By Zik Gbemre

With the established fact that the President-Elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) is known by many as a very disciplined man who has publicly declared to fight all forms of corruption across every length and breadth of the Nigerian polity, we are sincerely banking and hoping on this, and crying out to Buhari to come to the rescue of the good people of Delta State, by putting his foot down to fight the overwhelming corruption in the State perpetrated by the ‘few cabal’ of the Delta State ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and ultimately liberate Deltans from years of ‘Political Slavery.’

General Mohammedu Buhari

This appeal to the President-Elect Buhari has become expedient on the hills that since the inception of Democratic Rule in Nigeria from May 1999, of all the States in the country, Delta State has turned out to be one State where fraudulent electoral practices of great proportions and electoral tribunal cases injustice have become the norm. This has made Delta State, and majority of its people, to be one that has come under not only political slavery, but also under economic slavery and at the mercy of the ruling class. Delta State is currently under siege by self-centered political class led by the PDP cabal, comprising of James Ibori, his cousin Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, and now Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa and their Ijaw links. Delta State has become a State where political, economic, judicial and electoral issues, often unheard of in other States across Nigeria and different parts of the world, are allowed to thrive with reckless abandon and impunity; all to the detriment of the general masses in Delta State.

The situation in Delta State is so sad and pathetic that one can only hope for some divine intervention or the miraculous, for any major change to take place. Delta State is a practical example of the unfortunate status most African countries find themselves in; where the political leaders over the years have practiced “voodoo democracy” by using every trick they can muster to remain in government circles and refuse the peoples’ voice, votes and interests to count or matter in their development. And when the people are denied the right to chose their preferred political leaders, what we have evident over the years are political leaders without vision and sacrificial commitment. Hence, the democratic attributes of ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability’ embedded in ‘good governance’ have practically eluded Delta State in all ramifications within the past Sixteen years or so. This has made Delta State Government to be branded by well-meaning Nigerians and social critics as a “self-perpetuating government” of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which ultimately makes whatever the government does, a well-decorated ‘white lie’ specifically designed for ‘deception’-for the benefit of some few but to the detriment of many.

Without mincing words, it is an established fact that past elections in Delta State, be it governorship elections, Federal or State Assembly elections or Council elections, can best described as the worst elections ever conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the history of the State. Right from the general elections in 1999 that brought in former governor Chief James Ibori (who is currently serving prison sentence in UK for corruption-related charges linking Delta State Public Funds), to the elections in 2003, 2007, 2011 and more recently 2015.

For the recently concluded April 11, 2015 Governorship elections in Delta State, it has become evidently clear to all well-meaning Deltans that the soon-to-be-outgoing Governor of Delta State, Uduaghan, covertly misappropriated Delta State finance to practically rig the Delta State Governorship election in favor of Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa of the PDP and get him into the Delta State Government House come May 2015. It is quite unfortunate that Delta State has been under the ‘Political Slavery’ of the ruling PDP since 1999 till date. The former Delta State Governor James Ibori is still dictating the political affairs of Delta State from his UK prison with the stolen wealth of the State and of course, with the cooperation of his cousin Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and the PDP Cabals which include Senator Okowa and his Ijaw links. They have been misgoverning and running the affairs of Delta State as if the State is owned by them.

The ruling PDP in Delta State and their machinations have made sure that we do not experience free and fair election in Delta State right from 1999 till date. They have always found a way to collaborate with compromised INEC officials concerned in every election, to manipulate election results in their favor by inflating votes’ casts, especially in the rural villages and riverine areas, to favour their preferred candidates. This was exactly what they did in Saturday April 11, 2015 Governorship and State Assembly elections in Delta State. They also did the same thing during the March 28, 2015 Presidential Election in Delta State. The reported 1,211,405 votes of the PDP against the 48, 910 votes of the APC in the Presidential Election in Delta State were all fake and not the real actual results that represents the true votes of the people in Delta State. The truth is that Deltans massively voted for the President-Elect Buhari because they wanted the wind of Change blowing across the nation to come their way.

The wave of ‘Change’ we see cutting across the political landscape of the nation have been embraced and accepted by the generality of Deltans, hence, the people voted in-line with this desired Change. But the PDP-led Cabal in Delta State, which consists of James Ibori, his cousin Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and a small group of others, have obstructed this desired Change of the people and has refused Deltans to experience free and fair election in the State.

Though, we have officially called for the outright cancellation of the Governorship election in Delta State, and request for a by-election in the entire State to determine the ‘real people’s choice’ of who they want as their next governor, we are also hoping the President-Elect will sanitize the Nigerian Judiciary and the INEC electoral institution as soon as he completely takes over Government so as to instill discipline and ensure that Election Tribunal Cases are speedily and judiciously done, especially for Delta State if the governorship election goes to court. We are sincerely hoping that the President-Elect Gen. Muhammadu Buhari will soon come after these PDP-led public thieves in Delta State one after the other, and there will be no more dilly-dallying in Election Tribunal Cases like it were under the PDP-led Federal Government by President Goodluck Jonathan.

