The Seven Aspirants that walked out of the venue of the primary had promised to teach APC and Governor Fayemi a lesson if issues are not properly and quickly addressed then APC and Fayemi will have himself to blame” – Hon Bimbo Daramola.
Being a good example of the haughtiness, and arrogance, youthful Ekiti politicians have deployed since about 2003, to make the state almost ungovernable, thereby rendering it a literal economic backwater.
Bimbo is by no means alone in this heedless dare devilry and showmanship.
Thematically, since the totally unexpected defeat, after only his first term, of the Omoluabi governor, Otunba Niyi Adebayo in 2003, as if Ekiti is under a curse, successive governorship elections in the state has always been something of a fight to the death among both qualified, as well as totally unimaginable, Ekiti wannabe governors.
Most astonishing in this unfortunate phenomenon is the fact that the protagonists of the odious reality have always been young politicians who you would, otherwise, have described, at the particular time, as youths who would lay the foundation for a glorious Ekiti future.
Incidentally, one way or the other, some of them did find their way to the governorship seat but were buffeted by intractable inter – party squabbles which ensured that whatever they managed to achieve in office, could very well have been quadrupled have they emerged from different circumstances. The scenario, which started in 2003, has remained with us since, to our eternal shame.
Like Adebayo in 2003, Fayemi had, in 2014, also very sensibly walked away from going to court to contest the incoming Ayo Fayose’s ‘victory’, but instead, asked scholars to spend some quality time to research into the sociology of an Ekiti people who would rather choose to vote out a performing governor.
He obviously spoke too early – thanks to Sergeant Koli’s audio tape which surfaced later, Nigerians got to know that it was not Ekiti’s doing, but rather, that it was the handiwork of a President Goodluck Jonathan who told his kinsman, incumbent Chief of Army Staff that he, Goodluck Jonathan, and not Ayo Fayose, was the PDP candidate in that election.
That is the same man some people are, allegedly, now romancing to be Nigeria’s president , come 2023.
God forbid.
That presidential fatwa was all some rogue INEC officials needed to release its sensitive documents ahead of the election and, days before the actual voting, the result had, a priori, been concluded.
For almost the entirety of Governor Segun Oni’s tenure, not only was the state House of Assembly equally divided between the two main political parties, the legislature hardly achieved anything tangible – indeed, confirmation of the list of state commissioners – a routine matter -could not be done, and the governor, being in court defending his ‘victory’, could do pretty little before the Appeal Court, sitting in Ilorin, Kwara state, voided his election on 15 October, 2010. But all these could not have happened had total strangers like former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Bode George not, like a meteor, suddenly appeared and insinuated themselves into the state’s politics. That was way back 2003 when they overawed the almost faultless campaign of Chief S. K Babalola, a greatly respected Ekiti elder, and gentleman per excellence, thereby effectively muddled up Ekiti politics, like forever.
That is since when the rain has been beating us, politically speaking, in the state as it eventuated in the “bo ba o pa, bo o ba o bu lese” scenario – the absolutely dangerous politics the state has come to witness, periodically, at every governorship election cycle, and from which our politicians have not successfully extricated themselves.ever since.
During the period, we had a one day governor, witnessed an Obasanjo – inspired inchoate impeachment, as well as saw Mama Ayoka’s infantile IDO-OSI political abracadabra, to mention a few.
We have now come to that point in time when any true lover of Ekiti among these politicians, especially thesue current contestants, no matter on which political party platform, who did not scale through the primaries, must sit down and ‘think Ekiti’, rather than self, no matter whatever they consider the rightness of their case because he who fights and runs away fights another day. Luckily, they all have age on their side.
These Ekiti Patriots – yes patriots – must sit down and critically interrogate the question: ‘Why, at every governorship election cycle, must Ekiti be in the news for the wrong reasons?’.
Although this article is aimed, primarily, at helping to suggest a rapptrochement within the APC, I feel concerned for PDP too, because the Ekiti bird cannot fly with only one wing. Insecurity in the country has become so common place that we just must never allow anything insecurity entrepreneurs will leverage upon turn Ekiti into a killing field. Our politicians should also know that no position is worth the blood of a human being.
