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Tag: Ekiti

  • Ekiti: Dress rehearsal for 2019

    After the dramatic run up to the Ekiti State gubernatorial elections, the attention of the whole country was set on developments in the state during the polls last Saturday. Social media was abuzz with happenings in different wards on the day, with video of events from polling units turning up on the internet within seconds. Besides the obvious drama between the contenders in the state, the interest of the general public in that election is also tied to the looming 2019 general elections and what insights Ekiti could reveal about the conduct of those elections in February 2019.

    As the results were announced early on Sunday morning, the picture that emerged was that of a very closely contested election, and Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress, APC, came out tops with a total of 197,459 votes as against 178,121 votes gathered by his closest rival, Kolapo Olusola Eleka of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. Despite the close figures, Fayemi’s victory seems quite comfortable, as he triumphed in 11 out of the 16 local governments in the state. In a way, the outcome of the election was less of a defeat to Professor Kolapo Eleka, the academic and current deputy governor of the state but more of a humbling defeat for Ayo Fayose, the incumbent governor of the state.

    Throughout the campaign trail, Governor Ayo Fayose strutted around the state like he was on the ballot himself after securing the emergence of his anointed candidate and stooge, Kolapo Eleka in the primaries. His lack of subtlety and overbearing manner sidelined his candidate and effectively sent a clear message to Ekiti electorates that a vote for Eleka was a vote for Fayose. The governor’s attitude had already sent many of his ex-comrades and PDP heavyweights in Ekiti over to the opposition APC before the elections. With the added reality of unpaid government workers salaries for several months in a state that is predominantly populated by civil servants, Fayose’s best gift to Eleka would have been to maintain some distance from the candidate. The sitting governor lost in his own local government.

    While Eleka and the PDP are preparing to mount a legal challenge to the elections, having rejected the results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the rest of the country goes into reflection and in search of pointers from Ekiti to take into 2019. Without doubt, the emergence of Fayemi as governor of Ekiti State shores up the APC’s hold on the southwest which will be critical in 2019. Already, elections in Anambra and Edo states before the election in Ekiti had shown that the APC is unwilling to compromise in the south, which is vital to APC’s hold on power. As it is now, the federal strength that was enough to wrestle power from a sitting governor on Saturday will be a big factor in 2019.

    It is also necessary to gauge the performance of INEC and the mentality of the major political parties in the Ekiti gubernatorial election. The election started peacefully, but recorded a number of cases of attempted ballot snatching, card reader malfunction and other such skirmishes in some polling units along the way, which are not unfamiliar patterns in elections in Nigeria. Particularly rife were the allegations about the two major political parties engaging in voter inducement through distribution of cash at polling units for which some arrests were made. Whether this was a result of the politics of “stomach infrastructure” that seems to be a factor in Ekiti politics or a reflection of the game plan of the political parties in the current election season, one cannot tell, but the gloves seem to be off for 2019 and it may come down to what voters are willing to accept or tolerate during the general elections.

    President Buhari was on ground in Ekiti to support the APC candidate alongside Adams Oshiomhole, the new APC national chairman and others in a campaign rally that portrayed confidence in an otherwise ‘hostile territory’. Federal might, as they say, carried the day and the win will give the party even more confidence, with the president accepting a greater assurance in his own candidacy. The victory also proved that the ruling party can gather its ranks together, because there was a conundrum initially when 33 aspirants emerged for the gubernatorial primaries of the party. It seems that the potential problems created by that development were addressed internally before the election.

    Also in issue in the election was the high security presence, which included the police, military and other paramilitary agencies. This becomes an issue only in light of past precedents that saw the use of security agents to marshal electoral misconduct, as was the case in the alleged manipulation of votes in the same Ekiti State where a tape emerged, purportedly of Ayo Fayose admitting to using the army to disrupt voting, to PDP’s advantage. Although 2019 is a general election and will be conducted nationwide, there needs to be special attention to the posting of security agents, especially to areas that are considered as key battle states where vote manipulation is likely to occur. The lean security resources of the country may mean that security agents will be unevenly distributed for reasons other than security exigency.

    The Ekiti election is also a confirmation of what has been known in Nigeria for a number of years now – that we are an essentially two-party state. It will surprise many to know that there were over 30 political parties contesting the elections in Ekiti State. Only two of those parties were relevant to the outcome of the election. Nearly 400,000 votes were cast in total during the election and the 30-odd political parties outside of the APC and PDP gathered less than 10,000 of the total votes.

