By ANIEBO NWAMU*
Through The Power of Nothing, Ikem Okuhu has given an account of the Labour Party or Hon. Chijioke Edeoga-led revolution in Enugu State in 2023 from his own perspective. Each of the dozens of us who were in the trenches with Ikem could write a book of the same size. But we thank Ikem for telling part of our story and for documenting history for posterity. If Nigeria could be cleansed in the future — to make INEC, voter cards and the judiciary become useful — our progeny would, through Ikem’s book, know there was a time criminals roamed freely at the helm of all arms of government in Nigeria.
I was perhaps the first person to call Hon. Edeoga on the morning of May 28, 2022, to invite him to Labour Party. As early as March of that year, I had got information that someone had betrayed him after making sure he had spent his life savings in preparation for the PDP governorship primary. Luckily for us ndi Enugu, Edeoga accepted to lead the revolution aimed at sweeping away the worst citizens of the state who had converted the PDP to a coven.
There’s detailed information in The Power of Nothing to explain the major events of the 2023 general election especially as it concerned Enugu State. It’s new, however, only to those who were not in the state at the time or didn’t participate in the process. The truths that could be doubted only by vote thieves and their collaborators include: (1) Edeoga was elected governor based on the strength of votes cast on March 18, 2023; (2) Edeoga’s LP won seven out of eight available House of Reps seats; (3) Edeoga’s LP won all three senatorial seats except in Enugu West where fraudsters succeeded in acquiring 10,000 imaginary votes for the PDP in Udi LGA; (4) the Edeoga-led LP won 14 of 24 available House of Assembly seats; and (5) of course LP swept almost 90% votes in the state for its presidential candidate Peter Obi.
It’s not really true that we achieved those feats with nothing, as the book’s title suggests. We had something: the goodwill of the electorate who desired change, vigilant voters who stopped some electoral robbers in their tracks, a sophisticated crew of campaign managers, and seasoned journalists who not only gathered intelligence but published stories that put the riffraff on the opposing side (the Enugu falsehood fabrication factory) to shame. Yes, we didn’t have as much money as those who had unlimited access to public funds, but Edeoga and his supporters spent all they had, and the mass of his followers helped with crowdfunding. In the end, LP the David slew PDP the Goliath.
Peter Obi’s coattails didn’t do it, as the defeated opponents say. The governorship and House of Assembly elections held three weeks after the presidential election and the announcement of the “glitch”-prompted results. Obi did not even campaign for Edeoga in Enugu, just as he didn’t for most LP governorship candidates. Ndi Enugu did it.
Ikem’s book highlights the threats we faced. He and I were not the only ones that hired thugs wanted to eliminate. At a time, one urchin mentioned in the book (Reuben Onyishi) said in a WhatsApp group that he would see how I would escape harm. And, truly, PDP thugs almost shot someone they mistook for me in Nsukka. One of the hoodlums had pulled the trigger before he was stopped and convinced it was a case of mistaken identity. The threats did not cease after the polls. In collusion with some security agents, Enugu PDP has perfected a strategy of arresting opponents on a trumped-up charge of “cyber-bullying”.
Corrupt electoral and judicial officials robbed Edeoga of victory. But ndi Enugu’s hearts and minds are still with him. Had the vote thievery not happened, 44 victims of Ogige Nsukka market’s demolition would have been alive today. The current frustrations and despair in Enugu State would have been reversed. Indeed, elections have consequences.
* Nwamu, an editorial consultant, lives in Abuja.
