By Dr. Robinson Nwachukwu
For Nigerians and Nigeria to have survived the tensions, sentiments, and threats that trailed and characterised the 2023 general elections simply means that the country is greater and bigger than anybody irrespective of status or tribe.
It is widely and strongly believed that before any politician or politicians go into elections, they and their supporters must have known the laws, rules and regulations guiding the electioneering process and must be ready to submit to, and abide by them. Elections all over the world have processes and procedures backed by laws and executed by institutions.
Before the 2023 elections, the opposition in Enugu state, particularly the Labour Party, tried to take undue of advantage of the Obidient movement, social media platforms and the church that drove Mr. Peter Obi’s presidential ambition to mislead and deceive Ndi Enugu in making choice of their candidates in the elections.
While they succeeded in winning majority of the seats in the National Assembly, they met their waterloo in the governorship election, following Ndi Enugu’s realisation and recovery from the Labour Party’s chicanery and the fact that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP ) governorship candidate, Barr. Peter Ndubuisi Mbah was the best among the equals and voted for him to emerge the governor.
This is despite the fact that Labour Party’s social media urchins led and sponsored by the party’s governorship candidate, Barr. Chijioke Edeoga, have conjured and shared on social media platforms all sorts of fake, malicious, libelous, seditious and smearing articles, videos, pictures and stories to malign and impugn the hard earned image and reputation of Barr. Mbah.
These known wiles, tomfoolery, and buffoneery of the Labour Party social media bandits and their candidate were not enough to deter or delude Ndi Enugu from voting Barr. Mbah. After the election, the Labour Party’s candidate, Barr. Edeoga realised that he had been defeated and quickly mobilised his supporters to the INEC office to disrupt the collation and final announcement of results. While he succeeded in delaying the announcement by calling for review of the results from Nkanu East LGA, that didn’t stop his defeat as INEC delayed the collation and reviewed result from Nkanu East and Nsukka Local Government Areas and Mbah emerged the winner.
Even before INEC concluded their review of results from the two council areas, Barr. Edeoga and his social media hirelings had unleashed their social media blackmail, unfounded allegations, harassment and intimidation on some senior INEC personnel such as Barr. Festus Okoye and others accusing them of being compromised without any evidence.
Since after the election, swearing-in and the tribunal proceedings, Barr. Edeoga and his social media minions, knowing that they have no evidence to overturn Barr. Mbah’s victory, have remained desperate, unrelenting and unapologetic in fabricating and peddling blatant lies, propaganda and falsehood on social media against Mbah, the tribunal judges and INEC, thinking, hoping and believing erroneously that such antics will earn him undeserved victory at the tribunal.
It could be observed that since the conclusion of the tribunal sittings and proceedings, where Barr. Edeoga’s legal team and witnesses failed to substantiate or prove anything against Barr. Mbah’s victory, Barr. Edeoga and his retinue of social media goons and gullible supporters have already jumped into the misplaced, politically-motivated, mischievous, orchestrated and misleading socia media campaign of calumny targeted at ambushing, pre-empting, harrassing and intimidating the tribunal judges to pervert justice tagged “All Eyes On Judiciary” that is being led and sponsored by the opposition and their supporters.
Already on social media pages of some known social media hirelings of Barr. Edeoga are fliers with inscriptions “All On Eyes On Judiciary,” calling out people for solidarity walk and campaign in support of it at Okpara Square, Enugu.
Meanwhile, what Barr. Edeoga and his social media hirelings have failed to realise is that the judges cannot be intimidated, mesmerized, bamboozled or tied to the apron strings of any individual or group to pervert justice no matter the campaign of castigation. Ndi Enugu have known Barr. Edeoga and his puerile supporters’ shenanigans and are not ready to join them in any anti-democratic and inciting campaign against the tribunal judges in the state. Ndi Enugu have already embraced Barr. Mbah’s people-oriented and performing government and are waiting patiently for the tribunal judgment that will not go contrary to their choice of Barr. Mbah at the polls.
Putting ears on the ground and gauging the pulse of the majority of Ndi Enugu, it is their earnest wish and prayer for the legal encumbrances and distractions by Barr. Edeoga and others against Governor Mbah’s victory to be urgently expedited and dispensed in Governor Mbah’s favour to enable him concentrate well in providing good governance anchored on disruptive innovation and business unusual mantra that is of immense benefit to Ndi Enugu.
