ELECTION & RIGHT OF REPLY

Editor's note: Published unedited
8 June 2015

Fellow Nigerians,

The Nigerian Union Election of 31 May 2015: My position
By Fred Odorige

On behalf the elected executives of the Nigerian Union, I wish to thank  well-meaning staff of the  Nigerian embassy, some Nigerian Pastors and other well-meaning Nigerians  for intervening in the master- minded agitations by  Frank Ekudioko (hereinafter referred to as my opponent ) who purported that the election which has been celebrated by majority of Nigerians, was flawed. I have also read insidious articles by one Hakim Babalola who has been antagonistic to me since he was overheard subtly instigating my opponent not to accept the results of the historic election.   


We are aware that all other petitions and telephone calls by some tele-guided Nigerians to the embassy of Nigeria were all instigated from the same source in order to mount undue multiple pressure. They also did that before the election concerning the venue.

After due consultation with the elected members of my executive,I wish to report as follows:

1. The greatest contention was that the votes cast (174) for the presidential election was more than the number of registered persons. Please note that the reasons for this was that some of the voters brought in by my opponent voted more than once. They were seen vigorously washing off the voting ink in the restroom. This information was passed on to my wife by one of my supporters which she relayed to the electoral committee. Her action was misrepresented by my opponent in his petition.

2. Some persons did not register their names but they voted. Some of them confirmed this. After the election, I got to know four persons that voted but were not aware of the registration. Such persons might have come in after the announcements for registration were made. In our previous meetings before the election, attendance register was also opened as a way of collecting the contacts of Nigerians since members of the union have not met for years. That could also be a reason why the attendance list was written on the election date. It is not stated in our constitution that attendance sheets shall be used as instruments to judge or measure the number of votes cast.
  What would have been the reaction of my opponent if the number of registered voters was more than the number of votes cast? The election would also have been cancelled? Should I take responsibility for it because some persons did not register before voting? The electoral committee apologized for this lapse in the registration of voters and somebody wants me to apologize also!!! Some people are quick to criticize but they NEVER come up with ideas or solutions to problems.

3. I do not wish to answer all the allegations of my opponent because they are mostly cooked up and it is not my duty to do so. However, the  petitioner's letter annoyingly mentioned that my wife was in possession of ballot papers. This is absolutely unacceptable. Attempting to bring my wife into public opprobrium was the height of desperation and mud-slinging. I accosted my opponent on this point but he denied that there was no mention of my wife in the petition. I showed him the petition and he was visibly surprised and regretted that inclusion. This means that he was not the original author of the letter where he appended his name. We know the writer of that petition.

4. The petitioner complained at every stage of the election and has continued to do so thereafter. In every election, there are always petitioners. My opponent"s many flimsy points were to muster sympathy. You could read that my opponent even complained about the unsecured transportation of the ballot box from where the election was cast to where the votes were counted! The election happened in the same hall within a distance of seven feet under the glare of everybody and his appointed security agent.  This union is about all, not about one.

5. It was ridiculous and a huge contradiction to hear that the representative of my opponent claimed to have seen some irregularities during the counting of the votes but kept quiet! How possible is it for the representative of an aspirant to SEE irregularities in the counting process and keep quiet? Ironically, he was the first person to congratulate me and he confidentially told me that I was the better candidate. He might even have voted for me.
The lady who was caught in the process of collating the results as she was allocating false votes to the camp of my opponent barely escaped lynching. My opponent did not mention this in his petition!

6. I know that the strength of my manifesto was overwhelming to Nigerians that attended the election. The other aspirants whom I encouraged to participate also campaigned for me vigorously. Nigerians also frowned at the fact that my opponent is the same tribe as the two past presidents of the Union. Nigerians reasoned that it will not be fair if our Presidents are continually selected from just one tribe in Nigeria.  These and other factors were the game changer to my advantage.

7. It is an affront on my integrity for my opponent and his instigators to claim directly or indirectly, that I consciously manipulated the election. They also orchestrated the  rumor that the election had been cancelled by the embassy days before we had meetings at the embassy! They had everything planned from the onset.