    Many of the other parties are suspected fronts for politicians in the bigger parties or fronts for the parties themselves, while many others are rudderless creations by probably well-meaning Nigerians with little clue about navigating Nigerian politics. Fela Durotoye, who nurses presidential ambitions and is expected to contest the elections in 2019 is from Ekiti State. He is rumoured to have been abroad while elections were being held in his state. It is exactly this kind of lack of tact or capacity that ensures that PDP and APC will remain the only options for the considerable future.

    The mini-revolution that occurred in Nigerian politics through social media in 2015 may have set a new precedent in Nigerian electioneering. There were videos purportedly supporting the alleged voter inducement in Ekiti that emerged on the internet. This is a positive outcome but with the potential for manipulation itself. ‘Fake news’ has corrupted the instrumentality of social media in ensuring public awareness and stimulating public consciousness. Cyberspace will be a battle ground for the major political parties in 2019 as voters will keenly monitor the process through this channel. It will be advisable, though, to do so with a cautious eye to forestall inadvertent advancement of propaganda.

    Fayose’s display during the final PDP campaign rally was a big talking point before the election. We may not have seen the last of that kind of desperation by a politician in this election season. The ridiculous charade was likely calculated to form the basis of a plea for asylum into a foreign country to evade anti-graft agencies here in Nigeria. Still, the fact is that politicians are now well abreast of the impact of the media, including social media, in spreading their chosen narrative. One expects careful posturing and over-the-top antics like Fayose’s in the coming general elections.

    In the end, the election last Saturday in Ekiti was a proxy war between the federal power of incumbency and state power of incumbency, and the weaker power seems to have lost out. It will be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out in 2019 in light of the planned reshuffle of the sequence of elections by the national lawmakers.

  • Ekiti: The triumph of stomach infrastructure

    If history is classified as truly the prerogative of the victor, then one concept likely to be revisited in the times ahead will be the vexatious “stomach infrastructure”. Ordinarily, the imagery evoked would perhaps not be more than the entrails of oesophagus, kidneys, intestines down to the rectum in human skeleton commonly displayed in the biology lab.

    But not until after Ayo Fayose’s dramatic reincarnation in Ekiti in 2014. To rout then incumbent Kayode Fayemi (JKF) so resoundingly, the magic formula was easily narrowed down to the “empowerment” of prospective voters with edibles like rice, chicken enhanced with a few bank notes. An improvement on the tankers of water Fayose had dispensed arduously to thirsty neighbourhoods for months preceding the 2003 polls where he similarly secured an upset victory over incumbent Niyi Adebayo.

    Given its demonstrable efficacy over two election seasons, that illicit tactic, for want of a more elegant camouflage, soon became known simply as “stomach infrastructure”, patented as Fayose’s own unique contribution to Nigeria’s political evolution. Officially, a government department would even be designated in Ado-Ekiti for such transaction.

    But the supreme irony is that, today, not many would remember that the etymology of “stomach infrastructure” is actually traceable to the very denunciation of what it came to symbolize and the enunciator, its first notable casualty.

    To begin with, the sophisticate in JKF could not understand why his clansmen in his own native Isan would prefer his modest convoy still blare the siren, even in the dead of night, when returning from the state capital. Perhaps, just to remind those in neighboring communities that their illustrious son was now the “gomina” (as the locals pronounce governor).

    Again, while pontificating much earlier on the challenge of public service as Ekiti governor, JKF would express great difficulty in managing the expectations of party leaders.

    When the chips were down at party caucus, no one, he revealed with a tinge of frustration, ever disputed the government’s claims that public funds were being deployed with a view to meeting the deficits in social infrastructure. Rather, often audible at such party fellowship was a grumble that similar effort was not being made “to develop our own stomach infrastructure” as stakeholders. Put starkly, the party barons were sneering in the manner of buccaneers, “Is it road or hospital that will fill our own bellies?”

    For stomachs now distended from years of addiction to gobbling both the proverbial yam and seedlings, prohibitive is the cost of sustainance indeed.

    So, really, “stomach infrastructure” was meant to be despicable as against the populism now associated with it; a preference for self-interest against the common good.

    It is perhaps a measure of the debasement of politics that it became glorified under Fayose.