That said, let me confess that I am personally delighted at the news of His Excellency, Engr Segun Oni’s imminent departure from the PDP. I can see why PDP can no longer sleep easy, both here at home, and in Abuja. Governor Segun Oni is a highly respected, absolutely incorruptible politician who would never stomach the chicanery that played out at the PDP primaries which, but for eagle eyed soldiers, was to have ‘seen’ hundreds of well armed thugs, being ferried all the way down from Ibadan. I think Engr Oni and his supporters deserve to let PDP know that he is worth every bit of his name in gold, through APGA’s showing in the coming election.
Now to the APC, which is the primary reason for this article apart from reminding our politicians of Ekiti’s unsavoury political history.
Let me start out by quoting from my article:’EKITI ’22 – In Order Not To Snatch Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory Warring APC Chieftains Must Sheathe Their Swords’, of Sunday, 9 January, ’22 wherein I wrote:
“As far as Ekiti state is concerned, let me say, first and foremost, that my overriding concern, as it is for Nigeria in general, is peace. It is only in a peaceful atmosphere that the people can thrive and socio-economic development go on apace. I am in a pole position to know that most of those aspiring to be governor in Ekiti have made considerable contribution to the growth, and acceptance, of APC in the state, and should, therefore, need no lessons on what we have suffered in the hands of a ruthless PDP, dating back to the days of former President Obasanjo’s ‘FEHIN GBE PON’ when APC’s victory, then as ACN, whether at elections proper, or at supplementary ones, and right through the courts, were egregiously scuttled, until that glorious day in 2010 at the Appellate court, Ilorin, when truth trumped all the lies of the ruling behemoth. We must remember those days and realise that it is time in Ekiti we abandon our penchant for: kaka k’eku ma je sese a fi sawa da nu, meaning – just spoil it all”. “It never helped us one bit, even as we had one day governors and an Obasanjo-inflicted inchoate impeachment which the Supreme Court later voided; both of which completely arrested the state’s socio- economic development. Another election cycle is here. Must we go the same rout again?”.
That question is as good today as it was slightly over a month ago when it was first posed.
The primaries had come and gone but all manner of sabre rattling is heard on all manner of media, print, radio and television, all unnecessarily aimed at heating up the polity and making our political opponents happy.
Without a doubt one cannot but expect some of these things when one considers the huge egos involved, the resources expended and, of course, the hopes many have invested in their becoming Mr Governor as if a Rasputin has told them they would be governor.
The place to begin interrogaring the issues involved here is the very simple truism that Ekiti, qua state, can have only one governor at a time. So where there are 8 contestants 7 will, willy nilly, not make the cut. This realisation should, ordinarily solve all the logjam we have seen since except, I guess, for the allegation, by some, that one of them was ‘handpicked’, by the governor.
This, however, is not true and we must quickly dispense of it even while the fact of the other 7 contestants echoing the same thing appears to gift it a ring of truth.
And I say this on my word of honour.
I did not stop at merely writing my appeal of 9 January, ’22 as the allegation literally ruled the airwaves, wherever you went in the country. Indeed, Professor Bolaji Aluko would confirm that long before the primaries, he and I, had worked behind the veil, trying to work out some things. We knew we were on our own but had we succeeded, things might have turned out differently.
I, therefore, made enquiries directly from the governor as to the truth or falsity of the allegation. My finding dear reader, and I have never had cause, not even once, in our long years of very close relationship, which many of the contestants are very well aware of , to doubt Governor Fayemi. They should, therefore, sleep easy, when they read here that Biodun Oyebanji was the product of a scientific process – a commissioned GALLUP POLL which had no names given to the pollster, – a professional group of very solid repute – whose remit was to identify, and prequalify persons with requisite political exposure, competence and experience and who could emerge the party’s governorship candidate in the June 2022 governorship election with the proviso that this be not limited to those in government. Far be it, therefore, that anybody hand picked the young man who is now the APC candidate for the June ’22 election. Instead, what played out is that the idea of a home grown Biodun Oyebanji who, only in his 20’s, was Secretary to the Chief Deji Fasuan – led committee of leading Ekiti titans, and Kabiyesis for the creation of Ekiti state, as well as his having creditably held many high public offices in the governments of both governors Niyi Adebayo and Kayode Fayemi, two of Ekiti’s most consequential governors, and the fact that he went round the state far more than any of his competitors, resonated very well with party members and supporters who were not just seeing him only at election time having just resigned as Secretary to Government (SSG). They could only barely conceal their enthusiasm for him.
