Studies in Iniquities: A Reflection on Electoral Fraud and Hypocrisy in Imo Politics

Have we forgotten so soon?

There was a time in Imo State’s political history when INEC conducted a general election involving both governorship and state house of assembly elections, same day, same time, same polling booths.

But in a shameful twist of logic and justice, the electoral umpire, with one crooked hand, cancelled the results of the governorship election, citing manufactured allegations of violence and malpractice. Then, with the other hand, it validated the house of assembly results conducted in the same locations, on the same day, and at the same time. The very same process they said was compromised.

Is this not a contradiction of the highest order?

This brazen double standard laid bare the corruption, impunity, and politicization of the electoral process in Imo State. Yet, some among us, jaundiced minds and unconscionable political actors, choose to look away. Instead of confronting this historical injustice, they now seek justice for their kinsman, lamenting the loss of a term that was democratically “stolen” from him, all the while ignoring the original sin that illegally robbed another man of a popular mandate.

How do you cancel a governorship election for being “compromised” and simultaneously uphold the House of Assembly election conducted in the same setting?

This glaring contradiction should provoke outrage. But instead, we are confronted with selective amnesia and ethnic chauvinism. Some now wail over a judicial ouster, forgetting how INEC’s illegal and corrupt cancellation of an election denied a man, widely believed to have won, his rightful mandate.

The question we must ask ourselves is simple:

Where is justice, UMUNNA?
Where is the moral compass of a people who now demand fairness while standing on the grave of a deeper injustice they never opposed?

Let us be honest with ourselves.

You cannot demand justice for one, while denying it to another simply because of political or ethnic convenience. Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere. This is the hypocrisy that continues to poison our politics in Imo State.

Let history record clearly:

That a man was robbed of his mandate through a rigged cancellation.

That the very same election INEC declared tainted for governorship was declared clean for House of Assembly.

That those who now mourn the loss of a term remained mute when a greater injustice was meted out before their very eyes.

Until we tell ourselves the truth and confront these double standards, Imo will continue to suffer from this cycle of betrayal, injustice, and elite manipulation.

Justice must not be selective. If we must build a better Imo, we must first learn to speak the truth, even when it doesn’t serve our narrow political interests.

WHERE IS THE JUSTICE?
Nde Imo!!!

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