    Having said that, let it also be stated that no comfort was provided nor hope offered with the widespread reports that JKF’s camp too resorted to massive deployment of the same “stomach infrastructure” to overrun Fayose (aka Oshoko) and Kolapo Olusola-Eleka last Saturday.

    Going by reports, it was a big bazaar in which the highest bidder eventually prevailed. For once, Fayose was beaten at his own game. Civil servants received a curious N3,000 bank credit alert on the election eve for starters.

    Those able to show proof of “performance” on the D-Day got further N4,000 from PDP. With the aid of technology, that was not too difficult to ascertain. Snapshot of thumbprinted ballot taken with the camera device of the cellphone handset was all required to cash the money from the paymaster lurking around the corner.

    The process was known as “see and buy”.

    But not to worry, APC had the answer. Perhaps to exert the fabled “federal might”, the JKF canvassers outspent the main opposition by shelling out N10,000. In an economy where civil servants and pensioners had not received wages and pension for months, the bait was simply too irresistible.

    So, in a way, the most appetizing “stomach infrastructure” carried the day in Ekiti on July 14.

    All said, for Fayemi, this must be a tempting moment indeed. In the topsy- turvy of politics, staging a comeback is not always an easy feat, much less an opportunity to make up for yesterday’s failing. With hitherto blustering Fayose now left to clear the debris of the routing of last weekend, it will – let us face it – require uncommon self-restrant on JKF’s part to resist being triumphalist, even vengeful.

    Sweet must be the victory in which providence puts you in a position to exact from an old foe a pound of flesh, an eye for an eye. If Fayose trounced him in all the 16 councils in 2014 including the sitting governor’s own ward, APC pulled not only 12 councils but capped Oshoko’s humiliation by also flooring him in his own council this time. More, the memory many will probably clutch for a long time is the grotesque glimpse of a weeping Fayose in a makeshift neck brace lamenting police assault on the election eve. (To say nothing about the countless videos by mischief-makers currently trending in the social media making a caricature of those rare gubernatorial tears.)

    Of course, now easily forgotten is the no less pathetic picture of a Fayemi looking dazed in his first public appearance with Fayose after the shock defeat of 2014.

    For JKF, besides Oshoko, there must be a temptation to also stomp over Iroko in neighboring Ondo State. The bitterness against Olusegun Mimiko is undoubtedly fed by the feeling of betrayal in 2014. As Ondo governor then, the latter furnished the launching pad for PDP to annexe Ekiti and humble Fayemi.

    Intoxicated by the company of new political friends, Iroko had forgotten so suddenly the brotherhood they both shared during their epic battle in the court between 2007 and 2010 to recover their stolen mandates.

    Then, 2016 presented a chance to pay Mimiko back in his own crooked coin. Iroko was made to watch, with his own eyes, his bid to foist his surrogate as successor in Akure White House thwarted  by APC forces coordinated by Fayemi as federal minister. The operation was most savagely clinical. Perhaps, that should be expected of a man whose doctorate was on War Strategies.

    So, as Mimiko retreated to his native native Ondo town later in February 2017 with tail gathered between his legs, Fayemi’s throaty, gap-toothed laughter surely echoed through the surrounding Ore forest.

    Now, as the Ekiti Governor-elect contemplates his second coming, vengeance would be seductive. But from experience, witchhunt often ends up a costly distraction, sapping the energies that could have been put to more productive use.

    If nothing at all, the results of last Saturday’s exercise surely call for worry. Whereas voters’ turnout may suggest increased participation relative to 2014, the margin however portrays a population sharply polarized. In 2014, total votes cast was 360,455 compared to last Saturday’s 403,451.

    But whereas PDP had secured an emphatic 56 percent then leaving APC a distant 33 percent behind, APC won PDP by a narrow edge of less than five percent last Saturday. In case he chooses not to try the old dirty tactic of inducement to expand his support base, the incoming governor should brace for hostility from the state assembly dominated by PDP.

    The burden thus imposed on the victor is the urgency to initiate moves that would rebuild trust and mobilize more of the unbelievers behind a common purpose with a view to making his second coming more impactful.

    Good enough, JKF already enjoys the vantage of experience, having served out apprenticeship in his first incarnation. For instance, Ekiti certainly does not need an airport at the moment; not with the Akure airport in neighbouring Ondo grossly underutilized. Its resources are better channeled into providing amenities that impact directly on the lives of the common people.

