The losers and winners of the April 9, 2011 National Assembly (NASS) elections in Rivers State are crying and laughing respectively. The losers hold the crying trophy, while the winners hold the laughing trophy, with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) happy with the referee that said it won all. Many of us had thought that the violent 2003 and 2007 elections would build up to the 2011 elections, but the later was rather peaceful. We only enjoyed a peaceful atmosphere as against our experience in the 2003 and 2007 elections.During the elections in the state, many of us remembered that the amnesty programme, still holding, though not perfect, helped stemmed the then militants who would have made preys of people with their unwanted munitions. Instead of the militants, as was the case in the 2003 and 2007 elections, what we had were politicians that would rather die if they had not won the NASS elections, and they turned voting grounds to a party arena, as food and drinks were freely served. One wished that the PDP was this benevolence in the area of governance in the country.The incumbent governor, Chibuike Amaechi was not running in the NASS elections, but he wanted his associates to succeed, and they succeeded. Therefore, this explicates the tussle even within the Rivers State chapter of the PDP primaries for the gubernatorial seat . Perhaps, it was so because candidates not elected at the primaries whereAmaechi won, may have wondered why he was substituted in the 2007 gubernatorial elections in Rivers State. Maybe, Amaechi now sees it as pay back time, because the then President Olusegun Obasanjo didnt want him. Eventually, the Supreme Court returned him, and the criers in the NASS elections in the state might want Amaechis fate on Oct. 25 2007, played against the laughers, as many of them are threatening court action.Prior to the NASS elections, there had been tensions leading to the exit of those whom the Party didnt want at the primaries to pitch their tents elsewhere. This was exactly how it happened in 2007, when Amaechi was substituted. Celestine Omehia joined the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) with Abiye Sekibo joining the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The former governor, Peter Odili, whom anticipation was high would disturb Amaechi, had steered clear of the Rivers State political scene.Odili, Sekibo, Chief Austin Opara, former Deputy Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives and others constituted the the Reform Groupat the national level .Many people had thought that these men can not cough, on the fact that Amaechis government had performed creditably in the areas of education, infrastructure and health, without mentioning the fragile peace that had characterized the PDP in the state.During the primaries of the states PDP, did we not hear allegations of imposition of candidates, and sometimes, attempted attacks on House of Representatives, Senatorial and House of Assembly candidates then that were allegedly imposed One observer had captured what played out in the Amaechi-led PDP primaries thus: You see, what raises the stakes in elections generally is when the incumbent is unpopular and wants to remain in power at all costs and you have a popular opposition that is coming out, that people want to rally aroundAmaechi left the developments at the top hierarchy of the party as if they were not of concern to him and his political team at the state level. It was really these skirmishes that led to one Roland Uwie, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Commissioner in Rivers State announcing to the press at a briefing in the morning of Saturday, 21 April 2007 that Senatorial elections will not hold in Rivers State that day, and that there would not be elections in five Federal Constituencies.The Senatorial districts were: Rivers East, Rivers West and Rivers South-East. The Federal Constituencies were: Gokhana, Khana, Onelga, Asaritoru, and Phalga1. Roland Uwie, during his 10:00 am briefing, told reporters that the logos of some participating political parties did not appear on the ballot papers. The question today is, didnt some logos of some participating political parties disappear from the ballot papersWe can also remember that there were no posters on any street in the state capital at the early stage of the 2011 elections unlike in other states in the country. This could not be done due to the warning by Governor Amaechi at the early stage of his governance that those caught pasting posters and bills on the streets of Port Harcourt would be penalized. But this took a swift turn the moment he announced his aspiration to run for the 2011 governorship race. It is still not clear what could be responsible for this madness in the rascally pasting of posters we saw on the streets of Port Harcourt, and the reason no one has been reported arrested for that.Amaechi is a two-term former Speaker of the House before he became governor. He was also the founding Chairman of the Conference of Speakers, a position he held till he left as Speaker of the state House of Assembly. At the special session of the state Assembly for the governor, we can remember the state Chairman of the party, Chief G.U Ake, in a veiled comment, calling on Amaechi to run in the coming governorship election. The Speaker of the House, Hon. Tonye Harry, said such a session was an honour reserved for special former members of the House. There was an overwhelming vote of confidence on Amaechi passed by the House of Assembly, which even called on him to contest the election, when he was hesitant. This they did at a special session convened by the House to celebrate the governor on the occasion of his 45 birthday. The House hinged its action on the performance of the governor so farNotwithstanding, we are waiting for the weight of the self-styled Abuja politicians inthe remaining 2011 elections. Abuja politicians is a coinage used to identify politicians residing at Abuja, the federal capital territory, that are opposed Amaechi: The states political leader. It is sad that since Amaechi mounted the saddle, albeit, via a Supreme Court verdict, Odilis visits to the state have been few. Odili has since then also never featured in any state function in the state.At the build up to the 2011 elections, many people had advised that Amaechi should not to go to bed till the elections are over because, to them, a little sleep could cause surprises. But we can only determine who truly owns Rivers State, through free and fair elections, and not by rigging. Many of us were not in support of the likes of the late Marshal Harry and a few others who were determined who governed the state, to the detriment of the people. Yours truly, however, will never put his head in these elections, because those called criers in this article could be the first to rush to the laughers to pledge their support for their (laughers)being the declared winners. And we have seen people that became active governorship and NASS candidates only at the election petition tribunal. it may be until then that the real laughers and criers will be known.Onwumere is the Coordinator, Concerned Non-Indigenes in Rivers State (CONIRIV).
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