Thursday, 17 May 2012
Rejoinder: Akunyili, Okey Ndibe And Political Folly
By Isaac Umunna
Why do some of the heroes of our profession (journalism) take pride in demystifying themselves? This is the question that has been ringing in my ears since I read the article, “Peter Obi, Akunyili and Political Folly”, written by Okey Ndibe and published April 19 in his column in Sahara Reporters.
I had always respected Okey Ndibe as a senior professional colleague but after reading the said article, my respect for him simply evaporated. I am going to restrict myself to the claims he made about Prof. Dora Akunyili since I do not speak for Governor Peter Obi.
In the said article, Okey Ndibe tried to give the wrong impression that his candidate, Dr. Chris Ngige of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), won the disputed April 9 Anambra Central senatorial election in South East Nigeria, in which Ngige and Akunyili of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) were the foremost candidates.
Let me quote Okey Ndibe: “Many people in Anambra are certain that Mrs. Akunyili, the candidate most after the governor’s heart, was also decisively defeated. The haste with which she’s seeking a re-run of the senatorial race with Mr. Ngige suggests that she knows, deep down, that she was roundly beaten on April 9. It would amount to a monumental injustice to the voters of Anambra to revisit an election that became competitive only after the shameless manipulation that took place in Anaocha Local Government Area. The APGA team should not be rewarded with an undeserved re-run. INEC chairman Attahiru Jega should insist that the investigative panel he set up deploy forensic technology to probe the votes in Anaocha. I believe such a test would unmask a narrative of stuffed ballots.”
Continuing, Okey Ndibe said: “It’s odd and disturbing that Chukwuemeka Onukaogu, the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Anambra, would appoint Charles Esinone, a professor of pharmacy, as the new returning officer for the Anambra Central senatorial zone. The fact that Mr. Esinone and Mrs. Akunyili were colleagues in the same department at the University of Nigeria casts serious doubt about the returning officer’s impartiality.”
To say the least, Okey Ndibe’s claims left me sad and disappointed because they are not only false but also betrayed an absence of scholarly research and journalistic inquiry. On what basis is Okey Ndibe, who is based in faraway United States of America, concluding that “many people in Anambra are certain that Mrs. Akunyili . . . was also decisively defeated”? Did he conduct a survey in Anambra before arriving at that conclusion? If so, the reading public would like to know when the survey was conducted and the details. The truth, of course, is that no such survey was conducted, meaning that Okey Ndibe, who apparently harbors sentiments for the ACN and for Ngige, has allowed himself to be misled by party sentiments and Ngige’s propaganda. This is unfortunate and unbecoming of a senior journalist and university teacher who is ordinarily expected to carefully investigate all sides of a story before publishing.
According to Okey Ndibe, Akunyili’s purported haste in agreeing to a rerun suggests she is aware that she lost the election. Quite to the contrary! As a humble and law abiding citizen who has respect for constituted authorities, Akunyili is only accepting the position of INEC, the electoral umpire, which ordered a rerun in a few places despite unequivocally declaring that Akunyili was leading in the valid collated votes.
In case Okey Ndibe is not aware, the official INEC result released at a press conference held Monday morning, April 11, in the INEC office at Awka, Anambra State, showed that Akunyili polled 66,273 of the concluded votes, while Ngige got 65,576. The result was announced by Esimone (as the name appears on INEC records) in his capacity as the new Returning Officer (having been so appointed by REC Onukogu following the abscondment of the previous Returning officer, Dr. Alex Anene). But rather than declare Akunyili winner, Esimone ruled the election to be inconclusive and ordered a re-run in four wards and four polling booths in the Anaocha area, which happens to be Akunyili’s stronghold.
In Okey Ndibe’s view, “the fact that Mr. Esinone and Mrs. Akunyili were colleagues in the same department at the University of Nigeria casts serious doubt about the returning officer’s impartiality.” This claim indeed proves that Okey Ndibe does not have all the facts about Esimone’s role during the election. Before his appointment as the new Returning Officer for Anambra Central Senatorial Zone, Esimone was, in fact, the Returning Officer for Idemili North Local Government where Ngige was credited with 22,559 votes – the highest number of votes from a local government in the election, including Anaocha. Esimone returned this number in spite of complaints from APGA agents that the results from most of the polling booths were heavily rigged in favour of Ngige, who is from Idelimi South. Yet the impression is now being created by people like Okey Ndibe that this same Esimone is favouring Akunyili just because both of them are pharmacists and once worked together!
