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  • APC petitions tribunal on Ekiti poll

    APC petitions tribunal on Ekiti poll

    •PDP: Party chasing shadows 

    The Ekiti State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has filed a petition challenging the results of the June 21 governorship election.

    The interim Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe, told reporters at the weekend that he submitted the petition on behalf of the party on Saturday “since the law allows the tribunal to also operate during weekends”.

    He said the petitioner is urging the Tribunal to “unravel the hidden fact surrounding the election,” adding: “The poll was more of a mechanical exercise than conventional casting of votes.”

    Awe said: “The results of the election were embarrassing to us as a party and we hold the view that there is no smoke without fire.”

    He said the petition was not opposed to the earlier position of Governor Kayode Fayemi, who had accepted the outcome of the poll and congratulated the winner, Mr Ayo Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He said: “The governor does not own the party. It is the party that owns the governor, and so the party can decide for him. You will observe that there is no name of Dr Kayode Fayemi on the ballot papers. What was contained on it was the name of the party and its logo. So, the issue is beyond the governor.

    “Let it be known to you that our candidate, Dr Fayemi, only conceded victory to guarantee continued peace that was prevalent in the state at the time as well as allow the siege laid on the state by the military to cease.

    “You can see that as soon as he announced that he had accepted defeat, the soldiers immediately vacated the state.”

    The PDP  said “the APC is going there to chase shadows”.

    Its chairman , Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, yesterday in a telephone interaction with reporters, said he was “not surprised because I knew that the APC would look for what to do and by all means too, to remain in the news following their crushing at the election by the Ekiti people”.

    Ogundipe added: “It would be interesting to see what they have this time against an election that has been the talk of the world in terms of freeness, credibility, fairness, organisation and security.

    “Even the people of the state, who voted massively for the candidate of our party, Dr. Ayo Fayose, would laugh at the mockery the APC is surely out to make of itself at the tribunal.

    “It is either their natural mischief or their usual deliberate deception of the people that has made them to act in feigned ignorance of extant court judgments on the issues they took to the tribunal as grounds to challenge the election.”

  • Ekiti Poll: The ugly face of democracy?

    Ekiti Poll: The ugly face of democracy?

    The stunning but totally unexpected defeat of Dr. Kayode Fayemi, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governor of Ekiti State, by Mr. Ayo Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has led many observers and analysts to ask questions. No one gave Fayose any chance to win the election. A former discredited, impeached and disgraced PDP governor, he was still standing trial for all kinds of financial misdemeanours, including the multi- billion naira poultry project that never saw the light of day and murder charges when he was declared the winner of the election.

    Presumably, these legal charges will now be dropped, including the ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of financial misdemeanours. He will claim immunity from prosecution while in office.

    Many observers were initially sceptical of Fayose’s sweeping electoral victory, but were left in a quandary when Dr. Fayemi promptly conceded defeat, congratulating Fayose. This was most gracious of him and reinforces widespread public view of him as a decent person. It was commendable, as this gesture probably saved the state from post-election violence. The scope of Fayose’s electoral victory was stunning and surprising. The turnout in the election was rather low. Of the nearly 800,000 voters validly registered for the election, only 360, 000 actually voted. Fayose was recorded as winning 56 per cent of the votes, while Fayemi could only win 33 per cent. So sweeping was Fayose’s victory that he won in all the local governments, including that of Fayemi. The low turnout for the election may account in part for the scope of Fayose’s victory. Many of Fayemi’s supporters probably stayed away from the election, either because they were confident of his victory, or because they feared an outbreak of violence. This was probably the most sweeping victory in Nigeria’s recent electoral and political history.

    Since Governor Fayemi has not contested the results of the election, we must consider them free and fair, and a genuine representation of the electoral wishes of the people. We must accept the results in the spirit of democracy in which the best candidates may not win always.

    But in the aftermath of the election, several questions have been raised concerning the unexpected outcome of the election. First, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, while acknowledging the right of the Ekiti electorate to vote for a candidate of their choice, in this case Fayose, has expressed concerns that we may now be entering a new phase of politics in Nigeria, specifically one in which financial inducements determine the results of elections. Here, he was referring to media reports that Fayose won the election by giving the voters financial and other inducements. As he  asked in his recent interview in The Nation: “Is it a  logical human behaviour for a land of so many intellectuals to reject so overwhelmingly an incumbent that was a respected family man, a devout  Catholic, a gentleman and an urbane representative, even in his own ward?” He rightly expressed regrets that ‘stomach infrastructure’ has now replaced real development in Ekiti State, which is what is needed. It is the ugly face of democracy.

