DSS, police and Edo election

Barometer

In some seven months to come, Edo voters will troop out to elect their next governor. They will have the option of revalidating the incumbent, Godwin Obaseki, or electing a fresher. If Edo people are apprehensive of the influences their choices might be subjected to, they have not shown it. Indeed, they have been quite sanguine about the coming vote. They trust that despite the initial hullabaloo, the electoral process would go on fairly smoothly, and their choices would be made and respected. The security agencies in the state are, on the contrary, less optimistic. They have sounded a note of warning suggesting that the September poll might be undermined by bloody politicking. In the coming months, the electorate will find out just how bad the problem is.

The police and the Department of State Service (DSS) have both warned that the auguries are bad. According to the state police boss, Lawal Jimeta, and the Zonal Director of the DSS, Mohammed Waziri, Edo could witness very dire situation if the worsening security problems in the state are not addressed by politicians who have the responsibility to tone down their bellicose discourses. The indicators are frightening, warned the zonal DSS boss. There are no independent means of verifying the fears of the security officers. In fact, indications are that they appear restrained in their warnings.

Everyone in Edo knows that there has been a falling-out between Mr Obaseki and his mentor and current national All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman, Adams Oshiomhole. The dispute between the two Edo politicians has grown increasingly fierce and irreconcilable. Indeed, few now expect that there would be a rapprochement between the two leaders before the September plebiscite. The election process will be kick-started in the next few weeks with a party primary. It is that primary that many believe could end up being turbulent and bloody. No one is sure that a reconciliation would take place between now and that fateful primary election, an election only the national APC can superintend, hopefully without court wrangling that could end up costing the party dearly.

Mr Obaseki has now considerably stiffened his opposition to Mr Oshiomhole, and the party chairman has in turn burrowed very deep to plant a depth bomb under the governor’s seat. With every passing month, and from one measure to another — some of the measures involving targeted revocation of certificate of occupancy, demolition of property said to violate building laws, denial of rally permits, and request for the arrest of Mr Oshiomhole — the governor has gradually upped the ante. Among other factors, the misunderstanding seemed to have begun with what the APC chairman stated was a  surreptitious proclamation of the state legislature by the governor, a proclamation described as anti-democratic and unlawful. Since that fateful step, the problems have worsened so badly that they now seem irreversible.

In turn, Mr Oshiomhole himself began to nurture groups and associations in the Edo APC which became unalterably opposed to the governor. With both sides becoming implacable, even to the extent of deploying incendiary devices, the security agencies are at sixes and sevens how to respond to the intra-party bickering. Had one of the sides been the opposition, perhaps the security agencies would have been more sprightly in their response. But since both sides belong to the ruling party, the security agencies have walked on eggs, unsure how to respond beyond issuing dire warnings and painting frightening scenarios. Neither the police nor the DSS thinks the situation will end well. They fear the worst.

Without prejudice to who is right or wrong between Mr Oshiomhole and Mr Obaseki, the security agencies have the responsibility to discharge their duties without fear or favour. They were there when things began to build to a crescendo, when the disagreements started turning violent, when the combatants began to threaten fire and brimstone. It is unlikely they would have been shackled had they carried out their responsibilities in accordance with the law. When the governor banned rallies, the security agencies should have waded in and told him he was exceeding his mandate as a democratically elected governor. When he sought to bar the APC chairman from visiting his home state, they should have told him that he could not lawfully give that kind of order. And when violence ensued during one of Mr Oshiomhole’s visit, the police should have done the needful, even if those arrested were the APC chairman’s close aides.

Had the security agencies done their jobs without fear or favour, had they acted promptly without waiting to be nudged, irrespective of whose toes they stepped on, it is unlikely the situation would have deteriorated to the point where they are now painting terrible forebodings of the future in Edo State. The politicians, whether Mr Oshiomhole or Mr Obaseki, might wish to exceed themselves; it is, however, the responsibility of security agencies to restrain them within the bounds of the law.

Now, no one is sure just how the primary  in Edo will go, whether one party could find the room to threaten the peace and wellbeing of the state or not. The violence in the state is worsening, and is expected to peak during the primary. Rather than whining and engaging in handwringing, the security agencies should firmly restrain lawbreakers. Neither the governor nor the party chairman must be allowed to threaten the peace and stability of the state simply because both or one of them is unable to properly interpret and appreciate the meaning of democracy and party politics.