Okey Ndibe’s claim of an Ngige victory in the said election is not only strange but also ridiculous. It is based on Ngige’s own claim and an illegal nocturnal pronouncement by Anene, the absconded erstwhile Returning Officer. Several hours after INEC’s press conference at which Esimone announced the official INEC result and ordered a rerun in some areas, Anene at 9:45 p.m. that same Monday, April 11, assembled some journalists at a hotel in Awka and announced that Ngige had won the election by scoring 68,208 votes against the 68,164 votes which he allotted to Akunyili. The press conference was not attended by any INEC official or agents of the political parties as required by law. It is unbelievable that anyone – not the least somebody as educated as Okey Ndibe – could take Anene’s illegal action serious, knowing fully well that it clearly violates the Electoral Act, which requires that results be announced at the INEC office in the presence of INEC officials, agents of the political parties that contested the election and security agents.
Ngige’s claim to victory and insistence not to participate in a rerun is in keeping with his well known antics of rigging himself into office and illegally occupying the office for years before his victim finally gets justice. His desperation for power is legendary. Okey Ndibe cannot pretend not to know how Ngige in 2003 rigged himself into power to become the governor of Anambra State, a seat he illegally occupied for three years before he was ousted by the courts, which rendered judgment in favour of Peter Obi. Ngige is simply trying to re-enact that scenario out of his desperation to become a senator, having unsuccessfully run once more for the office of governor last year (he is still pursuing the case in court).
It is ironical that Ngige as well as his supporters like Okey Ndibe, who claims that Ngige is the more popular candidate, is afraid of going for a rerun in a few places. Why this fear if indeed he is as popular as he is being portrayed?
Since INEC Chairman Prof. Jega has set up an internal panel to investigate the crisis, what every lover of justice and fair play should do at this stage is to allow the panel to complete its work and properly guide INEC in resolving the impasse. But if Ndibe and his ilk choose to play to the gallery, that is their right – just as it is Ngige’s right to boycott the rerun if eventually ordered by INEC’s national headquarters.
*Isaac Umunna is Special Assistant on Media to Prof. Dora Akunyili.
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In as much as I hate to
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 21, 2011 - 00:06.
In as much as I hate to comment on this platform, I can't but say that Issac Umunna's poor and childish attempt to launder Akunyilli's image made no sense to well thinking Nigerians who knows the truth abt what actually happened in Anio!cha
IT IS WELL AND WILL BE WELL
Submitted by Rev Bright Udemezue (not verified) on April 20, 2011 - 06:46.
AN ATTEMPT BY OUTSIDE FORCES IN COLLABORATION WITH ANAMBRA CITIZENS TO THE STATE TO THE NEW WILD WEST OF NIGERIA WILL FAIL. OF THE 36 STATES SENATORIAL ELECTION, ONLY THE ONE IN ANAMBRA IS STILL IN THE NEWS NATION WIDE AND WORLD WIDE. " OKENYE ADA AKPA AHALA NA OBODO YA" DR CHRIS NGIGE SHOULD USE HIS TONGUE TO COUNT HIS TEETH.
I HOPE THAT THOSE WHO ARE SO DESPARATE TO SERVE US ARE INDEED GENUINE.
Please get a life. U sound
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 20, 2011 - 04:37.
Please get a life. U sound idiotic by saying it is the will of God for Ngige to rig his way into office in 2003. U actually sound like an un-educated fool...
Isaac Umunna!!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by Tootie-Frutie (not verified) on April 20, 2011 - 02:40.
Ha ha Ha!!! Isaac, Your hollow sounding and lack-lustre rejoinder shows that you are merely doing your JOB!
Do you really estimate Okey Ndibe as a political critic who would base his commentary on straw walls?