    Governor Fashola was quite right in raising this pertinent issue as it is crucial for democracy in our country. There has, so far, been no response to this electoral poser by the Ekiti elite, who were probably as much in support of Fayose as the poor in the state. Only Femi Orebe has written in defence of Dr. Fayemi. Other Ekiti leaders appear to be in hiding. Ekiti may be the poorest of the Yoruba states. But its people had a reputation for political doggedness and for fighting for what they considered right. That reputation is now in tatters. The Ekiti vote is a throw back to the horrible days of Adegoke Adelabu and Lamidi Adedibu, both of Ibadan, who used financial inducements and free food to win elections in Ibadan, the so-called Amala politics.

    Governor Fayemi’s immense contribution to the development of the state during his tenure has not been denied even by the opposition. He built roads, schools and hospitals. He left the state with a far better infrastructure than ever before. He ran one of the most competent and effective governments in Nigeria. Under his leadership, there was no financial scandal or scam in the state. He was not being investigated by the EFCC or other anti-fraud agencies. But despite his impressive performance, he was spitefully voted out of office. The only thing he has been accused of is that he did not hand out cash gifts to the voters before the election. But the impressive physical transformation that took place in Ekiti State under his watch is of immense benefit to the public. It will endure long after the cash gifts from Fayose to the electorate must have been spent. That is the road to poverty alleviation and real economic development.

    The second issue concerning the future of democracy in the country was raised recently by the distinguished American scholar, Prof. Larry Diamond, the Director at the Centre on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. In his inaugural Freedom House Lecture on Monday, in Lagos, in apparent reference to the Ekiti election, he observed that the electoral process was badly flawed. “You cannot have the police and the military blocking the supporters (not to mention fellow governors) of one party from moving about in a state and campaigning, and call that a fully free and fair election”. In effect, what Prof. Diamond was saying is that the electoral damage to the APC in Ekiti State was done in the weeks before the election when the ruling PDP Federal Government deployed its military, police and other security forces to ensure the defeat of Governor Fayemi, whose supporters chose to stay at home rather than face violence on the part of the security forces. This was no level-playing field. The dice was stacked heavily in favour of Fayose. Actual voting in Ekiti might have been free. But the entire electoral process was badly flawed. It is the tactics the PDP intends to employ in the forthcoming state and federal elections.

    Now, what are the lessons to be drawn from the Ekiti elections?

    First, the APC, and indeed all parties,  must fight against the improper use of financial inducements in elections. Ideally, the INEC must monitor election expenses and disqualify any candidate spending money through cash gifts to the voters to win elections. This is subversive of democracy and should not be encouraged, or even tolerated. The APC should refrain from resorting to this despicable means to win elections. It cannot match the resources of the ruling PDP.

    Second, internal democracy must be strengthened in the parties through the fair conduct of primaries to ensure fairness. The existing rancour in the parties is the perception that unpopular candidates are being imposed on supporters by the leaders. This practice will alienate the majority of those who will normally support the party.

    Thirdly, as a progressive party, the APC must, despite the electoral setback in Ekiti, stand by its principles and programmes to win elections. It must stay the course and fight for what it believes in. The Ekiti defeat is only a temporary setback, a Pyrrhic victory for Fayose. The state can be regained in the next elections.

  • Re: Fashola’s take away on Ekiti poll

    SIR: I have always been an admirer of Governor Babatunde Fashola far across political and geographical boundaries, not because he has actually satisfied my ‘wantings’ of the image of good leadership but because I can appreciate his efforts beyond the definitions of mediocrity. Maybe even more because he has over the years portrayed himself as a focused and committed person. But his opinion as regards his perceived nutrients or should I say valuables which he terms as ‘take away’ on Ekiti poll, I think he might have narrowed down his line of vision and viewed issues only from a one-dimensional perspective, hence a one-directional varnishing point!

    He complains that a good governor in Fayemi as referenced by some public commentators he qualifies as eminent did not win in his own ward forgetting the common axiom that even the real and true “prophet is not recognized in his own home,” how much more the mediocre ones?

    He talks also about logical human behaviour refusing to remember that the ruling and elite class in our country in which he belongs has stripped most of us bare of any logic nor logical juxtapositions of any kind by their greedy megalomaniac attributes, offering us only crumbs of the whole we entrust to the. Or, how can you match the poverty in Lagos with the high profile economic status that is known of the state?

