The political climate in Rivers State ahead of the 2023 governorship election is at best simmering. Nothing much is happening.
Three months to INEC’s deadline on governorship primaries. Five months to the final submission of names of governorship candidates. Twelve months to election day, yet the electorate wallow in speculations. Nothing much is heard about those who want to be governor.
Again, Rivers State is faced with the prospect of another rushed campaign. Again, we are about to have another governor that will ride to the Brick House singing and dancing in LGA and state political rallies.
We are again confronted with the grim prospect of having a governor whose plans and programmes we do not know. Whose ability and character we cannot vouch for.
We are about to surrender another eight years of our lives to a governor we do not know so well. We are about to entrust trillions of naira with a governor without telling him how we want him to spend our money.
Unfortunately, the rogue conspiracy to deny the electorate ample time to know and decide who to vote is perpetrated by INEC, party leaders (governors and top political office holders) and the aspirants/candidates themselves.
Despite the over 300 billion of public funds that it gets to conduct in-season elections, INEC places a ban on campaigns and threatens to sanction defaulters who dare to campaign outsider its approved four-five months window.
INEC spends so much to produce persons that spend so much more, yet the people have so little a time to know and decide who to vote.
This situation is made worse by incumbent governors/serving Ministers that hold their parties to ransom. They keep the people in suspence and keep their party stalwarts guessing. They endorse their preferred candidates very late while threatening to deal with anyone that jumps the gun. In order to avoid the wrath of the governors/leaders and avoid wasting money on “fruitless” aspirations, the aspirants themselves keep silence.
Civil Society, National Assembly and INEC are beating their chests on electronic transmission of results. They are euphoric about provisions in the new electoral law designed to make votes count. But they show very little interest in the process that produces the candidates to be voted for.
What is the benefit of electronic transmission of results when the people have little or no say in the emergence of party candidates? Can election be adjudged free, fair and credible when the people do not have enough time and space to evaluate the candidates? For who do the votes count?
But no matter what they do, no matter the shortness of time, Rivers people must decide, this time around, to constructively engage WORTHY PERSONS that are strongly rumored to be eyeing the governorship. Rivers people must come together to create platforms to evaluate governorship flag bearers when they emerge.
Civil Society, the media and all patriotic bodies must come together to ensure the enthronement of good governance in Rivers State and do so dispassionately.
Sotonye Ijuye-Dagogo