Anyway, Isaac, keep working for your FAT PAY o jare!!!! Ha Ha!
@Drudge: Meaning of 'AKUNYILI' in Igbo!
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on April 20, 2011 - 00:40.
The meaning of the word, AKUNYILI, in Igbo is: wealth has left me! It means 'that person will never be wealthy.' 'Aku' in Igbo is wealth. 'Nyili' in Igbo is 'naught', zero, nothing, impossible. Drudge, do you understand?
Now, her forefathers decreed by the name they chose to answer that they do not want to be wealthy. She chose the man answering the name in marriage! The irony is that Dora believes if she cannot be wealthy by doing honest work as a university lecturer she will become wealthy by involvement in dishonest politics! Shame!!
NGIGE what?
Submitted by Sir MD (not verified) on April 20, 2011 - 00:30.
Ngige or what his name is should be barned from holding any post in Nigeria for stelling Obi's mandate in 2007 and hold it for three years.
In short it is only in Nigeria that somebody like Ngige could come out again to ask for people's mandate. He should be in prison for life.
ISAAC UMUNNA, YOU ARE ON DORA'S PAYROLL.
Submitted by Benjani (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 23:57.
Come out of hiding and finish the job Dora Akunyili yelled to Ayoka Adebayo on Ekiti election.
Charles Esinone was hurriedly appointed. Why? Ask Anene come out and finish his job without any threat to his life.
You all need to wait and see how Jega handles the whole mess in Anambra.
you must be a blinking idiot,
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 22:56.
you must be a blinking idiot, Okey Ndibe can teach and lecture the who of your family and also your village. You must be a stupid idiot. That is the problem of us Ndigbo, we can never speak with one voice and we shall always play a second fiddle
THERE WILL NOT BE ANY RE-RUN!
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 22:06.
Gov. Chris Ngige has the advice of three lawyer-siblings including a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. He knows he is on firm grounds legally. There is never going to be any re-run. The re-run fairy tale was engineered by Onukaogu for a few wards in Anaocha LGA in order to douse the ill-wind announcing Akunyili the winner would have immediately generated. They were merely playing for time.
But Ngige is no political 'mumu' to agree to any re-run knowing full well their ingrained agenda. Onukaogu, Obi, Esimone, Akunyili and Jega will all fail. Trust me.
Nonense of a rejoinder!
Submitted by Okwuchukwu Ezeanyika (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 20:59.
For a start, Special Assistant on Media to Prof. Dora Akunyili! Is this laundry-cleaning job?
The bona fide RO of the district is Mr. Anene and not the hastily and arbitrarily-appointed Mr. Esimone. He made the announcement and called the numbers for Ngige. It is immaterial if he made the announcement from a hotel or INEC's office. Did Erelu Adebayo not call the Ekiti gubernatorial election results from Aso Rock Abuja and it stood? The manner Adebayo was hounded by PDP hawks was the same fate Anene experienced with APGA and Akunyili thugs.
If Ngige rigged himself to become Governor, it was God's doing. Are such situations not replete in the Holy Bible? Mr. Umunna, those in your estimation did not rig, like Mbadinuju and Obi, what did they do for the people? We all know Ngige's achievements. What are Obi and Mbadinuju's achievements? Indeed, what were Akunyili's achievements as Minister?
Obi is a BIG disgrace
Submitted by Josh Okonkwo (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 20:53.
Mr. Isaac Umunna, You are the one that is bereft of ideas. Every tom, dick n harry
knows that Peter Obi is biting more than he can chew. As an APGA member, a lot of us are not finding it funny with Obi. He has succeeded in Killing APGA in Anambra. Do u know the amount of high-handedness that Obi deployed to INSTALL Dora as the AAPGA candidate? You can write anything you want but note that ignorance erodes the efficacy of rhetorics no matter how well conjured. Okey Ndibe is right on track
THE THRUTH
Submitted by Mista (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 20:09.