    Indeed, Ekiti of the future should seek to build on its area of comparative advantage. One such sector is the knowledge economy. Long before it became renowned as home to a chain of reputable higher institutions, Ekiti had earned the reputation as the community with perhaps the highest academic doctorates per capital in the country. lts compact topography makes it one of the most navigable provinces in Nigeria. It only requires clear thinking to cultivate these resources with a view to making it the preferred destination for education tourism, thereby amplifying its self-classification as the “fountain of knowledge”.

    What will JKF make of the uncommon gift history has now presented – a second chance?

     

  • Ekiti, Cross River and narative of opposition victory

    The gubernatorial election in Ekiti State held on Saturday July 14, has gripped the attention of many stakeholders accross the country and Cross River State is not left out. The Chief Returning Officer of the election, Professor Idowu Olayinka, the vice chancellor of the University of Ibadan, announced the final results in the early hours of Sunday July 15.

    According to the announcement, Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress APC, secured 197,459 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Professor Olusola Eleka of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, who scored 178,121 votes.

    In some corners, it has been heard where opposition dreamers have attempted to draw similarities between Ekiti and Cross River as civil service states and the narative of opposition victory in the gubernatorial election in Cross River State in 2019.

    It is important to bring the few critical issues in this conversation to the fore to put things in perspective for the benefit of the simple minded. Beyond the definition of being a civil service state, both have nothing in common in the circumstance under consideration.

    Let’s begin with even the civil service state toga.

    It is not a secret that Cross River State is on its way out of the civil service state status as the administration of Ben Ayade is on a fast track of development through it’s massive agricultural and industrial investments in the state. The issue of salary payment which was a major determinant in Ekiti election outcome is the exact opposite in Cross River State. Indeed, Cross River State ranks as the first state in Nigeria when it comes to salary payment.

    Of course the governor has been nicknamed the “salary master” because of his prompt and timely payment of salaries in the state. Verily, he is deserving of the accolade as he often times pays workers salaries on the first day of the working month.

    Many in the opposition have often argued that this is no achievement but with the recent turn of events in Ekiti State, it is clear to many that payment of workers salaries is an important part of good governance and delivery of democratic dividends, because it is trite that a hungry man is an angry man.

    Ekiti State government under the leadership of Governor Ayodele Fayose, was owing workers salary in the state for up to seven months.

    This however is not perculiar to the state as some states even under the All Progressive Congress APC leadership are owing workers salaries; some for up to a year.

    Indeed Ayade must be doing magic to have maintained a clean slate despite being the lowest earning state in the country.

    If we also consider Ayade’s political disposition; his style of political leadership; it permeates the boundaries of political divisions and gives preference to development above political differences. This has been rightly christened “politics with ethics”. Right from his initial foray into politics from his successful stint in business, Professor Ayade has shown that he is a different breed of politician and his foray into politics is to use it as a platform for impact and contribute to the development of the nation.

    He thus relegated the medieval politics to the backwaters and had chosen instead to deliver leadership through relationship building and seek common grounds in vision actualization.

    Here, there is a great difference between him and many other politicians including Fayose of Ekiti State.

    This can be seen in the cordial relationship that exists between him and the president, though both of them belong to different political and ideological leanings. This made the president come to Cross River State twice in three years; something he has not done in any other state but two.

    This has left many in the oppostion in a state of confusion with some saying the governor is nursing the intention to decamp into the opposition party.

    How true could that be?

    This is just part of the quality and style of politics that the governor is disposed to. It is also not a secret that the All Progressives Congress in Cross River State has been in shambles since its inception.

    For more than four years, the party has been unable to resolve its internal crisis and as such has neither been able to grow nor position itself as a viable opposition, able to provide alternative leadership if there was need for any.

    In addition to this, now that the crisis at the national level of the party has given birth to the Reformed All Progressives Congress rAPC, we are yet to see how this will play out in Cross River State.

    The last but not the least issue I would like to consider are some of the landmark industries that Ayade is dotting the entire Cross River state with, something Ekiti cannot yet boast of.

    Some of the industries include the Rice Seeds and Seedlings Factory recently commissioned by President Mohammadu Buhari, when he visited the state, the Cross River Garment Factory, earlier commissioned by the Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the Calabar Pharmaceutical Company CALAPHARM, which is more than 90 percent completed.