    On different and now crystalizing (so to say) political ideologies, I wonder what Fashola is driving at her. Is he attributing the distribution of rice and money only to PDP simply because PDP won the elections? Or was he not informed that Fayemi also distributed same to the electorate? On his reference to infrastructure, I am amused because I have seen several PDP governors develop far more infrastructure in their states than Fayemi would have ever done. Has he been to Cross River State? I hold still that our political platforms are short on ideological directions and thrive only on the ideologies of the individuals that form the party.

    Governor Fashola should desist from insulting (or seemingly so) the electorate of Ekiti State; their choice is made and is clear! The incumbent Governor Fayemi himself halfway through the elections upheld the transparency with which the election was conducted and APC shouldn’t now, after the loss, attempt to discredit the process.

     

    • Arc. Eric Williams Itembanye Akpo, Lugbe Abuja.

  • Ekiti poll: Commission to monitor police conduct

    The Police Service Commission on Thursday said it would be deploying a team to monitor the conduct of police personnel assigned to election duties in Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State.

    A statement signed by the PSC’s Assistant Director, Press and Public Relations, Ferdinand Ekpe, said the move was to ensure that police personnel adhered strictly to the rules of engagement guiding the conduct of the poll.

    “This is in line with the Commission’s constitutional mandate of ensuring discipline in the Force and also to ensure that police officers on election duties adhere strictly to the rules of engagement, which is to maintain peace and security of lives and property.

    “The delegation would be coordinated by three of its Commissioners; Hon. Justice Olufunmilola Adekeye, Dame Comfort Obi, and Chief (Dr.) Torngee Tor’ Anyiin based on the three senatorial districts,” the statement added.

    The Commission has provided three direct telephone contacts for each of the three senatorial districts to enable members of the public report incidences of misconduct or act of gallantry by police officers and men on election duties.

    The telephone numbers are –  Ekiti Central Senatorial District –08065265651; Ekiti North Senatorial District – 08072981057 and Ekiti South Senatorial District – 08033010905.

     

     

  • Police deploy personnel, equipment for Ekiti poll

    The police authorities have deployed personnel and equipment to Ekiti State, ahead of Saturday’s governorship election in the state.

    The personnel, who on Monday left Abuja in their numbers, were equipped with surveillance helicopters, armoured personnel carriers, patrol vans, sniffer dogs and other enforcement gadgets.

    Addressing the team at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, shortly before departure, Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, warned the officers and men against conducts that could dent the credibility of the election or tarnish the image of the police.

    The IGP said: “We have a very important assignment in Ekiti on Saturday and I expect from all of you a high sense of responsibility, civility, honesty and sincerity in the discharge of your duties.

    “You are going to be watched not only by the police authorities but also the people, civil society organisations, local and international election monitors among other interest groups.

    “You must respect the citizens’ rights, the rule of law and other rules guiding the conduct of the election. The police code of conduct must be your guide in the discharge of your duties.

    “Everyone of you will be given their duties when you get there. I will be joining you in Ekiti so I expect you to be good ambassadors of the police. Therefore I don’t expect you to do anything stupid.”

    Abubakar appealed to the political class in Ekiti, the voters, the parties, the contestants and other stakeholders in the state not to conduct themselves in manners that could jeopardise the integrity of the election.

     

  • IGP assures on adequate security for Ekiti poll

    IGP assures on adequate security for Ekiti poll

    The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar has assured the Ekiti State people and other stakeholders of the readiness of the police and other security agencies to provide adequate security for the June 21 governorship election in the state.

    A statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Frank Mba, said the IGP gave the assurance during a brief meeting with the police management team on Friday.

    The IGP warned those he described as trouble-makers and anti-social elements to stay away from Ekiti throughout the period of the election.

    According to him, the police would not hesitate to arrest and prosecute persons that flout the law or cause a breach of the peace, no matter how highly placed they might be.

    “To this end, the IGP has directed the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of Operations, DIG Michael Zuokumor, to relocate to Ado-Ekiti, the state’s capital, to ensure adequate police presence and coordination of all security operations for the election in all polling units and collation centres in the state.

    “The IGP has ordered all police officers and men assigned to election duties in Ekiti State to ensure they work in line with the Police Code of Conduct and international best practices.

    “He has called on members of the public particularly politicians, gubernatorial candidates and other relevant stakeholders in Ekiti State to cooperate with the police and other security agencies in the onerous but patriotic task of guaranteeing a hitch-free gubernatorial poll,” the statement added.

     

  • Why UPN will not participate in Ekiti poll – Fasheun

    The Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) on Wednesday said it would not participate in the Ekiti governorship polls slated for June 21.