I am very satisfied that I have endeavored to create a new awareness on the need for Nigerians to wake up to the challenges of rebuilding our great Union. The efforts of my opponent geared towards building this union is also highly appreciated. We can only make or mar it.

 In the light of the above, we insisted on sticking to the constitution through the provisions of section 
 (C )  ELECTION PROCEDURES 9. Queries about electoral irregularities shall be publicly tendered to, and addressed by the electoral committee on the same day of the election before the final declaration of the results.
 D.  GUIDELINES FOR THE ELECTORAL COMMITTEE  (vii) Election results declared by the electoral committee shall be final. It cannot be taken to any other body for jurisdiction.

Though we would be bending our constitution at the dictate of an individual, we are also aware that the constitution was not officially adopted as at the date of the election.

Recommendations:

1. After several meetings with the Ambassador, members of staff of the embassy, respected Nigerian Pastors, well-meaning Nigerians and members of my executive, I agreed that we should repeat the election.This agreement was reached at the last meeting at the embassy on Friday 5th June 2015. The position of the President and that of the other elective positions are not income-generating positions and there is absolutely no need to be desperate about this. It is not in my aspiration to be the President of a divided Union. I have served as a member of the executive in 2001 and I know what it entails. Though my supporters and some supporters of my opponent are still agitating that we should not have another election, I sincerely ask that you kindly accept this decision for the union to move forward. I cannot destroy the very house that we have all labored to build. I also hope that a repeat of the election will usher in more aspirants including the vociferous critics. Now is the time to participate with our critical ideas!

2. I am aware that some of our elders (in terms of years of residence in Hungary) are making arrangements to take off from where the embassy reached. This is to clear the ground for a new election. I wish to humbly recommend that 
(a) we include our experiences in the last election in our constitution. For example, that the register of Nigerians on the day of election should be used in the voting process to match with the names on the identity cards of Nigerians. 
(b) That some persons should be appointed to supervise the register on the  day of election. 
(c) A Police report showing clean criminal records by Presidential and Vice Presidential aspirants should be produced.
(d) Hungarians married to Nigerians should be allowed to vote when they show their certificate of marriage on the day of voting.
(e) We should have a permanent Council of Elders made up of Nigerians that have consistently lived in this country over a minimum period of twenty years to play advisory roles.
(f) Other ideas could also come in. I said that I was a member of the constitution drafting committee in 2001 and I was not taking the glory alone when I mentioned that in my manifesto. 

3. We should individually and collectively make financial donations to the emerging transitional committee in order to make their work easier. Just five of us made donations to the electoral and constitution review committee and that was not enough. Even our action at contributing was misinterpreted by those who refused to contribute!

4. The Nigerian embassy should, as a matter of national interest, financially support the procurement of a new venue for another meeting and election. Little wonder I mentioned in my manifesto that we should have a Nigerian House.

Observations:

1. Dr Sesi the erstwhile Chairman of the electoral committee was openly replaced by the general House on the day we were supposed to have the first election at the same venue. He was replaced by Dr Peter. The accusation that Dr Sesi was sidetracked, keeps coming up by some persons who have made up their mind to disparage the election and the intentions of other Nigerians who elected Dr Peter. Dr Sesi is a respected Nigerian in this country and I can vouch that he has contributed towards promoting this Union. He was only replaced by the general House when he did not show up during the first election. I hope nobody is insinuating that I also manipulated the House to replace him! It was not even my suggestion. For the purpose of clarification, the electoral committee was set up on the day tribal leaders were invited to a meeting with the former President. It was suggested that we should have a woman, a student and somebody that has lived here for a long time. That was how their names came up and they were immediately contacted on phone by the former President. The constitution review committee on the other hand, was inaugurated by the general House on the day the first election was postponed. To say that I manipulated both committees that were randomly picked by Nigerians when the accuser was not even present in both meetings is sheer blackmail. 