    Others are the Cross  River garment factory which is 100 percent  completed, the independent power plant in Calabar Municipal, which is 90 percent completed, Toothpick Factory in Ekori, which has been completed and awaiting commissioning, the Instant Noodles Factory in Calabar which is under construction, the vitaminized rice mill in Ogoja, the Feedmill and Yellow Maize Farm in Obubra, the Banana Plantation with automated irriggation in Odukpani, the Poles, Piles and Pylon Factory in Akamkpa among many others. All these by a first term governor.

    The president has said that Governor Ayade has an eye for futuristic projects that are shifting the economic base of the state from oil rather than short term projects to get political gains.

    The president has also said that: “Ayade has become a reference point in our agricultural revolution project.”

    Who else can be a better second term campaign spokesman for the governor than the president, with all these quotable quotes?

    In fact, the opposition party needs a leader in the mould of Ayade, a leader who plays politics with ethics, to be able to get out of its intractable challenges. I wish them the best. However, wishes are not horses, if they were, beggers would ride.

    Still, wishes are not enough, for they cannot overcome the greed and base nature of some men which is at display.

  • Fayemi will justify confidence reposed in him – Ondo APC

    Ondo state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has assured Ekiti State citizenry that the governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, will justify the confidence reposed in him by the people.

    Its Chairman, Ade Adetimehin described the victory of Fayemi as worthy.

    It said the experience of the governor-elect both as a former governor, and as a former minister, would come handy in his administration of the State when sworn in.

    A statement by the party’s spokesman,Alex Kalejaye said” We have no doubt in the ability of Dr. Fayemi to transform the fortune of Ekiti within the next four years. I am very confident that he won’t disappoint the people”.

    Adetimehin expressed appreciation to the political class and the voters for finding the APC flag bearer worthy of trust, and urged them to support his government.

    He described APC’s victory in Ekiti as an indication that the party is acceptable in every party of Nigeria.

    The statement urged aggrieved members of the state to retrace their steps and explore the current moves to reconcile all parties within the fold, describing the APC as one to beat in 2019 elections.

    The chairman hailed the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) for rising to the occasion and giving the Ekiti people a free, fair and credible election.

    He urged the electoral body to replicate the level of competence displayed in future elections.

  • Ekiti: The morning after

    It is all over now in Ekiti, bar the sulking and the wailing and the gnashing of teeth in Governor Ayo Fayose’s camp, and the exuberant rejoicing in Governor-elect Kayode Fayemi’s circle — a mirror image of the outcome of the 2014 Ekiti gubernatorial election.

    When one placed Fayemi and Fayose on the scale in that contest, one saw in Fayemi an incumbent whose record spoke eloquently for a second term, as did his overall approach to the business of governance:  urbane, deliberative, steeped in the detail and nuance of policy, goal-oriented, and unobtrusive for the most part.

    In Fayose one saw a brash challenger who had had his chance as governor and blown it spectacularly, a bumptious con-artist whose idea of governance consists in staging stunt after tawdry stunt, given to cheap populism and not a little demagoguery, and withal not foresworn to violence as a means of winning and retaining support.

    Fayose’s scandal-plagued first term had ended after only two years in impeachment and self-imposed internal exile.  Politically, he was washed up.

    Given a choice between Fayemi and Fayose, surely, the learned and discriminating people of the “Fountain of Knowledge” who know only too well the antecedents of the twain, would heartily renew the mandate of the one and indignantly reject the advances of the other.

    So went the conventional wisdom.

    The outcome is history.  Fayemi took a comprehensive shellacking, winning none of the 16 local governments in contention.  Eight years after being disgraced out of office, Fayose returned in one of the most amazing political comebacks in Nigeria or anywhere.

    The Nobelist, Professor Wole Soyinka, was one of the few who questioned the outcome of the election sharply, saying that it was a mystery and that the truth would be known one day. But his skepticism was drowned in the schadenfreude that pervaded the corridors of Federal Might.

    Fayemi also had his doubts.  But “the people,” he said, “had spoken.” And that was what counted.

    Thanks to Captain Sagir Koli of the Nigerian Army, who had witnessed the entire scheme from inside and secretly recorded it, we now know that “the people” had played no part in that outcome.   The election had been rigged with scientific precision on a scale almost beyond belief, and the result was fake through and through.

