A nasty political trend is gradually but steadily evolving in Abia which if not urgently nipped in the bud, may see the state witnessing serious political upheaval that may make a child’s play of the notorious ‘Wild, Wild West’ experience of the First Republic.
Beneath this untoward tendency is the culture of intolerance, which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – led government in the state, is orchestrating and promoting in several ways.
For instance, barely two weeks after the All Progressives Grand Alliance gubernatorial candidate in the last election in the state, Dr. Alex Otti, raised an alarm that his life was in danger following a reported attack by yet to be identified gunmen who allegedly invaded his private guest house in Abuja and killed his police security detail, the Independent National Electoral Commission office in Obingwa Local Government Area of the state, was set ablaze by arsonists.
Coming on the heels of the State Election Tribunal sitting in Umuahia over allegation of large scale fraud by the APGA flag bearer against PDP in the last gubernatorial election in the state, the resort to the obvious desperate moves, opens another chapter in the antics of those bent on subverting the will of the people.
What particularly raises curiosity on the Obingwa INEC office inferno is that it occurred few days after the Justices of the state Election Tribunal ordered the Commission to produce before the court election materials used for the governorship poll in the Local Government in its custody to enable the APGA candidate and his team carry out forensic audit on them.
Of more concern, also, is that the Tribunal’s order on INEC came as a last resort, given that the earlier directive by the court and efforts by Otti to inspect the materials, had been thwarted on three occasions by hoodlums that obviously enjoyed the encouragement and protection of agents of the state government.
Besides, the incident occurring few days to the commencement of trial on the matter by the Tribunal speaks volume on the evolving do-or-die politics in the State. Even more startling is the fact that not a single arrest was made by security men who were supposedly on duty at the time of the action.
But perhaps more troubling in the face of the hazy situation is the offensive claim by the PDP on the action.  It is absurd, for instance, that hardly had the Abia electorate recovered from the shock of the inferno than PDP foot soldiers and Government House attack dogs, scurried to town, accusing APGA loyalists of culpability. Some went to the ridiculous extent of alleging that those who started the fire were chanting APGA victory songs and brandishing the party’s emblems.
Nothing could be more puerile. However, assuming but not conceding that the brigands were chanting victory songs of any particular party, would that be enough to assume that the hooligans were members or supporters of the party? Couldn’t that have been a decoy by the perpetrators to parry attention? Why for instance, do some robbers embark on their evil activities with their faces masked, if not to hide their true identity? Have there also not been instances of men disguising as women to carry out nefarious activities? Does that make them women?
Aside these considerations, why would APGA loyalists embark on that kind of vandalism when it is obvious to them that the Obingwa INEC materials were critical in deciding their case against the PDP at the ongoing Tribunal proceedings?
If anything, rather, the Obingwa fire incident, fell squarely into established behavioral antecedents throughout the gubernatorial election period in the state, which clearly point to desperation on the part of the PDP government that has been throwing in everything at its disposal to fight against being swept out of office.
It would be recalled, in this regard, that few days to the supplementary election in the state, residents of Aba woke up one morning to the barbaric and gory sights of coffins placed at strategic points around the city with inscriptions “Vote against Ngwa interest and die”. On one of the coffins deposited at Asa Road by Post Office, the masterminds of the despicable act threatened to bring back kidnapping and insecurity in the commercial town in a more horrifying manner if their candidate was not voted for. These were done ostensibly to scare the electorate and create room for the criminal elements in PDP to rig the election then.
Even when it was obvious at the counting of votes at the first ballot at INEC headquarters in Umuahia that APGA candidate was leading, PDP leadership led by then Governor T.A. Orji, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and  Olisa Metuh, (PDP National Publicity Secretary), against INEC rules, forced their way into the office of the State Resident Electoral Commissioner in the full glare of the public and to the consternation of many, after about two hours of the shameful meeting, the Returning Officer, reversed cancellation of results in areas that both the national and international observers had identified glaring irregularities.
That, perhaps, seemed the height of psychological onslaught on the APGA candidate that had, before the election, had his campaign posters and billboards vandalised or destroyed by believed agents of the establishment.
The assault, incidentally, began to build the moment Otti indicated interest in the governorship race. In what signaled the battle ahead, the original template which was anchored on power shift to Ukwa-Ngwa, was changed to power shift to Abia South senatorial district primarily to frustrate Otti who hails from Abia Central Senatorial Zone. When that strategy was deflated by the superior strategic disposition of Otti in reclaiming the state and positioning it for greatness, the architects of confusion introduced the lazy sentiment of questioning the nativity of the APGA candidate.
It is against this backdrop that the Obingwa INEC office fire and the accompanying campaign of calumny by PDP against the APGA candidate could be appreciated.
PDP is obviously rattled. For a party that lost significant representation in the State Assembly unlike what obtained in the past, it is easy to understand why it is visibly on heat.
But even at that, it is illogical for PDP to make convoluted and silly statements against APGA, especially when matters relating to desperation and frustration in the current political situations in Abia are concerned.
•Opara writes from Aba.