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<\/a><\/p>\nDemocracy derives its legitimacy not from the pronouncements of self-appointed elites, but from the freely expressed will of the people. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is clear and unambiguous on this sacred principle: every citizen possesses the inalienable right to vote and be voted for. This right is not a privilege granted by political gatekeepers, nor is it a favor to be distributed by unelected councils operating outside constitutional authority. It is a constitutional guarantee belonging exclusively to the people.<\/p>\n
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It is therefore disturbing and unacceptable that a group of individuals operating under the umbrella of the so-called Imo Elders Council would presume to arrogate to themselves the authority to determine, in advance, who may contest for political office in Imo State under the guise of a \u201cCharter of Equity.\u201d Such an action strikes at the very heart of democracy and undermines the sovereignty of the people.<\/p>\n
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No individual, association, pressure group, or council however respected, possesses the constitutional power to suspend, restrict, negotiate away, or transfer the political rights of citizens. The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria recognizes no institution known as the \u201cImo Elders Council\u201d as a constitutional body empowered to make binding political decisions on behalf of the people of Imo State. It is neither elected by the people nor established by law. Consequently, its declarations amount to personal opinions and political preferences at best, but certainly not constitutional authority.<\/p>\n
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The right to political participation is clearly protected under the Constitution. The qualifications for elective offices are expressly provided in Sections 65, 106, 131, and 177 of the Constitution. Nowhere does the Constitution authorize an unelected gathering of elders or whatever name called, to determine which senatorial zone, ethnic bloc, or political interest group should exclusively produce a governor or any other elected official. Such authority rests solely with the electorate through the ballot box.<\/p>\n
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The Constitution further guarantees the right of citizens to freely associate politically, participate in elections, and seek public office without discrimination or unlawful restriction. These rights are not subject to withdrawal through private meetings, elite arrangements, or political declarations made without the consent of the people.<\/p>\n
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Zoning, rotational arrangements, and political understandings may serve as political conveniences or tools for inclusion, but they remain discretionary political agreements, not constitutional commandments. They cannot be elevated above the sovereign will of the people. More importantly, they cannot be imposed on citizens without broad consultation, public consensus, and democratic acceptance.<\/p>\n
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A democracy where citizens are told in advance where leadership must come from, regardless of competence, popularity, credibility, or the wishes of the electorate is dangerously close to tyranny, dictatorship and democratic suppression. Imo people are not political spectators. They are the owners of the mandate. No elite consensus can override the constitutional sovereignty of millions of citizens.<\/p>\n
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History teaches us that democracy does not collapse only through military intervention or authoritarian decrees. Sometimes, democracy is weakened gradually through carefully orchestrated attempts by powerful interests to manipulate political outcomes behind closed doors. Whenever a few individuals assume the authority to decide who should govern before elections are conducted, democracy becomes compromised, participation becomes restricted, and the people become marginalized.<\/p>\n
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The future of Imo State cannot and must not be determined in private meetings by unelected individuals claiming to speak for everyone. The true voice of Imo State resides in its ordinary citizens: market women, artisans, youths, professionals, traditional communities, civil servants, farmers, religious groups, and voters across the state. Their voices matter. Their votes matter. Their constitutional rights also matter, therefore must be respected.<\/p>\n
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Equity cannot exist without justice, and justice cannot exist where the constitutional rights of citizens are subordinated to political arrangements crafted without their participation and consent. True equity must emerge from fairness, inclusion, consultation, equal opportunity, and democratic participation, not political imposition or selective exclusion.<\/p>\n
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The people of Imo State must therefore remain vigilant in defending their constitutional freedoms. No citizen should be intimidated into silence or compelled to surrender his or her democratic rights simply because a group of self-appointed political custodians has spoken. In a constitutional democracy, power belongs to the people not to councils without electoral legitimacy.<\/p>\n
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The path forward for Imo State lies not in exclusion, coercion, political intimidation, or predetermined outcomes, but in open competition, merit, justice, competence, fairness, and the free choice of the electorate.<\/p>\n
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The ballot box, not elite declarations must remain the ultimate decider of leadership in a democratic society.<\/p>\n
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Anything short of that is an affront to democracy itself.<\/p>\n
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Capt. Bishop C. Johnson, US Army (rtd), is a national defense and military strategist, and a political commentator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO VOTE AND BE VOTED FOR IS SACROSANCT \u2014 NOBODY<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-frontpage","category-trumpetapodium"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":"","thumbnail":"","medium":"","medium_large":"","large":"","1536x1536":"","2048x2048":"","elegant-magazine-featured":"","elegant-magazine-medium":"","elegant-magazine-medium-small":"","elegant-magazine-thumbnail-small":""},"author_info":{"info":["Imo Trumpeta"]},"category_info":"Frontpage<\/a> Trumpetapodium<\/a>","tag_info":"Trumpetapodium","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49304","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49304"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49306,"href":"http:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49304\/revisions\/49306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49304"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.imotrumpeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}