    The party, however, said it would take part in the Osun governorship polls in August.

    The UPN National Chairman, Dr. Frederick Fasheun, told journalists in Lagos that his party was excluded from the Ekiti governorship election by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rules and regulations.

    “The UPN ran short of time according to INEC’s guidelines and so cannot participate.

    “However, we will participate and intend to win the Osun polls,’’ he said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that INEC had on May 22 presented a certificate of registration to UPN with effect from April 17.

    Fasheun, however, said the party supported calls by some Ekiti and Osun people that local government elections must be concluded ahead of the governorship polls in the states.

     

  • Ekiti poll: between light and darkness

    Ekiti is a blank billboard in my head. That is to say, at the snap of a finger I do not have a brand icon to associate this state with. Not a great name like Obafemi Awolowo, Wole Soyinka, a Rufus Giwa or even a Lamidi Adedibu. Not institutions like U.I., O.A.U, I.I.T.A. No such socio- corporate entities like Omotoso, the national power hub; Ewekoro, the dusty, sprawling cement enclave and Cocoa House, that towers in her ancient majesty over Ibadan. Okay, Ekiti boasts of the vivacious Ikogosi Warm Springs, but that’s about it all. Even in monarchical stature, a neophyte like yours truly would remember first, the Alaafin, the Ooni, Soun, Olubadan and the Alake before he would pick on the Ewi if ever.

    What about great towns and cities of the west: count Oyo, Ogbomoso, Ede in Oyo; Ota, Ijebu-Ode, Sagamu in Ogun; Okiti-pupa, Ore, Ile-oluji in Ondo. But for Ekiti, a non-indigene would most probably pick out only Ado-Ekiti. Why, Ekiti is the land-locked, little cousin of the west.

    No disrespect to the great academic clan of Ekiti, notably our dear poet laureate Niyi Osundare and a teeming number of professors perhaps the highest in the land. But intellectual asset by itself will not do. Ekiti is a clime in dire need of a giant leap forward to be conceptualized and wrought by a man of stable mind, giant heart and gargantuan energy. Ekiti will be the setting for an epic gubernatorial battle come June 21, featuring the incumbent, Governor Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress, (APC); Ayo Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) and Opeyemi Bamidele of the Labour Party, (LP).

    Fayemi, who got to the government house after a tortuous post-election litigation, has brought elan and commonsense to statecraft. An intellectual and democracy activist, he has handled power with utmost dignity and aplomb that only a cultured mind could muster. Watching from afar, he has run a government with a human face, (or a nice smiling face if you like) creating a welfare environment for the aged and frail. He is reported to have revamped most city roads, upgraded the warm springs to attract visitors and impacted education. From my spot, however, his forte must be the order and peace he has brought to this hinterland state.

    But to compare Fayose with Fayemi, to put it plainly, is to compare darkness with light. It is not because Fayose has limited education (HND) comparatively, and even a more limited record of structured work experience (he is a trader). Far from it, even a drop-out can excel as a leader if he is imbued with requisite talent and grooming. But Fayose showed no such traits in his first outing as governor (2003- 2006). He is possessed of the rabble mentality (which is a necessary ingredient for getting ahead in PDP, mark you) and he is a master at working up the hoi-polloi in his affected populism. For more than three years in office (before he was consumed by the rapscallions of the PDP that threw him up in the first place) he was the picture of an excitable child riding the wild-swirling carousel of power. You will remember him for his feisty hyperactivity and a woebegone poultry project. Would anyone with the appellation of ‘governor’ build a poultry farm in this age? It’s unpardonably obtuse.

    But a multi-billion naira ill-fated poultry is Fayose’s legacy for which he still faced trial until the super unscrupulous PDP sprung him once again and assaulted us with his candidacy. There are many such like him in the fold. Once, there used to be honour even among thieves. Why has PDP become decidedly amoral and contemptuous honour? Fayose’s candidacy is an affront not only to the people of Ekiti but to all discerning Nigerians.

    What is to be said of Opeyemi Bamidele? A lawyer and activist who may be deemed to be afflicted by an acute case of what Shakespeare described as ‘vaulting ambition’ and perhaps an illusion of grandeur? Spiting all entreaties, he broke ranks with his benefactor and a political family which afforded him everything and raised him to his current status. He doesn’t seem to stand much chance though, but to think that he could have easily strolled into this same office four years hence, if only he knew a thing about patience and gratefulness. Bamidele did not only chew the finger that nourished him, he would saw off the entire benevolent arm to sate his ambition. But there is a stench about treachery and ingratitude which lingers and reaches the heavens.

