“Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent” – Isaac Asimov
After introspecting on the echoes of war and anarchy emanating from the APC, especially Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State, I was inspired to embark on intellectual voyage and thought-provoking reflection on the recent inflammatory remarks made by the APC leaders. During the “Salvation rally” organized by the APC in Abuja, where Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State threatened the sovereignty of Nigerian State and the survival of our young democracy, when he said: “If the 2015 elections are rigged, his party would not seek redress in court but would rather carry out what he called “Civil disobedience, as well as form a parallel government. He also reiterated his position in a function organized in Abuja few days ago, where he accused President Jonathan of “Supervising a highly corrupt government”, and was quoted as saying, “What is the essence of going to Court when the Federal Government don’t obey the law. That’s why the APC say we won’t go to the Court any longer. If you rig us out, we would rig ourselves in; which means if you can rig us out in 2015, we will form our own government. We have met on that and we have agreed on that. We will install our government and there would be two governments”. The burning questions raging on the minds of Nigerians are: who determines whether election is rigged or not? Is APC really ready for 2015 elections, or are they preparing for war? Is APC prophesying its failure at the polls ahead of time? Is this part of the Janjaweed manifesto to create anarchy in the system, if it fails to win presidential seat come 2015? This condemnable statement is clearly a further evidence of Governor Amaechi’s penchant for lawlessness and anarchy in his unbridled pursuit for power. It is pathetic and unimaginable that a man who was himself a beneficiary of judicial process would disdain the very ladder that brought him to power. The last time I check, Amaechi was still governor of Rivers State, when did he metamorphosed into a Supreme Court Justice to pass judgment on the conduct of an election? Where did he derive his powers to assume the responsibility of Nigerian Judiciary? Governor Amaechi betrayed his emotions by indirectly telling Nigerians that the APC has hatched a plot to bring down this government, if the 2015 election results do not favour them, by instigating the military to take over power. Is this the major reason the APC leaders are queuing behind Gen. Buhari– the man that has the magic wand in inciting post-election violence in the North, having done it in 2011 elections? Can this be part of the alleged conspiracy of Governor Amaechi and his co-travelers to bankrupt Rivers State by funding the APC and Gen. Buhari’s campaign, in other to be compensated with Vice Presidential slot? The reckless, unjustifiable loans being borrowed by Governor Amaechi’s government at the twilight of his administration can attest to this point of my view. While making his inflammatory and treasonable statements, Governor Amaechi said that the days were gone when any figures ascribed as votes to former Head of State, and presidential aspirant, Gen. Buhari by the electoral umpire in Rivers would be accepted”. Judging from the above mentioned statements credited to Governor Amaechi, every right thinking Nigerian whose sense of reasoning is devoid of political, ethnic and religious sentiments can now differentiate election riggers from electoral reformers. It is obvious that Governor Amaechi knows a lot about election rigging in Nigeria, which he has yet to explain to us. If not so, how could one exonerate him from the so-called figures that was allegedly allocated to Gen. Buhari during 2011 election in Rivers State, being the sitting Governor of the then ruling party? He decided to lecture Nigerians on the fundamentals of election rigging simply because he is now on the other side of divide—the receiving end! Who will tame Governor Amaechi insufferable arrogance? Is he afraid of losing his immunity come 29th May, 2015? Nigerians are conscious of the fact that he is using his frequent venom-filled attacks on President Jonathan and calls for anarchy to bargain for vice presidential slot of the APC.
To show that Governor Amaechi spoke the mind of the APC leaders, its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, in his speech said: “If we do not see any discernible change of attitude on the part of government, then we will move to the next stage on the list of actions that our party intends to take to stop the rot being perpetuated by the PDP-led Federal Government”. The above unpatriotic statement substantiated my stance, that the APC has allegedly scripted a well-funded plot to truncate the nation’s democracy, if it fails to unseat President Jonathan in 2015 presidential election.
The APC’s National Chairman should as a matter of urgency elucidate more on what he means by “…the list of actions that our party intends to take…” Taking into consideration the above statement vis-à-vis the statement issued by the APC’s Spokesperson, Lai Mohammed, “Let us remind the Presidency, in case it has forgotten, that election fraud triggered a civil war in Algeria in the early 1990s, which led to the killing of over 1000 people in post-election riots in Kenya in 2007/2008 and fired a near revolution in Iran in 2009/2010”. As a die-hard Nigerian, whose spirit of patriotism cannot be dampened and extinguished by the political grandstanding and undemocratic postures of our opposition politicians, I beg to ask, is this a precursor to the violent change the APC has being promising Nigerians? Are these anarchy-instigating statements laying credence to the alleged vow made by some leaders of the APC that they would rather be in exile than remain in Nigeria under President Jonathan’s second term government? Is there a relationship between the APC besieging of the Headquarters of Nigerian Police Force via its “Salvation rally”, with the national tragedy that occurred in National Assembly, where a whole hired political thugs disguised as Honourable members, where drafted to cause mayhem in other to pave way for a minority Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal of the APC extraction, to preside over a House dominated by the PDP, thereby violating the universal principle of democratic ideology, where majority rules, but the legitimate interest of the minority are cared for through the dictates of civil discuss and mutual fairness? In the light of the foregoing, vis-à-vis the intent of the section 68 (1) (g) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Hon. Aminu Tambuwal has lost both the constitutional and moral grounds to enter the Green Chamber; let alone preside over it as Speaker. The APC’s insistence that Hon. Tambuwal remain the Speaker of the lower Chamber against the constitutionality of the land is tantamount to anarchy. The recent impeachment threat against President Jonathan by pro-APC Lawmakers and the provocative statements emanating from the APC’s leaders can attest to the veracity of this article that the APC are out to truncate Nigerian’s democracy, but Nigerians would not fold hands and watch it happen, because sovereignty belongs to the people.
Nwobodo Chidiebere writes from Abuja.
Chidieberenwobodo@yahoo.com
