Posted by By DAVID ONWUCHEKWA, Nnewi on
As candidates from the various political parties in Anambra State warm up for the long-awaited local government polls in the state, an Action Congress (AC) candidate, Hon Francis Omo Okeke, has faulted Governor Peter Obi's Option A4 planned to be adopted in the election.
As candidates from the various political parties in Anambra State warm up for the long-awaited local government polls in the state, an Action Congress (AC) candidate, Hon Francis Omo Okeke, has faulted Governor Peter Obi's Option A4 planned to be adopted in the election.
According to him, Obi had jumped the gun by not getting clearance from the State House of Assembly nor causing the Anambra State Independent Electoral commission (ANSIEC) to sponsor a bill to make the option legal.
'In as much as we believe that the governor wants fair and credible local government election to take place, he should follow the due process," Okeke said.
He said he has implicit confidence in ANSIEC to conduct credible local government polls in Anambra 'unlike the monumental fraud we witnessed in April last year in the name of election."
Okeke, who was the former transition committee chairman of Nnewi North local government council under ex-Governor Chris Nwabueze Ngige for close to three years summarized how he will administer the council when he comes back as executive chairman by saying: 'Nnewi North will become the real Japan of Africa people call it."
ANSIEC as an impeccable umpire
I'm seriously working hard towards this forth-coming local government election in Anambra State.
You know the ANSIEC was constituted in 2004 by the former Governor Chris Ngige, my mentor and master. The former governor goes for the best and I have implicit confidence in the electoral body in Anambra State.
ANSIEC must have gathered enough experience from April 2007 elections conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which Nigerians generally condemned as the elections were monumentally rigged. I believe that ANSIEC will conduct free and fair election in Anambra State as far as I'm concerned any time Governor Obi is ready.
Why PDP hijacked last election
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hijacked April 2007 polls because former President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted his party to fill every position. He collaborated with the INEC and law enforcement agents to achieve that. Results from various tribunals across the country have put to rest the argument whether there were free and fair elections or not.
I don't think that in Anambra State of today that PDP will hijack the local government election, considering the fact that the man at the helm of affairs of Anambra State government, His Excellency, Mr Peter Obi, is a product of the rule of law, he is a product of due process. He has gone to court on several occasions to regain his mandate and he has fought rigging and what have you to a standstill. So, he cannot be the governor of Anambra State and superintend a fraudulent election.
He has even said it before now that the commission that will conduct the said election will be peopled by credible officials who would not want to dent their image, they have name to protect. I don't think PDP will re-enact the fraud this time in Anambra State. People of this state cannot be twice beaten. It is said that once beaten twice shy.
Option A4
Talking about Option A4 is an indication to tell you that he (the governor) wants a transparent, free and fair local government election in Anambra State. It is a signpost to showcase his willingness and eagerness to give the people of Anambra State a credible election in this local government election.
But there is a snag in that Option A4. You see, the last local government election was not held under Option A4 and the subsequent Anambra State election was based on Open Secret Ballot. You also know that in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the constitution gives the National Assembly the authority to make laws, procedures and the process on how to conduct national and state government elections. I'm talking about the Electoral Act. And the Electoral Act specifies the process of election which is the Open Secret Ballot.
Therefore, the snag I'm talking about is for the governor, having good intention to have free and fair elections in Anambra State he should first of all sponsor a bill, an Amendment Bill to the already existing Electoral Law that specifies the modus operandi of election in Anambra to have the legal backing to what he intends to do.
He should take it to the state House of Assembly for the House to look at its merits and demerits, that is the merits and demerits of Option A4. If the house gives consent to that, it is then that the governor can make categorical statement on that.
I think there should be a modified Option A4, which was used in June12, 1993 presidential election which Chief M.K.O. Abiola won. That modified Option A4 is a situation whereby voters will become accreditated and when it is time for voting, it will be simultaneously conducted nationwide throughout the period the voting will last.
All the voters accreditated will line up in a single file and move towards the cubicle to cast their votes and after which the counting will be done openly, to the glare of everybody. You will be asked not to go after casting your vote. There and then the counting will be done and you will notice that all the ballot papers will synchronize with the number of accreditated voters that cast their votes. So, we need more explanations from His Excellency.
If that happens, you know that means pitching the people of Anambra against the House of Assembly thereby heating up the polity again. That is my position. Ordinarily, Option A4 is a wonderful system but it has its advantages and disadvantages. If Option A4 must work in Anambra State, security agents should show their readiness to checkmate those who will want to come and disrupt the system on a voting day.
And also Option A4 can only work during the dry season. For example, the Omambara and Ogbaru areas are always waterlogged during the rainy season and if you operate Option A4 during the rainy season what of if it rains cat and dog on a day you proposed election. The election will not hold.
But on the average, Option A4, if well managed like the way Professor Humphrey Nwosu, former INEC Chairman, managed June 12, 1993 presidential election, using a modified Option A4, it is going to be a wonderful exercise.
My blue print to develop Nnewi
I'm coming back to the seat of Nnewi North local government chairman with a blue print and well focused agenda to transform this industrial nerve centre of Anambra to modern urban local government area.
The roundabout area that seems to be the centre point of Nnewi North will actually look like an urban local government where you have good drainage system, pedestrial walk ways, street lighting within that township area.
You may ask me how do I do it with this epileptic nature of power? Yes. You will also agree with me that we have what we call solar energy power street lighting. They are obtainable. I will put Nnewi Local Government Area in the proper perspective.
I will embark on drastic reconstruction and rehabilitation of Nnewi roads. There should be roads interconnecting communities like Raga, Umudim, Otolo, Nnewichi and what have you. Currently, some roads are being rehabilitated by the state government, but it is not enough.
With me as the local government chairman, who has passed under the tutelage of former Governor Chris Ngige, who knows that the basic infrastructure is good road network, I will do the same. If you have good roads every other thing will fall in. Not just reconstructing the roads, but there should be good drainage system to check flood which have been the problem in the industrial city.
I remember in October last year when we went for Nzuko Ora Nnewi meeting we could not drive to the meeting venue because of flood. So, I will tackle that head-on in addition to many other developmental projects in the council.