    Thanks to the perversity of the Constitution, Fayose kept his gubernatorial perch.

    But instead of parlaying his comeback into an opportunity to redeem himself and atone for the depredations of his first coming – a murder rap, and a poultry project that gulped more than N2 billion without producing an egg, to mention just two such — Fayose waged war ceaselessly on all that is honest and just and decent and wholesome and of good report, and kept Ekiti permanently on the boil.

    He governed on the Caligula Principle:  “You can hate us, so long as you fear us.”  High court judges failed to do his bidding at their peril.  Bank managers soon learned that to carry out his instructions without fuss was the beginning of political wisdom.  Serving civil servants and eminent sons and daughters of Ekiti who dared to criticise him and traditional rulers who refused to genuflect before him learned a bitter lesson.

    He sank deeper and deeper into infamy, bringing into disrepute virtually everything he touched and every idea he embraced. The “stomach infrastructure” agenda that was thought to have blinded the electorate to his unsettling inadequacies became an empty slogan, then vanished altogether.

    Following a re-match this past weekend, it is in Fayose’s camp that they are sulking and wailing and gnashing their teeth. In Governor-elect Fayemi’s camp, there is exuberant rejoicing and a triumphal air.

    What a difference an election cycle makes.

    Fayose, it is necessary to state, was not an official candidate in the election just concluded, but you could not tell from the way he carried himself.  He had framed it as a contest between good and evil, as a test of strength and power and will between himself and President Muhammadu Buhari, between  the APC and the PDP, and finally between himself and Fayemi.

    Fayose’s lackluster deputy governor, Professor Kayode Olusola whom he had foisted on the PDP as the party’s candidate for the election might just as well have been a poodle.  If he had any ideas of his own, he never gave them utterance.  He was content to tag along and nod in consonance with his principal’s inanities and profanities du jour.

    He was at bottom a prop for Fayose’s third-term gambit. He would be practically unconscious not to know that.  But he went along all the same. They went into the election with little to show for Fayose’s four years in office, only stunt after harebrained stunt.

    This time, there was no Jonathan, no PDP machine, no rogue senior military and police officers, no contractors in hock to the establishment, no fixer to turn loser into winner and winner into loser.

    The figure from the spirit world who feeds on jollof rice has been demystified.  A return to political office now seems unlikely for Fayose.  But it would be unwise to count him out.

    Look closely at the results.  The Fayose/Olusola ticket took 47.4 percent of the vote, to Fayemi’s 52.5 percent, the precise margin by which NOIPolls had called the election for the  Fayose/Olusola ticket.  In plebiscitary terms, that is a decisive loss.  But the ticket won in the state capital, Ado-Ekiti, and scored impressive victories in four of the 16 local government areas.

    It was probably not true then and certainly not true now, contrary to Fayose’s claim at his post-election news conference four years ago that if he raised his hand high, “the people” would cheer vehemently, and that if he lowered it, the cheering would subside. Or that if he pointed in one direction, they would go in that direction.

    But he has a significant base that makes up in what it lacks in numbers with passionate intensity.

    The challenge before Governor-elect Fayemi is to strive to unite Ekiti; to cater not just to his own base, but the entire electorate.  He must see his return to power as a mission of reconciliation, not revenge.  Without resorting to his predecessor’s cheap populism, he must be engaging.

    It is no surprise that the PDP has vehemently rejected the election outcome.  Weeks before Election Day, its well-oiled propaganda machinery had asserted over and over that the poll would be rigged by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the benefit of the ruling APC and the Federal Government.

    It even went so far as to alert the “international community” to that prospect, and to paint before the world an apocalyptic future for democracy in Nigeria. Having boxed itself into a corner, it has no alternative than to insist that the election was indeed rigged.

    Now it claims, with a fringe advocacy group, that it has iron-clad proof of election skullduggery that it will set out before the courts at the appropriate time.

    To which the APC and the Governor-elect and his supporters rejoin:  Bring it on.  That is to be preferred to Fayose’s lawless announcement of fake results of an election in progress.  That which could have plunged Ekiti into turmoil, or was most likely designed to achieve that very end, if the National Broadcasting Commission had not moved quickly to terminate broadcast.