    Expresso pontificates, therefore, that this election is Fayemi’s to win or lose. Though the state is a very lean one, he had nearly four years to prepare. If he has any difficulty convincing Ekiti people to return him to office that could only mean he has not done enough. With his kindly mien and his pretty, activist spouse, Ekiti people almost got blessed with two governors for the price of one. But as much as the soft issues are important, the big matters as pointed out above require a gargantuan heart and energy. Ekiti is in dire need of big, nice sunny dreams such as building on one of its strengths and becoming the intellectual capital of Nigeria for instance; like hosting a world class university, model secondary schools and international vocational institutes. How’s that for a campaign call?

    The Nyanya massacre: woe unto murderers

    He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword…he who visits innocent men, women and children with gruesome death by the bomb shall meet the same fate. That is divine injunction. Nigerians who chose the peak period of a Monday morning (April 14) to let off bombs in a crowded motor park, to kill and maim hundreds of fellow compatriots will not go un-avenged. Especially so the architects, the hidden hands and the financiers – they will not go unpunished. The mass murderers will surely be unmasked.

    Some things to cheer:

    It’s not a fluke in Anambra!

    Former Governor Peter Obi’s revamp of education in Anambra continues to earn plaudits. National examination results consistently prove the quality of the reform. In the past three years, Anambra candidates have topped NECO-organised National Common Entrance examinations. Anambra students have also led in WASCE, NECO and UTME exams. It’s quite a feat to cheer for a state that had high (male) school drop-out rate before the Obi era. The new governor, Willie Obiano must raise the bar even higher.

    200 for Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme (PSSS)

    In the first edition, it was 101 first class graduates of Nigerian universities sponsored to 25 top universities across the world under the PSSS. In this second edition, 200 of Nigeria’s brightest and best have been shortlisted to go conquer the world – so to speak. Over 300 in two years; imagine the sheer number of this plucky group in about 10 years and the impact they are capable to bring to bear not only on Nigeria’s worlds. It’s the way to go.

  • Ekiti poll: I’m ready to give Fayemi the red card, Fayose insists

    Ekiti poll: I’m ready to give Fayemi the red card, Fayose insists

    FORMER Ekiti State governor, Peter Ayodele Fayose, yesterday boasted of having full-proof means to send the current governor of the state, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, out of office in the June 21 governorship election. Fayose, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election, said the surest way to defeat Fayemi was to expose a horde of his administration’s failures to make him more unpopular among the electorate. Speaking through the Publicity Secretary of the party, Pastor Kola Oluwawole, Fayose said the state governor has failed to fulfill his election promises to the people which, according to him, is why poverty was rampant among the people. He explained that Fayemi’s failures included his refusal to honour his promises to teachers, local government workers, civil servants and several others in the state, adding that the administration had equally inflated all the road contracts awarded, especially the road between the Okeyinmi area of the capital and Old Garrage, which he said was awarded at over N1 billion. The PDP spokesperson said: “The pensioners who he has refused to pay their entitlements, the disparities in the salaries of medical doctors in the state and councils, and the preference for foreign contractors against Ekiti based ones are all facts which would work against Fayemi on 21 June. “Needless to add that the unprecedented hike in the school fees of state-owned tertiary institutions has made life horrible for parents and students, while the okada riders a sure to lose their jobs if Fayemi should win. But reacting, the spokesperson for the APC in Ekiti State, Mr. Segun Dipe, while expressing assurances about the re-election of Dr. Fayemi, maintained “the choice of Fayose by the PDP will be a factor in support of Fayemi’s second term in office.” According to Dipe, Fayose lacked “the moral fibre to criticise either the APC or Fayemi, given the fact of his (Fayose’s) going in and out of court regarding a sum of N1.2 billion poultry project which was mismanaged during his tenure.” The APC spokesperson said that Governor Fayemi’s infrastructural projects across the state passed both transparency and accountability tests, which he noted, “is why no project has been abandoned or uncompleted today out of the nearly 1,500 projects embarked upon”. Noting that Fayemi has increased the salaries and allowances or workers three times since he assumed the leadership of the state in October 2010, Dipe said, “the issue of the medical doctors is being resolved, as both sides have met and reached an agreement.” He maintained that it was Fayemi who slashed the hike in school fees by the Engr. Segun Oni’s administration by more than half, adding “the records are there for Fayose to confirm if he is interested. “No monarch would stick his neck in support of a former governor who made life horrible for many of them.