These five words used to signify the strong belief system of every typical average proud Nigerian; also these five words used to mean something in the Nigeria of yesteryears, where every man, woman and child took a great delight and pride in being honorable, honest, principled, dignified and ultimately a person of integrity. What we observed at the A.N.P.P. convention in the chairmanship race on September 19th, 2010, glaringly showed and interested observers that this present day Nigeria tossed out all the basic human principles our forefathers instilled in us into the gutter.

This great party which stands for justice however made a mockery out of their party motto. We observed a great injustice perpetrated by the so called party stalwarts with such effrontery and total disregard to the rule of law and consequences.
These people based on their own hidden agenda which will become apparent as the (S)election season progresses, showed disdain to anyone and everyone who erred on the side of justice and fairness, credible and free election; which goes to show one that there can NEVER be a fair election in Nigeria.
These stalwarts, through the use of subtle coercion, cajoling, gentle and not so gentle persuasion, veiled threats and finally intimidation by the chieftains, Secretary to the Borno state governor, the impeached Deputy Governor of Bauchi State, the Deputy Governor of Yobe State, former Deputy Governor of Jigawa State, all led by Governor Ali Modu Sherriff, former Governor Yerima of Zamfara State, former Governor Audu of Kogi State, former Governor Oyegun of Edo State, also, etc; they intimidated the delegates to vote for a candidate they could not identify in the crowd and absolutely know nothing about. This candidate, Onu was introduced into the race 48hours before the election; this candidate did not write a letter of intent to contest the National Chairmanship position, he did not purchase a form to contest, and he did not submit the form of participation in the election yet, his name appeared on the ballot papers as the consensus candidate; and Akande, who vigorously campaigned for the chairmanship position, was surprisingly left off the ballot, in other words, this candidate did not participate in the due electoral process.
Originally, there were eight candidates in the race, and one by one these candidates dropped out of the race after being promised positions of power in the party (these facts can be corroborated).
Now there are two candidates left Akande and Onu vying for the chairmanship position. If this is supposedly a free, fair and credible election, both candidates names should have been on the ballot however, Chief Akande’s name was purposely left off the ballot until a member of INEC intervened and rectified the omission and irregularities being perpetrated by the powers that be, who wants a puppet (a yes man if you will) that will be easily manipulated and carry out their dastardly deeds that will not be in favor of the goals of the party.

These puppet masters made a mockery of both the democracy and the democratic process that people fought so very hard for and died for on June 12th, 1993. These group of people were openly blatant with their forgery, thievery committed so many voting atrocities and deceit knowing fully well that the innocent people do not have any alternative but to accept what these charlatans (schmucks) do. It is only in Nigeria that you will see State Governors and their lackey’s blatantly breaking the laws that govern our country by sending text messages to people threatening them with loosing their jobs and they went as far as relieving some people of their duties in the party if they don’t vote a certain way. These people did not have any choice as this is their livelihood, also due to the state of the economy , nobody wants to loose their income, so they did as they were told. This just reeks of autocracy to me.

This is a party that is portraying themselves as being a party filled with progressive thinkers who are looking for a unified Nigeria and are ready to bring Nigeria into the 21st century (a party built by the people for the people); however, the party’s action on 19th Sept. 2010, certainly deviated from what everyone believes. Here is a party that had an extra-ordinary man who embodies all of the characteristics of these five words …, HONOR, ……HONESTY …… DIGNITY……, PRINCIPLE ……. And INTEGRITY at their disposal and use his expertise to work effortlessly and tirelessly in conjunction with others in the party to build it into a formidable party and look out for the “little” people’s interest, yet they chose a man who has always looked for the easiest way out and who can be manipulated if and when given the right incentives.
These actions does not really correlate with the image being projected to the populace Hmm!!!!!!!!

This is neither a ranting nor a raving of a disgruntled party member nor is this a case of sour grapes, what this is, is an unemotional objective account of factual events that happened at an event that was billed as following the democratic process, which was unequivocally a joke which has caused a great divide in the party, and diminished the party‘s capacity of becoming a great contender in next years election.
What is not a joke though, is a man of conviction who stood up for his principles which is embedded in fairness and make the party establishment follow the so called rule of law and made them have an election instead of just having a consensus candidate forced on the party. Though he lost, but he should be considered a hero who stands with the masses and fight for them. Nigeria needs both men and women like that, who see a great potential in our country and fight for her to survive for our children and their future.