Sold Conscience


By UbongAbasi Ise

After March 9 polls in Akwa Ibom where vote-stealing trickeries, wanton violence and bloodletting were shamelessly displayed in broad daylight before our children, our women and fellow church members, some band of political wayfarers came out with misleading group appellations to ridicule our saneness with tales of how the crooked, barbaric elections of the savages of the 21st century were credible and more civilized, devoid of blemish. This was sarcasm in its extremes. They forget that the people are wise enough to discern that such yarns were spun in their frantic struggle to cover up the skeletons in the closets of their paymasters. The politicians, electorates, umpires, security agents, observers, political agents, and the common masses, all knew what happened in those elections. No matter how wide the palms may be, they cannot cover up the skies.

The first of these jobbers were the Akwa Ibom State Chapter of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC). This group apparently secured some sponsorship and was able to splurge some amount of cash on disingenuous advertorial published on 46 of The Nation Newspaper edition of Wednesday 13th March 2019. Some 47 signatories representing their respective political parties claimed that “the Presidential, National Assembly as well as the just concluded Governorship and the State House of Assembly elections were peaceful in Akwa Ibom State,” and that they felt proud that in their lifetime, “credible and people-centric elections could and were held and the voice of the people and their votes mattered.”  Another set of pretenders masqueraded as National Coalition of INEC Accredited Domestic Observers claiming to be over 200 persons from over 40 organizations deployed to Akwa Ibom State to observe the 2019 General Elections, also carried out their own payola through press briefing in Uyo singing to whoever cares to listen that their initial fear that the state “was a flash point for election violence isn’t true. According to them, the elections conducted in Akwa Ibom State were free, fair, credible and peaceful. But how come, in all these, that the stakeholders, leadership, party executives and members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, Essien Udim Chapter, on Wednesday 13th March, 2019   addressed a press conference to expose  the militarization of democracy, rigging of Elections and assault on INEC officials, ad-hoc staff and civil voters by Senator Godswill  Akpabio   as well as  unleashing of his (Akpabio)   killer   squad   on   Essien   Udim   local government   area   during   the   Governorship   and   House   of   Assembly Elections of 9th March, 2019? On the other hand, why did a riposte from the leaders and stakeholders of All Progressives Congress, APC, Essien Udim Chapter led by the party’s caucus chairman in the area, Arc. Ubokutom Nyah, expressed  that never in the history of elections in Akwa Ibom State and Nigeria had they witnessed such a heist and electoral robbery aided by a compromised umpire, Mr Mike Igini, the Resident Electoral Commissioner? They also accused the PDP of working in cahoots with the gang of thugs, who went haywire snatching Okon Ward election materials at gunpoint and kidnapped the INEC staff with materials, adding that “majority of the collation officers were members of the PDP who engaged in massive cancellation of APC votes under the guise of Card Reader differentials.” It would be recalled that at the end of it all, elections in nine, out of eleven wards, were cancelled by INEC in Essien Udim local government area. But who were those telling the truth? Could we dismiss all these as mere jest?


Apart from election kerfuffle reported in Essien Udim, at polling unit 004 in Ikot Udo Ossiom in Ward 2, Ukanafun local government area, Ubokutom Sampson, a young man of 25 years, was allegedly shot dead by a military personnel said to have accompanied the PDP stalwarts after attempt to forcefully cart away ballot boxes was resisted by the people. And the wife of Mr. Okon Udom was also reportedly injured by gunshot at the same polling unit. At polling Unit 005 located at Village Hall, Mbiaso Ward 5, Nsit Ibom local government area there was allegation that thugs mobilized by some PDP stakeholders had allegedly shot and killed APC Agent, Udoma Ubom. The stories of violence were rife in Ibiono Ibom. In Ini local government area, ballot box snatching was reported to be the main feature of the election. In Oruk Anam, the materials of Ward 10 (Abak Midim III), were reportedly hijacked and taken to ward centre at Ikot Esenam for onward manipulations.  The foregoing instances are sufficed to say that elections in Akwa Ibom State were marred by widespread irregularities and brutalities. But unfortunately the IPAC and biased election observers cooked up some homespun, hogwash reports to redact from the election narratives cases of blazen malpractices, maiming and killings of Akwa Ibomites just to fulfill their stipendiary obligations. But how much do they sell their conscience?

Some contenders in the just concluded sham knew they couldn’t win popularity and majority of votes, hence they sought to earn it through squalid way of vote-buying.   Well of course, illegitimate trading of our valuables and conscience are not something new to us and our history. Didn’t our ancestors sold our productive population consistently to feral European slave-traders for almost four centuries, and then redirected them for slavery in the Americas? Did our ancestors have any conscience and empathy for their sons and daughters and their fate in the middle-passage? Did they care a hoot about dangers awaiting them in those strange lands beyond the Atlantic Ocean? No! Our own blood and flesh were exchanged for mirrors, dry gins and some other perishable products. Today, we are selling our voices, our rights and our destiny for few notes of naira. The greedy hawks in the cult of politics are taking advantage of using the masses as mere pawns to just secure their narcissistic interests. But where is our conscience?

As election matters are tribunal-bound, fraudulent and underhand practices would certainly be exhumed. Those that hid the truth would bury their faces in shame, but would they even care? Nothing else would be more interesting than observing as facts speak for themselves.

Yes! I am UbongAbasi Ise. For comment, send SMS to 08189914609 | ubongabasiise@gmail.com

©The Sensor Newspaper

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