Please was it not this same Akunyili as Information Minister that ordered Mrs Adebayo,former REC in Ekiti state to come out from hiding and finish her job when she said that her concience as a christian could not allow her to announce results as doctored by PDP Ekiti State.We all know what followed.Why the rush to appoint another returning officer when Anene vanished under the threat of Akunyili and Gov Obi.My brother,there will be no rerun..Jega already ordered an investigation and Anene will soon announce Ngige the winner.
Excellent Rejoinder
Submitted by Uche Jonathan (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 19:46.
Very often rejoinders from so many Nigerian politicians/officials end up doing more damage to them than the original article. This is clearly an exception; it is an Excellent rejoinder.
I have always held Okey Ndibe in very high esteem. I still do but this his article on Ngige/Akunyili has demoralised me indeed.
The New Political Matrix In Nigeria Is As Follows:
1.North Bargaining Political Power.........CPC;
2.South West Bargaining Political Power.....ACN;
3.South South Bargaining Political Power....PDP;
4.South East Bargaining Political Power....??? Absolutely NONE!
Shame On All Igbos
Akunyili, is it a Yoruba or Igbo name?
Submitted by Drudge (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 19:01.
My Anambra friends, this name Akunyili gets me confused. How did she get that name? The name sounds like a Yoruba name.
APGA RIGGED THE ELECTION WITH THE REC
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 18:13.
Mr. Umunna or whatever he called himself failed to address the main substance on renowned Ndibe's article. We all know how people were intimidated and disenfrenchised at Agulu, Agulu-Uzoigbo, Adazi, and the whole of Anaocha LGA. Why did the results of Anaocha come in very late.
Akunyili is fully aware that she lost. Peter Obi's rigging machines could not save her. That is the reason why she resorted to buying adverts on National Dailies to influence the Panel that was set up by Jega.
Please enough of all these dishonest accounts of what happened in Anambra State on April 9,2011.
Mr. Umunna, you have the worst job of telling lies and selling the unmarketable commodities of Peter Obi and co. Please go find something else to do.
Akunyili & APGA are genuinely loved in the south east
Submitted by AU Citizen (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 18:05.
I know there are problems in Igboland, big problems, & I've gone as far as to call Igbos scum, but Prof Akunyili isn't one of them.
In fact, if the elections were free & fair, APGA should've swept the board in the entire south east.
There should be a re-run & I think Akunyili would win fair & square.
Igbos need to coalesce around APGA to become a society again.
Our big problem is the Parasitic Demonic Party and their mafia criminal governors in Igboland. Any revolution must involve all the Igbo PDP governors' heads on spikes.
More Akunyilis, less illiterate/Okija traders. Akunyili in fact should replace Peter Obi as de facto leader of APGA now Ojukwu isn't physically able to run the party. She has more spine and is a good spokesperson. Peter Obi is just weird with his love of PDP even though he's in another party.
umunna should shut up
Submitted by nnaemeka ike (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 17:56.
Ngige won in that election and will win Dora 10 more times if the election is free and fair. I live in awka and know what is happening. The truth is that most people voted against Dora to punish Governor Obi who has refused to do anything since he resumed his second term. APGA was a wrong platform for Dora to have contested on.
@Bayo, Obaino and Mr. Annonymous
Submitted by Lilian (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 17:50.
Keep sentiments apart please.
I am from Nimo, the result of which is in conflict. Dora won those polling points.I am not a Dora apologetics, but the truth must be told.Perhaps Ngige won in Enugwu-ukwu, that I do not know. If Ngige is so sure of himself, he should go for re-run. Why is he refusing that. After all, he is not the one to spend any money in the planning and execution.
Ngige knows that he will never win in that area. He denied them dividends of democracy when he was Governor and they are all too aware of that. This is a fact and Ngige himself will attest to that. The road was worse than deplorable. It was an APGA government that built the road for them and so the community is APGA through and through.
Well, I never had respects for Ndibe and he has continually proved that to me.
Objective reporting on issues is always the best way forward.
Okey Ndibe's article lacks
Submitted by danboyi gomsuk (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 17:30.
