Ondo Gov Election And Matters Arising

Sequel to the United States of America’s presidential election held on November 5, 2024, many Nigerians became political analysts. The poll was adjudged to be free, fair, transparent and credible. Nigerians compared that election with the shenanigans that usually take place in our country in the name of elections. They wondered if any lesson would be learnt from the US presidential poll, especially with regard to the last Saturday’s governorship election in Ondo State.  

In the US poll, the Republican Party presidential candidate, Mr. Donald Trump, defeated his Democratic Party challenger and incumbent Vice-President, Ms Kamala Harris, despite all odds and predictions. Trump, who was the 45th President between 2017 and 2021, won both electoral college and popular votes to emerge the 47th President. This made him the second President in America’s history to be elected in two non-consecutive terms. The first person was Grover Cleveland who served as the 22nd President after the election of 1884 and as the 24th President after the election of 1892. 

Trump’s victory was devoid of any power of incumbency. The current ruling party happens to be Harris’ Democratic Party. But there was no manipulation of the system to favour her. There was no snatching and breaking of ballot boxes. No voter harassment and intimidation. No vote-buying. No parade of platoon of soldiers and policemen across voting centres. No technical glitches of any kind affecting collation of results. No undue delay in the release of election results. And no time-wasting litigation. In the spirit of sportsmanship and knowing that the game was over, Harris quickly accepted defeat and congratulated Trump, promising to help out in his transition. Only Goodluck Jonathan easily conceded defeat when he lost the 2015 presidential election as incumbent President to his main challenger, immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari.  

Comparing the US election and our elections in Nigeria is like comparing apple and oranges. On November 11, 2023, there were governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States. Violence, intimidation and harassment of voters as well as vote-buying characterized those elections.  

The September 21 governorship election in Edo State also suffered many hiccups despite the fact that it was a one-cycle election. The ruling party at the centre, the All Progressives Congress (APC), was announced as the winner of the poll. The ruling party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), contested the result. This notwithstanding, the APC candidate, Monday Okpebholo, has since been sworn in as governor. The PDP is now in court. But judging from our previous experiences on past election litigation, I am not excited about this court process.  

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, said the other day that INEC had learnt some lessons from the Edo governorship election and other previous polls. He identified two major challenges for his commission – logistics for election and result management – and promised fast improvement in these two processes in the Ondo governorship election. So, has any lesson been learnt? Should we now trust INEC to deliver seamless elections in the future?

Well, the last Saturday’s Ondo governorship election was an improvement of the Edo governorship poll. INEC officials reported early to polling units this time. The election was largely peaceful. There was no delay in the uploading of results to the IReV.

Nevertheless, there were pockets of violence in places like Idanre, the headquarters of Idanre Local Government Area of the state. Observers reported widespread vote-buying by agents of the APC and the PDP. In most places, the PDP reportedly paid N5,000 while the APC paid N10,000 per person. The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) observers reported seeing policemen complaining that they were given only N100,000 for 10 of them to share in Ward 005, PU 001, St. Barnabas Primary School, Ifon, by a party stalwart, while only one official from another security agency purportedly got N15,000. Officers from the Department of State Services (DSS) reportedly nabbed a man with bags of money found in the booth of his car outside St. Stephen’s Primary School in Akure, the state capital.

As usual, there was large presence of security agents during the election. The Defence headquarters deployed troops to the border areas and flashpoints in an effort to support the police and deter any interference with the voting process. On their part, the police deployed 22,239 officers to maintain security across the state during the election. The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) deployed 6,000 personnel. There was also restriction of all vehicular movements in the state from 6am to 6pm on the election day. It was as if we were in a state of war.

We will be fooling ourselves if we think that the little success INEC achieved in this Ondo poll will reflect in subsequent general election. Ondo is an APC state and the powers that be knew that victory was certain for the ruling party in the state. So, their rigging intervention was minimal.

The 2023 presidential election presented us with what these haters of democracy can do. There were series of violence, voter intimidation, outright manipulation of results in some states and deliberate sabotage of the process by the electoral umpire. Nigerians were hopeful and expectant that the much-touted Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal would make for a seamless exercise. Unfortunately, both BVAS and IReV were circumvented and manipulated, culminating in such lame excuses as ‘technical glitches’ affecting the collation of final results.

Of course, the judiciary gave jaundiced judgment to cement what was clearly a very badly conducted election. What we now have in Nigeria is total state capture. The ruling party has captured the electoral umpire. It has captured the judiciary, the security agencies, and even the thugs who are usually used to truncate the wishes of the people. One way or the other, President Bola Tinubu has graciously rewarded some of his acolytes and others who helped him to win the election. Among them are those who vomited hate speech and inciting comments against the opposition and a particular ethnic group.

There are ominous dark clouds gathering ahead of the 2027 general election. At all times, we must not lose sight of the comment of President Tinubu who said during the presidential campaign last year that power is not served a la carte. In his words, you snatch it, grab it, and run with it.

Anyway, may I congratulate Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of the APC on his victory at the poll last Saturday. As of press time, he beat his closest challenger, Agboola Ajayi of the PDP by a wide margin. My little advice to the PDP candidate is to take the outcome of the election in his strides. He should not bother going to court to waste scarce resources. If the APC could capture Edo, a hitherto PDP state, there is no magic that could have helped the PDP to win Ondo. If the powers that be truly want to enthrone true democracy and free and fair elections in Nigeria, they should institute electoral reforms and make electronic voting mandatory. But do they really want a free and fair election? 

Reactions to South-East on crooked journey to self-destruction

In the last 22 years (2002-2024), five governors of South-East joined their counterparts to answer former President Olusegun 0basanjo’s call to introduce “unknown govt” @ LGCs in the 768 LGAs in the federation. Caretaker, interim management, CGC, SOLAD & mayors emerged while reporting to governors who appointed them. Communities suffered serious neglect infrastructure-wise. Attempts by the Federal Government’s Supreme Court 2024, to salvage the situation has been sabotaged by governors & State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECS) through questionable (s)elections. Govs in South-East are owners of “unknown gunmen” used to protect their loot from LGAs. They must free FAAs, State IGRs.

-Hon. Ihuoma Ray, 0806 001 9005

Casmir, when IPOB impulsively/thoughtlessly, recklessly and irresponsibly issued the very first sit-at-home order, I knew instinctively, that IPOB had ‘murdered sleep’ in an erstwhile peaceful & serene South East. Only a few should be surprised – vis-a-vis the present circumstances – on the state of insecurity in the region given the fact that it is easier to destroy than to build! IPOB never thought it through by looking at the short, mid and long-term consequences of its actions. How on earth could they have thought that a Buhari govt that painstakingly went through the stress of bringing Kanu back to face or continue his trial would succumb to the threat of sit-at-home to release Kanu. Even if they sit at home for 365 days, the Buhari govt – and by extension Tinubu govt – wouldn’t have released Kanu. They only complicated the situation of Kanu and have damaged the economy of South East! Criminally minded groups are now maximally exploiting the ‘fear factor’ in indigenes to full effect. IPOB is a proscribed group and an irritant to the govt. Govt will not negotiate with them. Govt understands that an average south easterner is sympathetic to the incarceration of Kanu.

-Mike Mushin, 0816 111 4572

•Also published in the Daily Sun of Monday, November 18, 2024