Gov. Ademola Adeleke may have been basking in the euphoria of victory for a second term in Osun State, a victory secured on August 15 in the off-cycle gubernatorial election in the state. The certificate of return is already in his possession and, in no time, he would be sworn in for the next term. The general feeling is that since the Accord Party could pull through against the giant All Progressives Congress (APC), the coast is clear for authentic results to emerge from our elections.
However, all is not well yet with our campaigns and elections. The victory celebrations appear to have drowned the fatality of campaigns as the battle raged for the soul of the state. It was a triumph achieved after more than 30 deaths had been reported in about 73 violent incidents. Where do we place those lives lost today? What’s the fate of their relatives who now mourn their loss? Was the victory worth the blood that was spilled in the process? In that regard, the pre-2027 polls failed the litmus test as an outing that ought to place the nation’s political umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on a higher pedestal before the general elections.
Although it brought out an expected result, a result that seemed to reflect the people’s wish, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu shares no accolades for whatever good that came out of it, as is being touted in several quarters. Enfant terrible Nyesom Wike spun a yarn after the all-round defeat of his principal’s candidate, trying to convince Nigerians that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu allowed Adeleke to win. Story for the gods!
How could one believe that the President would be comfortable to have another party other than his run a state he has so much stake in? As touted in some quarters, the president, as a master on the chessboard of politics, could afford to sacrifice some pawns in pursuit of the king in the castle. Politics demands a human face, and playing chess with human lives appears rather uncanny.
The Abuja minister went on to say that had the president meant to take over the state, he would have sent him for the job. In other words, the more than 22 All Progressives Congress (APC) governors, including Senate President Godswill Akpabio, among other powerful APC stalwarts, were featherweights when it comes to winning (rather, rigging) elections. Only Wike has the magic wand, the one he waved in Rivers State in 2023 and Peter Obi’s votes transformed into Tinubu’s, according to a BBC investigation team.
Some have postulated that since the masses could rise against all odds of violence and votes-buying in Osun to humiliate the President and his APC men, Nigerians could do the same in 2027. Well… I incline my head to tell us that it’s not yet Uhuru. The masses must know this and get braver than they are if they mean to wrestle Nigeria out of the hands of hawks who have buried their fangs deep into the flesh of the Nation.
The complexities of Nigeria’s political terrain, which is why different views and hypotheses are emerging from one single election, makes future elections highly unpredictable. If the President owns the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the DSS director, the police and Army, extending to the Judiciary, why won’t they do his bidding no matter the situation?
If you are in doubt that he owns all these institutions, please tell me who appointed the heads of these institutions. Why are judges getting choice buildings free of charge from the Executive arm of the government instead of it coming from their own budgets? Appointments and elections to political positions in our dear country are nothing short of an invitation to the banquet rather than a call to service. Who wrongs a man that placed him in a world of luxury?
We are dealing with a president that has told us in plain words that all is fair in politics. Those words have far-reaching implications. They mean that our president does not mind the number of lives lost, so long as victory remains his. He minces no words: grab it, snatch it and run with it. To correct all that requires a hard look at the sacred document called the constitution with a view to reforming those areas that empower sitting presidents to do certain things they ought not to do.
While Adeleke dances, he should not fail to mobilize his legal team in wait. And pray very hard. No one hurts the devil and gets away unscathed. If it happened in Imo, it could happen in Osun. If Alex Otti of Abia State, despite overwhelming evidence of his victory at the polls, could go through what he went through after Prof. Nnenna Oti pronounced him governor, every other governor could suffer the same fate in the hands of the hawks.
The mix-up in the Osun case, however, is the profuse honours Adeleke poured out for the president, assuring him of his support in the 2027 presidential election. Could it be out of fear of what the president is capable of doing to him? Was it a fellow feeling for an Osun indigene, as facts have continued to emerge on the enigmatic president’s state of origin? Let’s not give it an ethnic label by thinking that Adeleke is supporting the president because he is Yoruba, or in the spirit of emilokan.
Nonetheless, Osun taught us that an individual politician’s method could generate an organic following that could be beneficial to him in the future. May be, our uptight governors could learn to dance a little, show some sense of humour to win the people to their side. It helped Rochas Anayo Okorocha to climb to power in Imo, although the former governor frittered away the goodwill he amassed then.
Osun told us that all is not transactional as the ruling party practically moved its war chest to Osogbo to topple the dancing governor but failed in the end. Perhaps, an Accord Party leader fell to the wooing of the ruling party and tried to throw sand into Adeleke’s well-prepared rice dish. It was all in vain.
We learn as well that political parties are mere vehicles to power and not a group held by certain ideological leanings. This we know all the while, but are not happy that it is so. Nigeria must find out how this anomaly could be corrected before our political parties all turn into gangs of mafia men. In partisan politics, the party cannot be played out of relevance because of the shenanigans of some politicians and some judiciary personnel in collusion with INEC officials.
What about an assurance that our votes will count? That they counted in Osun is not a guarantee that it would count in 2027. INEC had only one state to deal with here. In 2027, we hope the body would not allow itself to be overwhelmed.
Osun scared me stiff as the bloody campaigns went on. An APC senator had allegedly told his party members openly to kill the Accord Party supporters. He has been questioned, but the masses still believe that he might gradually escape the consequences of his pronouncement, if true, because he belongs to the ruling party.
More than 30 deaths in one season! Osun has left me still wondering if a new Nigeria would emerge in 2027, or that we shall continue with a renewed hope that remains renewed for the families living in Aso Rock while the rest must fry Akara and kwulinkwuli to survive. On a Candid Note, time will always tell.
Dr Odu can be reached through [email protected], or SMS 07016722929.