2. I sent text messages to the Hakim Babalola concerning the inconsistencies in his report before now and he has decided to test his journalist bite on me. I know some disdainful articles he also wrote about our past presidents as far as delving into their private lives even when it was uncalled for. I questioned him on why he only wrote about Nigerian union elections in his blog apart from the publications of other news agencies which he usually reproduced. The gradual anti-migration policies of this country should attract any intelligent, enthusiastic and curious migrant writer.  For example, he initially published, among other things, that I scored 93 votes. In a text message, I urged him to correct his figures. I also asked Mr Babalola to ask people for interviews instead of secretly writing materials for publication when you are having a simple conversation with a friend on telephone without the knowledge of the person communicating with you. I called that unprofessional and 'info theft'. Indeed it is easier to destroy than to build. I do not know what Mr Babalola has against me since I tried to reunite our people here. Who says Hakim Babalola cannot contest to be the President of the Nigerian Union in the Republic of Hungary?
 Dear Hakim , kindly forgive me for joining Mr Endy in suggesting that you should contest for the position of the Secretary General. We only did that because of our awareness that you have a flair for writing and we felt that tested hands are needed to steer the Union to brighter shores after many years in the deep. The existence of our Union does not depend on Fred and Frank alone. Hakim mentioned my name over a dozen times in his recent outburst which was shared by one Hussein Umar. Since no one is a monopolist of writing, I could reply Hakim historically and word for word in my blog, but it is not my stock in trade to exchange words for personal aggrandizement in the social media with a brother that I have known for over 15 years. Pardon me if I sound patronizing but I suggest that we reserve our collective energies for future battles that will advance us as a people in a foreign land. I refuse to join in fanning the embers of discord.

 For the benefit of those who do not know, I wish to inform you that after our second tenure under Peter Ihaza over ten years ago, I officially wrote my letter of resignation to that executive when I saw that we were staying longer than the constitutional duration of our tenure despite my repeated call to organize an election. I have never been desperate for any position on earth. I returned to Hungary less than three years ago to see that our Union has gone comatose. That was why I initiated the rebuilding project. Where have you guys been?
 It will give me even greater joy if we have a better candidate than Fred and Frank. After the meeting at the embassy, I asked my opponent that we should take a walk together along the Nepszinhaz street where you usually find Nigerians. The idea is for people to see us together smiling and talking to them with the assurance that there is no problem between us and to encourage them to keep the vision alive. Rebuilding the Union must not tear us apart.

3. Words are on the street from a camp that the election was cancelled by the Nigerian embassy. I wish to make it categorically clear that these spurious insinuations are unfounded. We did not have anybody to manage the affairs of the Union before now. People have been aloof and unconcerned.  I took up the responsibility to reawaken this union when I had a meeting with the former president and leaders of tribal groups in December 2014.  If others have done this long before now, many issues would have been addressed long before the election. For example, the e-mail address of the union was registered by the past regime and was given to the electoral committee with other documents. The committee gave that e-mail address to the Secretary of the constitution review committee Mr Diegbe Macpherson with which they sent previous messages to us. We received this e/mail and other documents from the electoral committee about two days after the election result was announced. All these were also misconstrued by a selected few. It is only fair that the embassy intervened. Their contribution was aligned to the opinions of other Nigerians who intervened. What signal will I be sending if I do not listen to the Ambassador, Pastors and other Nigerians that have been in this country long before me? The Union is bigger than my ambition and it is only proper that we listen to our elders as a last resort. What did we do with our union for the past seven years? How many Nigerians living in Hungary were aware that we even had a Union before now?

4. Immediately after this last letter, I will hand over this e/mail details and all properties of the Union currently in my possession to the transitional committee that will evolve from the meetings of the elders. I have seen the court registration papers of our Union and other documents and I must tell you that it is not yet Uhuru!

5. I wish to thank all Nigerians (critics and supporters of Fred and Frank alike ) for their participation in the last election. It is my wish that we key into the ongoing momentum instead of sitting back at this point. Forget about your grudges and show forth your wisdom. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (James 3:17)

6. Despite the camp you belong to, we shall remain  citizens of one indivisible Nigeria. Jonathan Goodluck has shown to us how to protect our country in the face of adversaries and personal ambition. We cannot do otherwise.

7. I shall contest this election again, ceteris paribus and I invite everybody on board!
    
    God bless us all.

Yours Sincerely,

Fred Odorige.