Rivers 2019 Polls: The Intrigues And Implications

Nyesom Wike of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), having satisfied the requirements of the law and having scored the highest votes is hereby declared winner and is hereby returned as elected.
This was the declaration of the State Returning Officer for the March 9, 2019 Governorship election in Rivers State, Prof. Teddy Adias, who further declared that Wike polled 886,264 to defeat his closest rival, Biokpomabo Awara of the African Action Congress (AAC), who polled 173,859 to come second.
Out of the 21 Local Government Areas where election took place, Wike won in 19, while Awara won in two. Elections did not hold in Abua/Odual Local Government Area while no results were returned in Gokana.
Backing his declaration with Section 47(b) of the Elections Guidelines which stipulates that where there is wilful disruption of election as was the case of Abua/Odual, the electoral officer is empowered to enter zero as scores, Adia said there is no doubt as to the fact that Wike was the winner.
“Since no results were returned in Gokana as attested to by all party agents, the commission had to discard the results as it would be improper to rely on results from any source other than the one collated by the commission”, he said.
Adias also noted that the difference between Wike’s score and that of Awara was 712,405 while the total number of voters in areas where elections were cancelled or did not hold was 249,324.
The announcement on the morning of April 3, 2019 suddenly broke the expectantly knowing silence warranted by the earlier machinations of a relatively few, who, not minding the will of the people, had brazenly threatened that their will must come to be, come what may.
The atmosphere that followed the declaration was stunningly infectious, and there was hardly any doubt as to the relief it brought to Rivers people. In some areas of the State, there was an uncanny silence that spoke louder than words. The opposition was unhappy that the Governor was re-elected, but even in their silence instituted by their anger over their failure to make their personal will the will of the people, they, by their inactions, acknowledged the Governor’s victory. At other areas where the ecstasy was put into words, even when said in calmness, it sounded very noisy in the depth of meaning.
One noticeable peculiarity in all of this was the unison in acceptance of the victory of Governor Wike by those who, for the sake of clarity, can at best be described as the common people of the state, led by the Civil Servants, whose dependants directly or indirectly constitute a greater population of the state.
Virtually everybody who communicated through words, gestures, and the like, even when it may be for negative reasons, did so in such esoteric acceptance of what is – that Rivers people have taken their stand; that they are tired of brazen deceit by people they had hitherto thought had their interests at heart when all along what mattered to them is that they are worshipped as demigods.
An interesting part of the frenzied celebrations that followed the declaration of incumbent Governor, Nyesom Wike, as Governor-elect was that even before the declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the handwriting of the victory was on the wall.
From the gradual fading oppositional vituperations following the theatrical self-inflicted removal of the key opposition, the All Progressives Congress (APC), through events leading to the momentary stoppage of the electoral process, and finally to the point at which collation commenced in earnest on April 2, 2019, the signs stood like the directional star.
However, beyond signalling the fulfilment of the wish of majority of Rivers people, the 2019 election in Rivers State also afforded the people, and indeed the world, an opportunity to appreciate what one man can do, just to ensure that his wish supersedes that of a people. It did not matter what price had to be paid.
If the wish cannot be satisfied directly through a legitimate means, illegitimately achieving same in accordance with the Machiavellian principle of the end justifying the means would not make any difference. As far as he was concerned, at this level of political awareness, and a peoples’ hunger for people-oriented dividends of democracy, the best thing for the people is a stooge who would expectedly always do his bidding. How this would have panned out if Wike had not won can only be a topic for another day. The important thing now is the intention behind what was presented to the people.
Another major intrigue of the 2019 elections in Rivers State is the role of security agencies, particularly the military. No matter the denials in military quarters, it will only amount to calling black white, and vice versa.
This is more so going by both what was seen on ground, and the evaluations of notable foreign observers who categorically stated that the involvement of military personnel in many aspects of the February 23 Presidential and National Assembly elections and the March 9 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections, particularly were not in conformity with international best practice.
This position was unanimously expressed by the European Union (EU) Election Observation Mission Nigeria 2019, the joint international observation mission of the International Republican Institute (IRI) and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) and the Integrity Friends for Truth and Peace Initiative (TIFPI) in their preliminary reports on the elections.
While the action of the military in the 2019 general elections in Nigeria, for whatever reason, may have greatly dented their image, the outcome of the report of the committee set up to investigate the extent of their involvement, and the extent to which recommendations of the report is executed would go a long way in disabusing the minds of the people about what the military has become.
In the face of these and other intrigues, which led to several deaths, Rivers people stood their ground on what they want. At the end of the day, Wike’s victory could not be upturned.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, captured the doggedness of the Rivers spirit thus: “The victory reinforces the confidence of the people in the resoluteness of asserting their democratic choice of leadership as well as standing in defence of their mandate to the end.
“It also demonstrates that the will of the people will always prevail against every form of suppression as were eminently manifested in the desperation by the APC leaders, particularly, the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, to forcefully and violently take over control of the state against the wish of the people”.
By their support for Governor Wike, therefore, as exhibited by their votes, Rivers people may have also stated in unequivocal terms for the Governor to prove them wrong that second tenures in governance has never been favourable to them. Their experience in the four years preceding 2015 is still fresh in their minds.
The wish of Rivers people is thus for the Governor to move up from being “Mr Quality Project” to “Mr Quality Welfare for Rivers People”, as reflected in the joint congratulatory message to the Governor by the Chairperson of the State Chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Beatrice Itubo, and her Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart, Austin Jonah.

Soibi Max-Alalibo