00a0 He has threatened that a particular candidate will only
\nbe governor over his dead body. But unfortunately for Brother Adams, the
\npeople do not want him dead yet.\u00a0 Even though they have made up their
\nminds to vote out the APC, they want Brother Adams to be alive to witness
\nthe consequences of his action of betraying their trust.<\/p>\n

Though there is an increased consciousness on the part of the people to
\nfrustrate any plan to manipulate the election, it is however necessary for
\nthe law enforcement agencies to be on the guard as impartial security
\noutfits working to keep and ensure the peace and stability of the State.
\nThe mood in Edo is now that of a people ready to defend their mandate and
\nprotect their state against any internal or external forces of
\ndestabilisation.<\/p>\n

There is, however, a major concern, the kind that was witnessed during the
\n2015 general elections when an accreditation-technology of card reader was
\nintroduced and used against the provision of the Electoral Act and the
\ncommon sense of testing it at smaller elections before a large scale
\napplication. Aside the fact that the innovation was an unmitigated
\ndisaster during the general elections, the Supreme Court has since ruled
\non its applicability and asked the electoral body to appropriately include
\nit in the Electoral Act if it so desired.<\/p>\n

But it appears the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is
\nagain up to something else in the forthcoming Edo and Ondo States
\ngovernorship elections with yet another introduction of an electronic
\nplatform for collation of results. This has not been captured by any law
\nor guaranteed by the Electoral Act. It is called e-collation and
\ne-transmission of results.<\/p>\n

Already, some political stakeholders have started raising serious
\nsuspicions on the integrity, applicability and acceptability of the
\ne-collation platform. They are wondering why INEC is going ahead with an
\ninnovation that has not been captured in the Electoral Act and which
\nefficacy has not been tested in smaller elections and reruns.\u00a0 They are
\nworried that there is a likelihood of conspiracy somewhere, as witnessed
\nduring the last general elections when, after ignoring all pre-election
\nconcerns, the INEC later made a u-turn in the middle of the game and
\nannounced that card reader might be jettisoned where it did not work. This
\nunwholesome development, according to some political pundits,
\nsignificantly accounted for why the APC won the Presidential Election as
\nmost States in the North never substantially utilised the card readers.<\/p>\n

There is also an informed fear that the e-collation, as planned by the
\nINEC, may be manipulated to produce imaginary figures.\u00a0 The INEC must
\nsincerely address this concern to show that it is indeed an unbiased
\numpire. However, it is incumbent on the opposition parties in Edo, beyond
\nthe expression of worry, to take further steps by seeking pronouncement of
\nthe court on the applicability and acceptability of this e-collation
\nplatform. They must also make a strong case that it is illogical for the
\nINEC to again test an innovation, which is not circumscribed in the
\nElectoral Act, in a major election when it had the opportunity to test it
\nin several reruns and bye-elections but failed to do so.<\/p>\n

Moreover, since the INEC, till date, has refused to release the card
\nreaders\u2019 data on the 2015 general elections because of the fear that the
\ninformation will alarm Nigerians and the international community, the
\nCommission therefore has no moral authority to introduce another
\ntechnology without first perfecting the previous one.\u00a0 Such action should
\ninclude getting the National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act to
\naccommodate the e-collation platform.\u00a0 The truth is, there is more to it
\nthan meet the eyes in the sense of urgency by the INEC to have the
\ne-collation platform tested in Edo and Ondo elections.\u00a0 Besides, the INEC
\nhas not shown itself to be above board especially with the gale of
\ninconclusive pattern that has characterised elections conducted by it in
\nthe last one year.<\/p>\n

My fear is that the plot to rig the election by Brother Adams and his
\ncronies, as well as the introduction of the e-collation platform, could
\nunsettle Edo State. This is because the people are now ready to take their
\ncollective destiny in their hands.\u00a0 They have become so enlightened that
\nthey have gone past the eras when an individual would lord it over them.
\nIf it is admitted that God used Brother Adams to stop the influence of
\ngodfathers in the politics of the State, then it would be an aberration
\nfor him to transform into a godfather who has single-handed imposed a
\ngubernatorial candidate and deputy gubernatorial candidate on his party
\nmen and women.<\/p>\n

If Brother Adams succeeds in installing his chosen candidates on the
\nState, he will become the new face of the ultimate godfather in the State,
\nwhose perceived misdeeds in office will be overlooked by his cronies. Edo
\npeople know this.\u00a0 This is why any attempt to rig with a view to frustrate
\nthe emergence of their will and the crystallization of their mandate will
\ncertainly be vehemently resisted. There is ample time to prevent Brother
\nAdams or any other person for that matter from setting Edo on fire in a
\ndesperate bid to have his way. Edo is our collective heritage, not
\nanybody\u2019s private estate; we have to salvage it from all manner of
\npolitical shenanigans in the interest of our generation and future ones.<\/p>\n

\u2022Mr Ojeifo sent this piece via ojwonderngr@yahoo.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Political extremism was an outrageous flaunt by the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2015 general elections: to win at all costs. It was accompanied by virulent propaganda never seen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":42996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\nBefore Edo is set on fire\u2026 - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/edo-set-fire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Before Edo is set on fire\u2026 - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Political extremism was an outrageous flaunt by the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2015 general elections: to win at all costs. 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