My attention has been drawn to the screaming headline of The BIG TRUTH Newspaper of Friday 18 April 2025 titled “Again, COC AKAOLISA EXPLODES- There won’t be charter of Equity for Okigwe until justice is done over Martin Agbaso 2007 Gov’ship case …”
This highly prejudicial publication made against Okigwe Zone of Imo State, was credited to Chief C.O.C Akaolisa, who is the Honourable Attorney-General and Commissioner For Justice, Imo State. I feel compelled, by good reason and for the sake of posterity, to make this rejoinder in order to set the records straight because the statement in the said “explosion” is ahistorical, incorrect and far from the truth. At all material times, members of the public deserve to be told the truth. No one is entitled to rewrite history, distort facts, twist events in order to serve his or her purpose, score political points or secure undue advantage. According to Bernard Baruch, “Every man has a right to his opinion, but no man has a right to be wrong in his facts”.
Out of abundant caution, Chief C. O. C Akaolisa’s is reminded, as it is obvious that he missed the publication, that Prof Maurice M. Iwu, the erstwhile Chairman of INEC, had in a personally signed statement dated 07/03/24 titled “Re: Imo Charter of Equity … by Mike Nwachukwu” narrated the facts, events and circumstances that led to the suspension of voting in the Imo Governorship election which held on 14 April, 2007.
In order not to add to, subtract from or water down the rational, sequential and unassailable reasons why the voting in the 2007 Imo governorship election was suspended, relevant excerpts from Prof Maurice M. Iwu’s personally signed public statement dated 07/03/24 titled “Re: Imo Charter of Equity … by Mike Nwachukwu” are reproduced verbatim hereunder-
“Re: Imo Charter of Equity… by Mike Nwachukwu
I have hitherto refrained from responding to various comments and attacks on my person in connection with my period of public service or my position on public issues but Mr. Mike Nwachukwu’s piece contains many wrong assertions which must be corrected for the sake of history.
1. The suspension of voting at the 2007 Imo State gubernatorial election on April 14, 2007 was due to the dispute regarding the PDP governorship candidate, which did not in anyway affect the House Assembly elections held on the same day. The Supreme Court had declared Dist. Senator Ifeanyi Ararume as the authentic PDP candidate against Engr. Charles Ugwu whose name was on the ballot paper. The apex court’s judgement was delivered a few days to the election which made it impossible for INEC to put Sen. Ararume’s name on the ballot. The leader of PDP, then President Obasanjo publicly declared in Owerri that the party had no governorship candidate contrary to the position of the law. INEC was bound by the extant Supreme Court declaration which made Sen. Ararume the PDP’s candidate. The leadership of INEC had advised the party to allow the election to hold with the names as contained on the ballot and that the correct name will be reflected at the election results declaration in the event of the party’s victory at the election and that would have been similar to the case of Rotimi Amaechi and Rufus Omehie of Rivers State. During the 14/04/2007 poll some over zealous individuals disrupted the gubernatorial elections by attempting to forcefully change the name on the ballot paper which led to mutilation of the ballots and violence in some polling units. The decision to suspend the gubernatorial election was taken by the Resident Electoral Commissioner based on his assessment of the situation in accordance with the provisions of the 2006 Electoral Act, which I endorsed. Prior to the completion of polling and before the tabulation of results the REC, the EO and the Ward-level electoral officials had the authority to suspend polling within their levels of authority if in their assessment the integrity of the election was jeopardized by violence or other disruptions. There was no tabulation of results even at the Polling Units, therefore no discernible winner would have been possible.
2. On the purported victory of Chief Martin Agbaso at the Imo Governorship Election of 14/04/2007, the writer of the piece under reference was aware that Chief Martin Agbaso was not officially a candidate of APGA at that election, according to the judgment of a Superior Court and therefore could NOT have won an election which he never contested by law. APGA had a protracted leadership tussle between Chief Victor Umeh and Chief Chekwas Okorie’s factions and Chief Martin Agbaso was to contest the 2007 election under Victor Umeh’s faction. The Superior Court gave a judgement in favour of Chief Okorie’s faction only a few days before the election. Martin Agbaso was already listed by INEC as the APGA candidate for the 2007 elections with a certain Mike Nwachukwu as his running-mate. Mr. Nwachukwu is from Emii, a neighbouring community to Chief Agbaso’s Emekuku hometown and was used as a place-holder to comply with INEC’s timetable for the submission of candidates. The plan was to substitute Mr. Nwachuku’s name with somebody outside Owerri zone for the position of Deputy Governorship candidate. The victorious Okorie’s faction of APGA petitioned the Superior Court again to enforce its judgement as it affected Chief Martin Agbaso and other APGA candidates sponsored by the Victor Umeh’s faction of APGA. The Court issued Form 48 against INEC and its Chairman which compelled INEC to obey the ruling of the Court rather than risk of Contempt of Court judgement with its implications. By that Court order INEC was unable to accept any substitution from Victor Umeh’s faction of APGA and the replacement of Mike Nwachukwu as the Deputy Governorship candidate of APGA. It would have been inconceivable for Chief Martin Agbaso to have deliberately chosen Mr. Mike Nwachukwu from the same Owerri zone as his substantive Deputy. Mr. Mike Nwachukwu as the Director General of APGA Imo State 2007 gubernatorial election campaign was aware that his principal’s name and his own name were retained on the ballot in compliance with a part of the Court’s judgement which ordered maintenance of the Status Quo and as a courtesy to an “Imo son”. Chief Martin Agbaso was NOT the legitimate candidate of APGA and could NOT have won the Imo 2007 Imo State gubernatorial election.
It is noteworthy that the same APGA leadership crisis affected Mr. Peter Obi’s second term election in 2010 but the matter was resolved through INEC’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism which made it possible for Peter Obi to contest the election under APGA after reaching an understanding with both factions of APGA and they accepted that the late Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu signed the INEC nomination form of Mr. Obi for the 2010 Anambra State governorship election.”
The foregoing copius public statement by the elder statesman Prof Maurice M. Iwu speaks for itself. Fact speaks for itself (res ipsa loquitur). Facts are, and remain, sacred!
Now that Chief C.O.C Akaolisa’s attention has been drawn to the true state of political developments, legal circumstances and judicial decisions that culminated in the suspension of voting in the 2007 Imo Governorship election, I make bold to INVITE him to recant, disavow, retract and or withdraw his reported “explosion” to the effect that it was “Okigwe Zone that scuttled Owerri chance in 2007”. There is no logical, historical or legal reason for Chief Akaolisa or anyone else to have come to that wrong and fallacious conclusion. Furthermore, such a conclusion will be baseless given that no person or group of persons, organisation or political party has come out to rebut, deny or contradict the facts and circumstances that led to the suspension of voting in the 2007 Imo governorship election as narrated in the widely circulated public statement by Prof Maurice Iwu since 07/03/24 [more than one year ago].
Chief Akaolisa, as the Honourable Attorney-General and Commissioner For Justice, knows more than everyone else that admitted or unchallenged or uncontroverted facts require no further proof.
In sum, it is indubitable that Chief Akaolisa made a huge mistake by “exploding” as he did ostensibly on the wrong premise.
No one is above mistakes. According to Bruce Lee, “Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them”. As a very Senior Learned Gentleman, Chief Akaolisa is enjoined to do the needful by apologising without reservation to the good people of Okigwe Zone. Posterity will be happy to have him correct himself and set the records straight even as he is a highly esteemed son in-law to Okigwe Zone. Facts are sacred [veritatibus non est neganda]. Truth is courage.
A new normal is possible!
Prof Obiaraeri, N. O. is of the Imo State University, Owerri.
