2024 Elections: Questions for the Electoral Committee
By Uduma Kalu
I have observed with increasing dismay some flip flops from Mr. Kalu Nkere, chair of the IOCDA 2024 general elections coming up this November in Isiugwu Ohafia.
Actually, I must say these flip flops began this week following the commencement of the election campaigns by aspirants, the hightened use of the voice notes and lack of a coordinated campaign program for the elections.
While individual aspirants had been doing their campaigns peacefully since October 9 when one of the leading aspirants, Barrister Kalu Oleh, announced his campaigns on all Isiugwu platforms as the electoral body seemed unaware of this date so as to announce the campaign commencement. It only woke up when the campaigns took over all Isiugwu Ohafia platforms.
It was all well and good.
Mr. Udo Onwuka then announced his candidature. It was all well and good. But once his supporters took it from him, with a catchy slogan, Udo ka nma, Udo's campaign began to resonate. But it became uncoordinated, bullish, uncouth and crude when the youth wing of the IOCDA on its platform asked the aspirants to talk to them via voice notes.
The voice notes took the campaigns to another level that not only unheard of activities of the aspirants were unearthed, unsavoury words, campaigns of calumny began to emerge, family, personal, traits etc found a pound of flesh to cut.
And of course, since there were no ethics guiding such questions, the Udo supporters became bullish combative and abrasive. It is still ongoing. I must say though that a public officer has no secret. His personal life is exposed to know how he is going to govern. Charity, they say, begins at home. But how it is presented matters. No insult or crude language should be allowed.
I had, after a brief overview of the campaigns so far, called for an Elders Peace Committee to be raised for the purpose of ensuring ethics and decorum, peace, reconciliation and recommendations. It is to act as warehouse and clearing house for related electoral matters outside voting proper, issuing of timetable, electoral guidelines etc. It is essentially an advisory body that will act as a nexus for the electoral body, aspirants, electorates, IOCDA, age grades, general public etc.
This committee can only be inaugurated by the IOCDA whose duty, I understand, going by the new IOCDA constitution, is the legitimate body to handle this.
This Peace Committee doesn't exist yet. The IOCDA is silent on it. Its secretary general, Mr. Okiyi Ukariwe, yesterday, Monday, September 23, 2024, made a spirited call for presidential candidates to call their supporters to order without a mention of any committee being raised.
Chair of the electoral committee, Mr. Kalu Nkere, seems drowned in the flurry and fury of the campaigns, note, only the campaigns, that within a spate of 48 hours.. Sunday September 22 and Monday, September 23, he has committed a hash of errors and has to be reprimanded, called to order, with some of the campaigners accusing him of bias and should step down even after his apology.
The chair had first, in response to my calls for a peace committee, said the presidential aspirants would sign a peace accord which would bind him, his team of aspirants and supporters next month.
He had listed the Ezeogo as one of those to be part of the committee or so.
Next, the chair asked aspirants for a levy for printing of posters and banners, or the aspirant is out of the race.
Again, he has called for interactive session with the aspirants come next month.
While the chair has been called to order on at least two occasions.. accused of supporting a candidate and lacking powers to levy aspirants, the question that arises is, does the IOCDA have a legal adviser? If it does, it should direct the electoral chair to the legal adviser on areas he doesn't understand if he wants to conduct a credible election as Okiyi declared yesterday was the IOCDA's prerogative. Such interaction is outside the chair's powers. It is the peace committee's under the watch of the IOCDA.
First, does the electoral chair have the right to call for a peace accord?
The constitution of the IOCDA does not confer such powers on him. Rather, it says on S. 15, 1. only the IOCDA, through its president, can appoint committees.
Therefore, any peace committee can only be appointed by the IOCDA.
Two, is it the role of the Ezeogo to supervise IOCDA elections? The Ezeogo is primarily the monarch of the town, only a grand patron of the Union. The union is even a check on the Ezeogo. So, why should the Ezeogo supervise the elections of those that will check him? It will be a rubber stamp IOCDA executive, answerable and loyal only to the IOCDA.
Now, is it proper for presidential candidates to guarantee activities and conducts of other contestants, team and supporters even when such candidate has no team?
What happens in event of anyone flaunting the dictates of the accord? Who will be responsible?
What are the actual wordings of the accord? Every contestant should sign the accord on his own behalf.
From the foregoing, the concept of team work does not favour Isiugwu Ohafia. It's not just a bandwagon effect, it's a crowd, mass hysteria with the imprint of a jungle. A non performer is railroaded into a team and given a block vote. Who suffers? Isiugwu Ohafia.
The IOCDA should wake up and help the electoral committee.
Ka ni
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