Okey Ndibe's article lacks depth; everything he says is only speculative and not backed by evidence. The only near evidence he suggests against Akunyili is the resort to generalisation to the effect that Akunyili quickly agreed to a rerun and so must have been the losing party. That also is flawed because the counter to it is that Akunyili agreed to a rerun in order to respect constituted authority, a trait Ngige seems to lack as he has declared he would not participate in any rerun since he was the winner. The only entity that could declare a winner or loser is the INEC; the contestant has no such powers.
Even though Okey Ndibe is entitled to support a particular candidate, he must present arguments in such support, as in the following situation, in a way that conforms to the rule of logic. I'm afraid Mr Ndibe's arguments do not conform to any rule of logic and so must be set aside.
Thank you Mr. Isaac Umunna
Submitted by Edison (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 16:56.
Thank you Mr. Isaac Umunna for putting Okey Ndibe and his ilk in their place.This uneducated educated professor believes that he is the only person in Anambra State with the answers to our problems even though he lives in America.Enough is Enough!
Peter Obi and Akunyili are Big Disappointment
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 16:26.
Mr. Umunna,
It is very unfortunate that you are one of those that are working very hard to enthrone dishonesty in Anambra State. The truth is that Prof Akunyili did not win the election. Agulu Peoples Grand Alliance in conjuction with the REC did everything possible to steal the election. Lets call a spade a spade. Who is fooling who?
Peter Obi will go down in history as the worst Governor of the State. He is very deceptive. Good enough, Anambra people are getting wiser. Akunyili lost the election. That is why she is going all out on Media War, to get a rerun so they can disenfrenchise more people, and rig the election again. Tufiakwa!!!
Again, Let the INEC Panel do its Work
Submitted by Nedu (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 16:20.
I had earlier commented on Okey Ndibe's write up that Jega's panel should be allowed to finish its course.
I must however add that this is a more rigorous and factual representation of what transpired in Anambra central.
I was not in Anambra but we have been following the situation keenly because both political actors are dear to me.
Let the wish of the Anambra people be respected and not a court judgement delivered by a few people.
Rubbish
Submitted by obaino (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 16:09.
Well written but it's all rubbish cos u have to stand up for your boss. Ngige won, Why was the problems in VICTOR UME'S HOME TOWN?
Ngige should go to court
Submitted by Bayo (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 15:38.
Since Ngige has been declared winner, the INEC investigating committee should be aware of that. If Jega is pressured to order for a re-run, Ngige should go to court to challenge it. This is because the returning officer is the only person authorized by law to make that announcement, and he has not resigned before REC announced his replacement. This is contrary to what electoral law says and should be challenged in Court. Afterall, if Akunyili and her co-travellers in APGA felt aggrieved, they should go to Tribunal.
GOOD WORK
Submitted by FEMY (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 15:31.
You are really doing a great job because that is what you are paid to do....i will appreciate a rejoinder from a neutral person...Madam love power and not only that she lack uniformity. (Her personal integrity will be call to question in this election) It is better for her to safe guard her integrity because you don't always win in life.
Ngige and Akunyili
Submitted by Ismail (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 15:19.
Mr Isaac Ummna,you did a good job with this rejoinder,this is the kind of issue-based that sometimes inform some of us in diaspora that always and quickly run to conclusions based on articles from people like Okey Ndibe.
Reading between the lines,Okeys in Saharareporters.com,pls double check your facts diligently and as a respected journalist mistakes like this can be avoided.
Thanks.
Ismail.
I am surprise at Okey Ndibe write up
Submitted by ukasynario (not verified) on April 19, 2011 - 13:14.
I am one of the fan of Pro Okey Ndibe as I am not holding brief for any one but, when reading his comment about what really happened in Anambra National asemble election in SR, I was taking aback. However, I did not keep quite but respond and put my opinion accross but unfortunately SR did not publish it. Okey I expected you to be objective and remain neutral but you chose otherwise. You are aware that our respectable Profesor JEGA have taking this matter and have set up a panel to look into what went wrong in Anambra State. If I were you Okey I could have waited for the outcome before making any comment since you are not in Nigeria to know the situation on ground. Okey did you know that NGIGE was the first person that called for the concellation of the election in the disputed wards. How come he accepted the result when it was now announced on his favour. This to me is double standard and does not show good character.
