Going by the October 24, 2015
judgment of the Rivers State Election Petition Tribunal led by Justice Mohammed
Ambrosa where the April 11 Governorship election which brought Chief Nyesom
Wike to power was annulled and a fresh election ordered within 90 days, it is
obvious that Wike who was the candidate of the PDP and presently occupying the
seat of Power as governor of Rivers State, is faced with the stark reality that
he may not succeed to upturn the verdict through the Appeal Court and the
Supreme Court.
Though he has, through his lawyers
filed an appeal of about 26 grounds challenging the decision of the Tribunal
which altered his usual overbearing mien, Wike has since began to restructure
his campaign team in a bid to win the election, this time, convincingly.
The initial refusal to constitute a
full fledged State Executive Council has been reversed with the recent
submission of more names to the State Assembly for screening of Commissioners.
Prior to this, the Local Government Councils which for two months had no
Caretaker Councils to control the allocations accrued and also pay Council
workers suddenly had his core supporters who were earlier pencilled down to
contest election as substantive Chairmen, appointed as Caretaker Chairmen.
They are to take charge of the
grassroots in their various areas since rerun is imminent. Special Advisers
have also been appointed under duress.
In spite of all these strategies
being put in place by the Obio/Akpor strongman, there are several areas where
his political prowess will be tested.
Going by the allegations of enjoying
the Federal might through the meddlesomeness of the former First Lady, Patience
Jonathan, can Wike exhibit such power again in view of the fact that his party
is no longer the power at the center?
The overbearing attitude of the
Rivers politician during the scandalous era of CP Matthew Mbu and CP Bature who
were used to cage members of the then opposition APC has suddenly been
diminished as the Nigerian Police Force is no longer in the pockets of the political
class to a large extent.
Though he no longer has access to
funds accrued to the Federal Ministry of Education where he held sway, he still
enjoys the double edged magnanimity of some commercial banks who have lent him
over N40billion Naira within a period of seven months in office, as well as
other revenues from federal allocation and IGR.
His financial war chest is huge but
is it likely that the new INEC will fall to the temptation of receiving any
such gifts as was the case during the last election? The Security Agencies are
usually loyal to the party at the centre even where they pretend to be neutral,
and so is the electoral body, INEC.
No doubt, he still enjoys the
support of some ex-militant leaders who are now part of his government, both in
the Executive and Legislature. But how many of these transformed militants will
sacrifice their new status to aid the snatching of ballot boxes and result
sheets, the shooting and killing of political opponents and more, for the sake
of one man who has been stripped of all extra power from the top?
The glaring truth is that Wike
remains a toothless bulldog, in spite of the factors that seem to favour him.
His only power to win a free and fair election lies in the strength of the
electorates. Are Rivers people willing to vote him as the substantive Governor,
given a second chance? Several issues will be considered beyond party
affiliation.
Since the inception of his
government, have the people fared better? The constant sack of Rivers people
from work without any cogent reasons will definitely be a factor that will work
against him.
Relations of the sacked lecturers
and Timariv workers as well as the sacked RSSDA staff and it's beneficiaries,
few weeks to a rerun election will definitely not vote for him. Within the PDP,
only those who are members of his GDI may be eager to vote for him again.
His appointments are nothing more of
the recycling of old politicians and those who are known to belong to GDI. The
Local Government workers who are being owed their two to three months salaries,
while huge donations are made to footballers will definitely not queue behind
him.
Most of those who expected that the
contracts for the filling of potholes and the construction of gutters would be
awarded to them, rather than use surrogate contracting firms may opt to vote
for his opponent or better still, sit back at home.
The slogan of, "if they attack
you, you attack them back, don't come here to cry to me, if they arrest you, we
use federal might to release you", has been erased. His supporters know
that there is a change of power in Aso Rock, and their master no longer calls
the shots for the security agencies. He has urged the Police in the state not
to release anyone arrested for armed robbery, kidnapping and killing, without
proper investigation.
As it is usually said, "All
vehicles are parked at Owner's risk". Who wants to rot behind bars? With
the odds against him, can Nyesom Wike 'win' again?"
No comments:
Post a Comment