    Even in the face of bitter disappointment, Fayose can still render a lasting service to the Ekiti people whose name he has taken in vain, and whose values he has desecrated with impunity, by ensuring a peaceful and orderly transfer of power, and by creating a climate in which Ekiti State can realise its potential and pursue its destiny.

  • Ekiti 2018: Fayose faults Buhari on Fayemi’s victory

    Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose has criticized President Muhammadu Buhari for applauding and hailing the conduct of last Saturday’s Ekiti State governorship election.

    Fayose said Buhari’s action of endorsing the poll he described as a “charade” shows that the President lacks democratic credentials and is not a democrat.

    Despite the defeat suffered by his deputy and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, Fayose said: “I hold my head high and I can never be suppressed.”

    The Ekiti governor was reacting to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in which Buhari endorsed the victory of the governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi.

    The statement conveying the Presidency’s reaction on the Ekiti poll was entitled “Fayose: In the end, a high-powered nothing.”

    Fayose, in his reaction through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, in Ado-Ekiti on Monday, wondered why Buhari endorsed an election he alleged was marred by violence, use of brute force and harassment of PDP members.

    Fayose accused the Police, Army, Civil Defence Corps and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of criminal alliance to snatch the ‘mandate’ given to Olusola.

    He said: “President Muhammadu Buhari should not be happy and applaud this situation whereby the police, army, civil defence and INEC were used to snatch the collective mandate freely given to the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola and delivering it to the All Progressives Congress candidate which Ekiti people rejected.

    “Can you call that election? Of course not, it was a contest between Olusola and the INEC and security agencies.

    “There was indiscriminate arrest of our party leaders, harassment and brutalisation of voters in a massive scale especially in Ado, Ikere and others areas.

    “The thugs imported by the APC operated freely under the cover of security agencies to snatch ballot boxes, create confusion, cause mayhem and drive away voters in PDP strong holds. Our party agents were driven away with gun.

    “Buhari has demonstrated truly that he is not a democrat, but a dictator who is yet to get over military mentality. Muscling of democracy in Nigeria today by the Buhari administration is not about Ekiti alone.

    “Presidential aspirants and PDP states should prepare to have taste of brutality of this administration. This is why we all need to stand up to rescue Nigeria from Buhari.

    Read Also: Ekiti: We will reclaim mandate in court, says Fayose

    “I am Peter Ayodele Fayose, I hold my head high. I can never be suppressed. I don’t lose battles and I will not lose this. I will laugh last. Those waiting for me, will wait in vain.

    “They should remember what the prophet said to that heady king in the Bible, which applies to them. He that wears the armour should not boast as he that removes it.”

    “It is only Buhari that will pride himself with the security shooting sporadically at polling centres, scaring people to pave the way for the APC thugs to snatch ballot boxes.

    “What Buhari has won as referendum from Ekiti people, Nigerians, and international community is shame. If APC has truly won, why is it that there is no jubilation in Ekiti?

    “The victory of Kayode Fayemi is pyrrhic. We will reclaim the stolen mandate in the court by the power of God.”

  • Ekiti: We will reclaim mandate in court, says Fayose

    Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has finally spoken on the outcome of the governorship election held last Saturday in the state.

    Reacting in a series of Twitter posts to the election in which his deputy Professor Kolapo Olusola was defeated by Dr. Kayode Fayemi , Fayose said the mandate would be reclaimed in court.

    He said: “If APC truly won, why was it that there was no jubilation in Ekiti ? That victory of Kayode Fayemi is pyrrhic, we will reclaim the stolen mandate in the court by the power of God.”

    “As for me, I am Peter Ayodele Fayose , I hold with my head high. I can never be suppressed. I don’t lose battles and I will not lose this. By the power of God, I will laugh last.”

    Read Also: Fayose a street-type thug, says Presidency

    Fayose said what Buhari won as referendum from Ekiti people , Nigerians, and international community is big shame.

    He said:”The President should bury his head in shame for using the police, army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and INEC to snatch the mandate given to Olusola and deliver it to Fayemi “whom Ekiti people rejected.”

    “On this Ekiti election, President Buhari demonstrated truly that he is not a democrat, but a dictator and fascist per excellence.”

    “The President should note what the Bible says which applies to him: “He that wears the armour should not boast as he that removes it.” May God rescue our country.”

     

  • CSOs deplore vote buying in Ekiti

    TWO civil society organisations (CSOs), Situation Room and Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), yesterday called for legislative action and stricter law enforcement to curb vote buying.