Indeed, if other contestants would own this up, they cannot claim to have been surprised by Oyebanji’s margin of victory. Had there been no election, as some of them claim, or were there untoward practices, as they keep on alleging, the 20 officials granted each of them by the team from Abuja should have, as Governor Badaru correctly observed, disrupted proceedings in dozens of election venues as against a mere 11, where the elections were outrightly cancelled. One thing is certain, whoever wants to help resolve this problem must, like the typical Ekiti, be blunt and truthful; not minding whose ox is gored, keen only on speaking the truth.
What should be the way forward now?
What should matter to all now, especially the contestants, should not be how many Senior Advocates they can hire, but what soft landing the party leadership can extend to them.
They must appreciate that there are some equally eminent, and loyal, party members who are ogling the posts some of them currently hold, but for the sake of peace and unity, and in particular, for the must win June ’22 governorship election, my plea to the party leadership is that all current members of the National Assembly should be allowed to retain their positions.
This plea, I must say, is in spite of the fact that Senator Opeyemi Bamidele , a highly regarded party leader, went through this same route in 2014, when he aligned with a neighbouring state governor, a good aburo of mine, to muddle up the election of that year for the party. Besides that, he has not been fair to Governor Fayemi at all. For instance, during the Governor’s visit to the APC National Leader, Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to brief him on preparations for the governorship election, he was surprised that Opeyemi, who had earlier visited the National leader, did not mention a word of Governor Fayemi’ s meeting with him – at the governor’s invitation, and long before the primary’s process kicked off at all, at which he told him that the party would be prepared to support his return to Senate. The idea was that he would become a very senior and ranking member of the Red chamber and thereby help impact good legislation for country as well as state. He didn’t even as much as revert back to the governor with his reaction. If that was not a favour, right from the apex of the party in the state, I dont know what is, because I was an observer/participant in how badly Ope wanted that opportunity only a few years ago. Has he suddenly grown beyond being a ‘Distinguished’, a position some party members in his senatorial district are eyeing?
Ditto for Prince Dayo Adeyeye whose immaculate performance in the 2018 governorship election the party cannot forget in a hurry. Unfortunately, this time around, he has subjected the governor to so much scurrility, and badmouthing, allegedly on grounds relating to his case at the election tribunal. Pray, didn’t Fayemi too lose at election tribunals? That not withstanding, my plea will still be that for him: ti a o ba tori isu je epo, a tori epo je isu. For his great electoral performance in 2018, mentioned earlier, and for reasons I cannot bring to the public space, I will plead with the party leadership to favourably consider giving him the ticket for an opportunity to return to the Senate. The leadership must also try as much as possible to ensure that it gives safe landing to all the contestants who, fortunately, are not half as many as the party had in 2018 when, happily, not a single contestant decamped to another party. And come to think of it, how many of them would like to go and play second, if not third or fourth, fiddle in the PDP in the state?
That done, the leadership should critically look at meeting all necessary geo- political interests to further deepen the peoples’ love for, and loyalty to, APC.
With all these behin it , the party should be able to coast to victory, running on Governor Fayemi’s achievements since his first term. Since his coming in 2010, the governor has impacted positively on all Ekiti’s 131 towns, villages and communities. For instance, on most, if not all his visits to the palaces during the 2018 campaigns – I was always one of the very few to enter into the Kabiyesi’s inner sanctorium with him, the very first thing we always heard was a ‘Thank You Mr Governor’, for so and so you have done for the town and this, invariably, always included either the building, or beautifying of the palace in which he was being received. For each town this also included beautification of schools, and building or equipping of health centres as well as good roads linking most of the towns. The governor has not looked back on his developmental efforts. This time around a huge, world Bank funded water project, World Bank funded roads linking agricultural communities, as well as giant strides in education, social security for the elderly and development in ICT etc, are all ongoing among others.
The contestants should, in view of all these, not snatch defeat from victory but please sheathe their swords and let us all work together to see the party continue its giant strides under another of our own?
We need the APC family: members as well as supporters, to be totally united going into the election, come June 18, 2022.
