By midday it was clear that the man Peter Obi will sweep the polls. The chairman was just coming from the situation room cradling a ringing phone.
He had done all that was asked of him. He’d slowed down the tsunami of PVC registrations and collections. Even today, he had looked the other way while election materials were sent late or not at all to strategic locations.
Which was why he was pissed off about this IREV suggestion these people have been making non-stop for the past hour. If they couldn’t win with all the odds he had tilted in their favour, maybe they didn’t deserve to win. And it doesn’t matter how much they were paying.
He settled into his chair and picked the call.
“Switch it off! Switch it off! Switch the damn IREV off!”, came the panicked and shrill voice of the cunning old fox.
The chairman recoiled from the violence of the request. It was as if the man would die if he didn’t get his wish.
He replied in an even voice, trying to calm him down, “I can’t, I’m sorry. Your request means we won’t have any elections.”
“So be it!”, came the bark from the fox without hesitation.
“Look. Sir… Chief … my phone has been ringing off the hook from your people asking for the IREV to be turned off. I won’t do it. The President will be livid.”
“Prof...”, hissed the fox, calmer now. The kind of calm that seeped through gritted teeth, pregnant with mortal threat. “The president? Which President? Don’t make me laugh.”
“Eerm…”, the chairman began. His confidence ebbing, “is the President aware?”
“Look at this man. You think I play around? Of course he is aware.”
“But… but… The country will burn, sir!”
“I don’t care if the country burns! Switch it off now!”
The Chairman stood briskly and the inside of his knee pushed his massive plush chair with the insignia of his office such that it stopped violently at the wall behind him. He placed his left hand on the polished oak table and leaned into the phone in his right hand as if by doing so he could make a different sense from what just hit his eardrum. The country should burn?
O c’mon, thought the chairman. His anger brought his confidence back.
“I can’t. I’m sorry. I’ve been to Chatham house to claim that our system can’t fail! I have a reputation to protect!”
“How much is your reputation?! I’m tired of arguing with you. Jide has sent something to your dollar account.
It is the carrot. Believe me, you don’t want to see the stick.
Switch it off now!”
With that, the phone went off. The chairman knew immediately because he pulled the smartphone from his ear to stare at it like he’d never seen it before when the call ended.
This man is evil. He needed to be stopped. He readied himself to call the president when the alert chimed.
The figure looked impossible. He opened the app almost gingerly, as if the smartphone would explode without warning. His feet wobbled and he sank back into his seat.
He felt lightheaded. Delirious. Happy. What was his reputation worth? Well the characters displayed on his banking app more than covers it. The “stick” won’t be necessary.
To hell with the country, didn’t feel so bad after all. Finally, he smiled.
His next call wasn’t to the president. To hell with that sanctimonious, walking monument of corruption too. His next call was to the IT executive in charge of IREV.
“This is important. Listen carefully…”, he began.
And thus the massive win of Peter Obi was hidden from public view, later to be destroyed by a judiciary bought and paid for.
#NeverForgetIREV
I live in Gurgaon, and I spent the last week in Shenzhen. Here are some of my observations from the city and their implications for India. It would be accurate to say that we've missed many marks, and catching up with China in general, and its cities in particular, is not going to be easy… almost ever. (1/13)
From the Polls conducted for the year 2023:
- Peter Obi emerges the Man of the year
- Alex Otti won the Eastern Governor of the year
- Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is the Woman of the year
Let's Retweet to celebrate them 🙏
While you were focused on Arsenal's downfall. Alhaji Pablo was focused on Nigeria's downfall rushing the approval of the securitization of the "Ways and Means" through the Senate.
I know this means nothing to you and I hate to be the bearer of bad news as we close out the year.