The first development, post June 21, was the u-turn by APC. The ‘sole proprietor’ of the party had declared, in his ‘rig and roast’ statement, that they would not go to court and that was before the election. The initial reaction of the party was that was in line with that as it declared that ‘What happened in Ekiti is not loss for APC; it is a loss to the whole country because if suddenly, character, performance and accountability are no longer yardstick for reelection, our party is not the loser; Nigeria is the loser( Lai Mohammed; Guardian, 29/6/14, p10). Eventually, the part said it would document some constitutional breaches for record purposes and judicial interpretation. One of the breaches was the heavy military presence during the election; a situation that occurred in Edo(won by APC) and Anambra(won by APGA). Finally, the party went to the elections tribunal.
More surprising were the actions and attitude of Governor Fayemi, who initially made a statesmanlike statement, promised to make the transition smooth for ‘my brother’, Fayose and was declared the hero of the election. Suddenly, he started saying that he just conceded defeat to avoid anarchy. Hear him ‘… I had to decide whether to allow Ekiti to be turned into a killing field by trigger-happy security agents already on instruction to mow them down people for protesting the abracadabra inflicted on them… Anyone who understands the English language well would know that that speech was not the concession speech that many people are talking about. Yes, I have said I won’t challenge the election in court and congratulated Mr Fayose, but that’s not tantamount to accepting the result’. Furthermore, he went on to create new local governments (while the matter was in court) and allegedly employed new 4000 staff, just as Ikedi Ohakim did on his last working day in Imo State. By so doing, he has set fire on the excellent record he has just created and laid landmines for the incoming administration. This shows that you can’t teach an old dog a new trick and that our political culture is still at infancy. Specifically, we still have a long way to go in accepting defeat.
The second development pertains to the indirect outcomes of the Ekiti Elections in other states of the Federation, especially, in APC states. Governors panicked and started retracting on what they had done or said. In some states, peace meetings were held with civil servants to address all outstanding issues and suddenly, money materialized to settle outstanding salaries and claims. In others, the governors became born again in every material particular while in Osun state, the battle for rice distribution is so fierce that people may not buy rice in the next few years! But the most shocking development took place in Edo state,especially, and because of who is involved. Comrade Oshiomhole was at his boisterous best when he declared that the state had recalled the 930 sacked teachers (including those who forged their certificates, falsified their age or could not read and write!), canceled all competency tests and would not undertake any criminal investigation against any of the criminal elements. Among those pardoned and recalled to continue with their ‘good works’ is Mrs. Agusta Odemwinge, a teacher of 20 years standing at Asologun Primary School, who appeared at the Edo certificate verification exercise but could not read the affidavit she had provided as a part of her credentials. Incidentally, the comrade governor had paid an unscheduled visit to the screening center and was indeed partaking in the exercise. The perplexed governor had asked: if you can’t read, what are you teaching the pupils? The woman among other things insisted that the word in question was ‘registrated’ , adding ‘you want make I repeat am? while the governor was directing her that it was registered(Thisday, 1/8/13,p8; Channels 10pm news on 13/8/13). If I did not watch Comrade Oshiomhole making the declaration himself, I would not have believed it! So, for short-term political gains, our politicians, including the comrade, are ready to destroy the few good steps they have taken? O di egwu!(this is abominable!)
The third was the recently concluded NBA elections in which A Alege (SAN) emerged victorious. All the features of Nigerian elections were present: appeal to tribal, sectional and gender sentiments, the presence of serious contenders and those who also ran, the ‘construction’ and ‘hiring’ of ‘political structures’ and other political shenanigans. But two developments were very shocking and very degrading of the so called learned gentlemen. The first was unbridled monetisation and reliance on stomach infrastructure. Serious contenders to the throne were estimated to have spent up to N1bn apiece while it cost return flight tickets, hotel accommodation and feeding for three nights and N50000 to capture some votes (and they are all learned)! There were other unwholesome practices like the creation of emergency, black-market, branches, backdoor reopening of nominations, several incidents of ‘disqualification by ambush’ and other practices
described by J Unachukwu, a Lawyer as undemocratic, condemnable, dictatorial (See detailed report on Punch, 21/7/14, p66 and BusinessDay, 24/7/14, p34). So if lawyers, who are supposed to show the light, who know and interpret the rules could descend so low, where is our hope? As Chaucer asked, if gold could rust, what should iron do?
Well, subject to legal gymnastics, Fayose has won the Ekiti elections and he did so overwhelmingly and against all odds. Politically, it was a David and Goliath contest. And this is the second time that he would be upstaging an incumbent, as an underdog and with negative PR net worth. Probably, there is something to this and beyond the ‘emerging sociology of Ekiti people’, political scientists should also look into this Fayose phenomenon. Ekiti people won in the elections. True to their age long proverb, they have again rubbished the postulations of Lagos analysts(oju mi la l’eko, iya lo mu ni je ni ekiti- no matter how well exposed you are in Lagos, you will be pruned to size in Ekiti). They got what they want and peacefully too, despite the violence which APCians tried to incite through the ‘rig and roast’(Tinubu) and ‘take power by force (Rufai)declarations. Fayemi showed himself a hero (though I am having doubts) and Bamidele of LP declared himelf a winner. Even Fayose appears to have become a changed person So, all is well for the state.
Where will the state be in the next 4 years? Time will tell! There is not likely to be continuity and political fireworks are imminent. Fayose has already declared that there is no room for technocrats in his government and that his priority is not to industrialise Ekiti but to take care of the people by awarding contracts to them. The grassroots must be watered! Furthermore, the last has not been heard of the vexatious creation of LCDAs. In the next four years, we shall see the scoreboard. But one thing is certain:Nigerian politicians will never forget or ignore the theory and practice of stomach infrastructure because they will do so at their own peril!…
Ik Muo