We have also called on INEC and the Independent (International) Observers including the foreign Media like CNN, Sky News and the BBC to thoroughly investigate the Delta State Governorship election by going to all the remote villages in Delta State (especially those rural villages and the ones in the riverine areas) to see for themselves if the bulk and manipulated number of voters and votes cast actually in the Governorship election corresponds with the real population in these places. They will be surprised with the results; this we can guarantee them.

If we are to take a sincere poll in Delta State of those in support of the PDP led government and all their manipulative tendencies, we would be shocked to discover that over 90 percent of Deltans are not in support of the PDP led government in Delta State. The only people that are in support of the PDP-led government in Delta State, are those who are one way or the other-benefitting from the existing system. The last Delta State Governorship election and those before it, have clearly justified the fact that the PDP is a “self-perpetuating party” that wants to remain and hold on to political power at different levels of the Delta State polity no matter the cost. And they do this with reckless abandon and impunity; leaving the people of Delta State in perpetual slavery and oppression, hence, our cry for help.

One would have expected that since the ruling PDP government in Delta State has always succeeded in manipulating the electoral process with the cooperation of INEC and security operatives; the Judiciary through the Electoral Tribunals in Delta State would at least save the situation, turn things around and guarantee that the votes and voice of Deltans truly count. Unfortunately, that has not been the case in Delta State since 1999 to date.

The Judiciary that is supposed to be the “last hope of the common man” in Nigeria, have been rubbished by the compromising tendencies of Judges assigned to hear sensitive electoral and even corruption cases (involving high profile government officials) in Delta State. In fact, the people have completely lost hope/faith in the Judicial process in Delta State, in ensuring that the voice of the masses are heard and given true justice; especially in the delivery of court judgments on sensitive electoral petitions and corruption cases. This has left Deltans in a perpetual state of hopelessness; as past court judgments on electoral and corruption cases had clearly indicated. We are trusting and hoping that all of this trend will be reversed and addressed by the President-Elect Buhari once he takes over the Federal Government from May 2015.

The truth of the matter is that Delta State has always been a strategic – all –important State for the ruling PDP; both for the Federal and State levels of government. As a results of its oil and gas wealth/resources, Delta State has over the years, been made like a “farm land” that can be used to settle political interests and where every Judge believes they can come and get a piece of the ‘national cake’ through their usually misplaced and compromised court judgments to favour the government of the day, but to the detriment of majority of Deltans. Perhaps, that is why elections in Delta State are always fraught with unimaginable election irregularities, and nobody cares to question these anomalies.

Now that the All Progressive Congress (APC) has made history with the President-Elect Buhari by unseating the incumbent ruling PDP under Jonathan, our expectations are very high that Buhari will address all these anomalies in the country, particularly the ones we have been witnessing in Delta State in over 16 years now. As rightly noted by former President of Ghana, Mr. Jerry Rawlings, on the outcome of Nigeria’s Presidential election recently, and we quote: “Nigerians have taken the lead in the rejection of corruption. The election result is a manifestation of the people’s resolve to confront corruption, dishonesty and exploitation. This is a clear message to the new leadership. A bold step has been taken towards a new Nigeria and the incoming leader cannot be unaware of what is expected of him. Nigerians did not vote for just anyone. They voted for a man whose integrity is extremely high. Nigeria is tired of corruption (especially those of us in Delta State), and the choice of this leader is a clear indication of where she wants to go. I hope General Buhari will put together a team whose understanding of the power of the people recognizes and respects the will of the people. General Buhari owes it to his people and to Black Africans, the restoration of our pride and the black man’s dignity…”

The high-handedness of the past and present government in Delta State have succeeded in making Deltans to be like the proverbial people that lives by the river-side yet wash their faces with spit. Despite the abundant mineral resources of oil and gas (plus the 13 percent derivation revenue that comes from it), human resourcefulness, Tourism and Agricultural potentials; Delta State is still living under its shadows of yesteryears lost glory. Every of the activities embarked upon by past and present Delta State PDP-led governments in the name of pursuing their so called “Agendas,” are avenues through which the state funds are misappropriated and mismanaged by their aides, friends, family members, close associates and other political interests at the Federal level that are there to project and protect them. It is an established situation where “some selected few” in government circles or supporters of the governments, are continually benefitting from the system, while depriving ‘many’ from having a taste of what is collectively ours.

The crux of the matter is that the generality of the masses in Delta State are sad and are praying to God to liberate them through the new government under Buhari, from the hands of the PDP-led government thieves in Delta State.

We will be eternally grateful if this plea and call for help will be given the needed attention by the New Nigerian Government under Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd).

Zik Gbemre,JP.

National Coordinator

Niger Delta Peace Coalition (NDPC)

No.28, Opi Street, Ugboroke Layout, Effurun-Warri,

P.O. Box 2254, Warri, Delta State, Nigeria.

Tel:       +2348026428271

              +2348052106013

Website: www.ndpc-zik.org