Both Governors Ezenwo Nyesom Wike and David Umahi Nweze are products of the fourth republic political apparentation, especially the garrison method. The two governors showed that they truly honed their political skills in the immediate post-military era.
Recourse To ‘Election Contractors’
WIKE and Umahi are falling back on the tried and tested strategy of deploying election contractors to win elections. Wike was the first to cause a stir with his dying minute appointment of 28,000 Special Assistants for Political Units.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Kelvin Ebiri, Governor Wike was said to have authorised the immediate appointment of the 28, 000 officials, just barely one day after a similar engagement of 14,000 Special Advisers for the political units and 319 ward Liaison Officers and 40 Local Government Area Liaison Officers.
Speaking during an interdenominational Church Service inside the Government House Chapel in Abakaliki, Governor Umahi had announced his intention to recruit 1,300 Local Government Liaison Officers at the rate of 100 officials per each of the 13 council areas of the state.
Although the 1, 300 comes as a far cry from Wike’s 28, 000 army of political recruits, it could be recalled that Umahi had earlier in the life of his second term, particularly after his defection from PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC), brought in more than 1, 000 Technical Assistants and equal numbers Senior Technical Assistants, as well as Technical Officers.
Of course, while the revenue holding and funding capacities of the two states are incomparable, the purpose and appeal for hiring otherwise political hangers-on come under the same sub-head: League of political enforcers during elections.
“How many people know that INEC does tracking during elections? And, as I speak to you, following the signing of the Act on February 25, this year, on the 26th, INEC went to office reversing and changing things to reflect the current Electoral Act. Many politicians are going to have what we call a dinosaur experience in 2023.
“Section 47 of the Act empowers INEC to use a smart card reader or any other technological device that may be prescribed by the Commission, for the accreditation of voters, to verify, confirm or authenticate the particulars of the intending voter in the manner prescribed by the Commission which was not the case before.
“Today, people must take note of the following, when you get to the polling unit, no more incident form, you can no longer talk about manual accreditation, but what we have now is what we call the bimodal process.”
Wike Pepper Them/Umahi Harass Them
EVER since he fell out with the powers that be in PDP, after losing out in the presidential nomination process, Governor Wike has been acting like a cross between John Wayne and Charlie Chaplain. His supporters have been urging on him to ‘pepper them’ as a way of requiting the perceived injustice meted out to him in PDP.
On the other hand, Umahi seems to gloat at his detractors by celebrating the fact that the coercive institutions of state are in favour. Opposition elements in the state have continued to cry out against the establishment of the Ebubeagu Security outfit, which they believe that the governor would put into good use during the election.
