It is with a sense of duty to historical truth and equity that i am compelled to respond to the publication authored by Prof. Nnamdi Obiaraeri, titled “Facts Are Sacred! Why Voting At The Imo Governorship Election In 2007 Was Suspended”, in which he claims, among other things, that Chief Martin Agbaso was not a legitimate candidate in the 2007 Imo governorship election and could not have won.
That assertion, while neatly cloaked in legalese and judicial references, is a masterclass in selective amnesia, convenient logic, and brazen distortion of events known to the majority of Imolites.
1. Martin Agbaso Was on the Ballot, and He Was clearly Winning.
Prof. Obiaraeri conveniently omits the most basic fact known to every Imolite who lived through that election: Martin Agbaso’s name appeared on the ballot as the APGA governorship candidate. INEC printed, distributed, and used ballot papers with his name. He was voted for. More importantly, results were collated in 26 out of 27 LGAs, and he was clearly leading.
To assert, as Prof. Obiaraeri does, that “no tabulation occurred even at polling units” is not only untrue, it is a blatant attempt to rewrite history. Election observers, security agencies, and even rival political parties acknowledged that Martin Agbaso had a clear lead before INEC, acting under suspicious circumstances, unilaterally suspended the final collation and announcement and cancelled the exercise.
2. The Ararume vs PDP Crisis Had Nothing to Do With Agbaso or APGA
The crisis in PDP between Senator Ifeanyi Ararume and Engr. Charles Ugwu was an internal PDP matter. It should never have affected other parties, especially APGA. Yet, in a twisted turn of logic, INEC and its then Chairman, Prof. Maurice Iwu, used the PDP’s internal confusion as a pretext to suspend the announcement of an election that had proceeded smoothly elsewhere.
How does a PDP court case nullify the valid votes cast for APGA, AC, or PPA candidates?
Even Prof. Iwu referenced the Amaechi vs Omehia precedent from Rivers State, but in Imo, that same legal precedent was ignored to subvert the will of the people.
3. The APGA Crisis Did Not Bar Agbaso’s Participation
Prof. Obiaraeri stretches the truth when he states that Martin Agbaso “was not a candidate” due to APGA’s internal leadership tussle. The fact remains that INEC accepted Agbaso’s nomination and printed his name on the ballot. Courts never issued any injunction stopping his candidacy before the election. If INEC truly believed he was ineligible, they would not have allowed his name to remain.
Also, the reference to “Mike Nwachukwu being used as a placeholder” is a red herring. Deputy governorship substitutions were common practice, and this procedural matter did not and could not invalidate Agbaso’s candidacy.
4. The Suspension Was Politically Motivated, Not a Legal Necessity
The so-called “violence and mutilation of ballots” cited by Prof. Iwu and echoed by Prof. Obiaraeri conveniently surfaced only after it became evident that Martin Agbaso would clearly win. The Resident Electoral Commissioner’s “discretion” was not to protect the election’s integrity, but to halt a process whose outcome threatened entrenched political interests.
How can anyone justify suspending a nearly concluded election just because one party had internal problems?
5. The People Have Not Forgotten
The attempt to gaslight the public into believing that Agbaso’s candidacy was “illegitimate” insults the memory of Imolites who lined up, voted, waited, and celebrated his apparent victory. Eyewitnesses abound. Election observers documented it. Even opposition leaders at the time acknowledged the momentum.
The silence of institutions in the face of injustice should not be mistaken for the absence of truth.
6. Why Now? The Real Agenda Behind This Revisionism
This publication, curiously timed as the debate on the Imo Charter of Equity intensifies, reeks of strategic revisionism. It is part of a coordinated effort to deny Owerri Zone its rightful turn by delegitimizing the clearest moment of opportunity it ever had, the 2007 Agbaso mandate.
If Owerri Zone was robbed in 2007, should that injustice not be corrected rather than swept under legal technicalities?
7. Akaolisa Was Right to Speak Up
Chief C.O.C Akaolisa, as Attorney-General and a respected voice of conscience, merely stated what millions already believe: that Owerri Zone was denied its mandate in 2007. His call for justice is not just fair, it is necessary. Those who seek to bully him into silence with pages of legal gymnastics are simply trying to preserve a skewed political arrangement.
Ultimately,
Martin Agbaso was a candidate. He was on the ballot. He was clearly winning by a wide margin. And his victory was stolen.
No amount of selective quoting, legal whitewashing, or historical revisionism can erase that truth. Prof. Obiaraeri’s version is a fine piece of legal fiction, but Imolites remember what happened.
Facts may be sacred, but when they are twisted to suit an agenda, they become dangerous. It is time to stop rewriting history and start restoring justice.
Owerri Zone must never forget where the rain started beating us.
Published: May 3, 2025
By Duruebube Uzii na Abosi
Hon. Chima Nnadi-Oforgu
OBLONG MEDIA UNLIMITED 
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