Edo 2016 and the trial of a thief (Insiders look at the Election Tribunal case in Edo) – Nosa Omorodion

Edo 2016 and the trial of a thief – Nosa Omorodion

The conduct of the September 28 Edo State Governorship Election which though uncharacteristic of Buhari’s INEC, was not declared inconclusive, left loose ends which remind me of an incident that dates back over thirty-five years.

On a very wet night, some time in the 70’s, we were deep in sleep in my family home, oblivious of whatever was taking place outdoors. The tropical rainfall had drummed into the night dulling our senses and luring us into blissful slumber. This rare opportunity for the perfect rest was the most auspicious, so he thought, for the night raider to strike for fortune in our home. His good fortune would mean a loss to us – a thief has no thought for his victim.

So, while we slept in the soothing embrace of the cold tropical night the thief came to the house and knowing his target went to the backyard where we had a poultry. Effortlessly, he broke in and helped himself to a couple of chickens and went away.

On discovering the theft in the morning, my father invited the police, which then had an original aptitude for detective work and an eagerness to solve criminal puzzles. The detectives examined the scene of the crime, and bingo, discovered a mark that could help in locating the criminal. It proved to be the beginning of the trail to the thief – it was the marks of a pair of shoes left in the ground that had been made wet and mashy by the night rain.

Without much ado, the policemen, with my father and others followed the trail. As they moved along, they saw tell-tale feathers of chicken along the trail. Eventually, the trail stopped at the doorstep of a house a street away, and behold, shoes with sod, which matched the size won by the intruder that came to our home under the cover of darkness were found. Also found were the chickens. The trail of shoes and chicken feathers had led to the catching of the thief.

Revelations after the September 28 Governorship Election suggests that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, like the chicken thief that broke into our poultry, has left behind while conducting the election, an incriminating trail of shoe marks and feathers. It is now left for the Tribunal to pass a verdict upon examining the weight of evidence it will be confronted with.

While we should leave the details of what many have criticized as an electoral theft upon a conspiracy, to litigants, lawyers and judges, it is relevant to summarize the factors which have given room for suspicion through the eyes of accredited election observers and other witnesses.

According to all the accredited observers – local and foreign, although the election was relatively peaceful, it lacked transparency. The lack of transparency by the INEC points in the direction of compromise which many allege was conceived to arrive at the present result.

Observers and other witnesses have claimed that with the complicity of INEC and the security forces, the following anomalies attended the election: unrestricted movement of thugs and government officials, ballot box snatching and stuffing by thugs known to be members of the APC and outright falsification of results. Some school of extreme thought have suggested that INEC’s final result is a reflection of a pre-written script based on assumption.

For instance, it has been pointed out that the logic of the number of actual voters falling short of the number of accredited voters by about 66,000 challenges reality, given that accreditation and voting were done almost simultaneously. Curiously too, this is about the same margin by which the declared winners: Godwin Obaseki and APC defeated their closest opponents: Osagie Ize-Iyamu and PDP.

While the reported irregularities observed in this election have attended most of INEC conducted elections, the unprecedented one and that which puts the credibility of the declared result in great doubt, is the break called for and observed by INEC between the hours of midnight and the morning, while collation was in progress and the opposition PDP was widely reported to be leading and winning. The weirdness of this “break” is in the fact that while domestic and international observers and the agents of other political parties were ordered out of the state collation centre, members of the APC were permitted to remain within the chambers of the collation centre as the results of some local government areas which became the turning point for the APC were being awaited. This was perhaps the cloak the thieves needed to do damage to their victims.

However, it is daytime when the truth must come to light and hopefully a panel of impartial judges would give verdict as the spirit of justice directs. But in the execution of justice in matters of this nature, we must be guided by the knowledge that even an impartial jury, as it were, is limited by the principle of evidence and proof upon reasonable doubt. Therefore, he that comes to equity here must come not only with clean hands but reasonable proof. And this calls for smartness and meticulous prosecution. The trail is obviously there but how well can the investigators follow it?

Nosa Omorodion is an educationist, publisher and public affairs analyst.