NIGERIA IS A COUNTRY FULL OF CONTRADICTIONS.... Bishop C Johnson

"The implication of this weird, confusing and odd declaration by INEC is that, the electoral umpire believes that the mandate belongs to the party and not the candidate of the party"..... Bish Johnson

The political space in Nigeria has become more confusing with stakeholders expressing their concerns over recent developments, particularly, the just concluded rerun elections as conducted by the Independent National Elections Commission, INEC especially that of Imo State.

According to Bishop C Johnson, a political commentator and a retired Captain of the United States Army, Nigeria is a country full of contradictions and this is more evident in the political happenings in this country in the last twenty one years of this democratic experimentation. 

Bish Johnson, while reacting to the  developments, noted that on Saturday, 5th December, 2020, in the bye-election to replace the demised Senator of Imo North Senatorial district, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC at the conclusion of that election announced that it had declared the party, the All Progressive Congress, APC as the winner of that election. 

"INEC however didn't name any candidate as the winner of the election", Johnson stated. 

"The implication of this weird, confusing and odd declaration by INEC is that, the electoral umpire believes that the mandate belongs to the party and not the candidate of the party", Johnson said.

"If this is truly the position of the law, the first question any critical thinking mind will ask is, why in the world did we even have to conduct a bye election requiring the participation of all political parties to replace a senator who died just a few months of assuming the mandate of his political party? 

"And if really the mandate truly belongs to the party and not the candidate, why didn't the party of the late Senator produce the first runner-up in the  party's primary election or through any other internal mechanism of the party replace the late senator?"

"Nigeria my country is indeed a country full of contradictions. Just few weeks ago, we watched a nationally televised defection of the Ebonyi State governor, Engr David Umahi. David Umahi won the election  as the governor of Ebonyi State on the platform of the People's Democratic Party, PDP but decamped to the All Progressive Congress, APC and still remains the governor of Ebonyi State".

"If truly electoral mandate is that of the party and not that of the individual, every rational thinking being cannot but come to the conclusion that the All Progressive Congress, APC through David Umahi is enjoying a mandate that doesn't belong to them. This country is indeed full of contradictions.

Bishop C. Johnson is a curious mind trying to understand the inner workings of his birth country.