First things first. I believe Gov. Patrick Ifeanyi Okowa won the election in Delta state as he was the only candidate that ran in the 2015 gubernatorial election in the state. He worked hard on his campaign while the others squabbled and battled, not for the people's votes, but for the heart and soul of the Urhobo Progressive Union, made up of a few men who represented their personal interests.
But in the desperation of the PDP to win the South-South during their 2015 presidential re-election bid, they massively falsified the Presidential election results, for their hero, Goodluck Jonathan! The whole world expected it but those in PDP, were shocked to find that Gen. Muhammadu Buhari was coasting to a landslide victory over the one who supervised the brazen looting of our commonwealth, more than any other past leaders have ever done.
Presidential election results in Delta state, were then PADDED! We knew what was going on as the nation waited endlessly for Delta state results to come in.
Now the real result of the Presidential election frightened the hell out of the defunct Wadata Plaza (PDP HQ) and Dr. Okowa's handlers. They did not also realize that he was the ONLY candidate in Delta state. Those who preach Jesus by day on television and indulge in abominable rituals by night went to work. But God pass dem!
Having padded the presidential votes in Delta state, they must also, pad the gubernatorial election results to justify the huge numbers they gave to Jonathan, otherwise it would have clearly shown that the presidential election result, was not representative of the true number of those who voted in Delta state.
So, unscrupulous INEC officials connived with Okowa's team and they inflated the votes, again, across the state. The result as we showed then, was that, even in Okowa's ward and across the state, the number of votes was far more than the number of accredited voters. That's why money needed to change hands with judges and the judges cashed in on this fraud that began with the Presidential Election by the PDP.
We raised the alarm at the time and we were called sore losers! But we knew it was just a matter of time before it all comes tumbling down.
In a normal democratic society, the court would have annulled the Delta state gubernatorial election. Dr. Okowa would have been disqualified from the rerun. He would be tried for electoral malpractices and jailed if found guilty. However, the judges got creative and got paid for the dumb and unnecessary fraud the PDP committed in Delta State.
So we now have a governor who clearly won the election but succumbed to bad counseling from Wadata Plaza, Abuja during the 2015 presidential election. If you ask me, Dr. Okowa is a victim for succumbing to Jonathan's obsession to win the South-South regional votes, a region he supervised its underdevelopment. But then, Dr. Okowa is a pushover and very loyal to many people in conflicting camps.
Dr. Okowa is a James Ibori loyalist to the core. He is also in partnership with prominent Niger Delta warlord, Government Ekpemupolo ’Tompolo’ who, allegedly, heavily funded his campaign. Even Mrs. Onyemaechi Mrakpor who allegedly lost the PDP nomination ticket for the race for the Aniocha /Oshimili Federal constituency to Paul Adingupu but is now representing us in Abuja, firmly has Okowa in her pocket. She decided who got appointed into Okowa's cabinet, making her "husband" the Attorney General of the state as well as appointing her brothers, sisters and nieces. So we can see that Dr. Okowa has many Masters/Mistresses.
But when an electoral fraud has been committed, it does not matter that he won the election, fair and square. What the question should be is, "Was any law broken in the electoral process that brought him to power?" If the answer is "Yes", then everyone involved must answer to the law. Under President Buhari, sins that are swept under the carpet are being unearthed as investigators follow the stench of the smell of sins.
Dr. Okowa's situation is also made worse by his perceived non-performance in Delta State. Deltans from the Central and South Senatorial districts allege that he has abandoned them and is only working in his area of origin, Anioma. But Anioma people allege that he is only using state funds to complete constituency projects he was paid for when he was their Senator at the National Assembly. Either way, Deltans are the losers as the funds used to oil the palms of judges and INEC officials, come as top priorities and has to be recovered first.
It's true that at the beginning of his tenure, Dr. Okowa voiced the fact that he inherited a dilapidated economy, raped and bastardized by his predecessor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, the same scenario that confronted Pres. Buhari at the national level. But while Pres. Buhari is holding to account, those who stole public funds under his predecessor, Okowa has feathered the nest for Uduaghan and his co-looters. He has done nothing and can now, not even pay salaries. He has actually gone ahead to call on the Pres. Buhari led Federal government, to stop the war on corruption!
Our society has been messed up by the electoral fraud of our past political leaders under the reign of PDP. We, therefore, do not understand why ex-President Jonathan is running around the continent, projecting himself as a super election monitor. His reign in Nigeria was fraught with colossal election malpractices.
This is one reason we must have a National Assembly that is people-oriented. Our people cannot have those who came to power through paths tainted and paved with criminality, reign over them. Some of our laws need to change. But the National Assembly is busy with "Summoning", "investigating" and "Probing", instead of looking into ways to clean up our extant laws and make new ones that can protect the interests of the citizenry.
Our prayer is that Dr. Okowa will have good health. He needs it. It's tough days and years ahead of him. INEC officials who connived to commit the frauds are already facing the consequences of their actions. So will everyone one else who was involved in duping the people of Nigeria. Judges and Governors too.
-Lauretta Onochie.
@Laurestar
BY LAURETTA ONOCHIE
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