    In its interim statement on the Ekiti State Governorship election, Situation Room said vote buying was “widespread”.

    It said the two major political parties, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), were culpable.

    Situation Room said field reports from its observers and other partner election observer networks showed that in some cases, the location and positioning of the polling booths and ballot boxes contributed to the non-secrecy of the ballot and vote buying.

    The Situation Room comprises over 70 civil society organisations working in support of credible and transparent elections in Nigeria.

    At a briefing in Ado-Ekiti by its Convener Mr. Clement Nwankwo, Situation Room said: “The major political parties were very much culpable in this breach.

    “The widespread nature and brazenness of vote buying by political parties and candidates create a dent on the outcome of any election and raise concern that Nigeria’s electoral process is being monetised with impunity.”

    CTA expressed concern that the rising cases of vote buying that trailed recently conducted governorship polls in some states of the federation was capable of destroying Nigeria’s democracy.

    Its Executive Director, Dr. Chima Amadi, whose body deployed 62 election observers to monitor the election, said both major parties and insignificant parties participated in cash-for-vote saga.

    Addressing a news conference on Saturday shortly after the poll, Amadi said vote buying would make leaders become irresponsible and unaccountable to the electorate.

    He urged the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to devise measures to tackle the menace to make the electoral process more credible.

  • New chapter begins in Ekiti, says Tinubu

    Former Lagos State Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has congratulated the party’s candidate in Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, over his victory, saying the people voted to put their future in his hand. He urged Fayemi to avoid recriminations and run an all-inclusive government.

    In a statement entititled “Ekiti election: A victory for the people” personally signed by him,  Tinubu said the people had voted to take a path different from the one on which they had been.

    He said:”In Ekiti a chapter has closed and a new one has begun.  This was not done by contrivance or artifice, nor was it the product of intimidation or improper influence. This came about because it was the will of the people of Ekiti as expressed and manifested in the conduct of a free and fair election in that state. In voting as they did, the people voted for the state to take a path different from the one on which they had been.

    “In voting as they did, the people thus voted for themselves. Here, we must congratulate Dr. Kayode Fayemi and our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), for the successful campaign that was run and for the confidence the people of Ekiti have shown in transferring the mandate to govern them into our hands.

    “Dr. Fayemi must keep in remembrance that the people have placed their future in his safekeeping and he must justify their trust in him by doing all he can do to advance their welfare. I’m confident that Dr. Fayemi will keep faith with the programmes and policies of our party in order to improve the lives of the people of Ekiti. I know Dr. Fayemi will establish an all-inclusive government that involves all stakeholders in his administration and in the governance of the state.

    “There was much apprehension and concern leading into the election that the exercise would fall into disorder. It did not. In the end, the election took place as it should for democratic elections are but the peaceful contest of ideas and ideologies. In Ekiti, two clearly different perspectives of governance stood in contest for the people to decide and decide they did.

    “I make no bones that I am glad that Dr. Fayemi and the APC won this contest. However, I would be remiss if I did not say a good word about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Prof. Olusola Kolapo Eleka. He conducted a tough and energetic campaign. He wanted this seat but, in the end, he did not resort to violence to get his way. He allowed the people to make their own decision and for his adherence to this democratic principle, he should be recognised.

    “The same must be said of Governor Ayo Fayose. He tried to his utmost to bring his candidate to victory but he did not cross the line by trying to subvert the will of the people through violent means. Dr. Fayemi is a man of integrity and his government will not be one of recrimination.  It is a government of the people and as such will focus its attention on helping the people, not suppressing yesterday’s political opponents.

    “I urge Governor Fayose and Prof. Kolapo Eleka, as prominent citizens and leaders of Ekiti, to move forward in that same spirit. Let there be an orderly transition from the outgoing to the incoming government.  Last and most importantly, let us commend the people of Ekiti.  Casting aside all the dire predictions, they conducted themselves with the patience, sobriety and collective wisdom befitting the moment. Instead of turning things upside down, they turned to peace and mutual respect for each other as well as respect for the democratic process.

    “Above all else, the election was your election and yesterday was your day!  With the choice that you have made, may tomorrow also be your best future”.

  • YIAGA, APC, others react to outcome of Ekiti poll

    YIAGA, APC, others react to outcome of Ekiti poll

    An international civil society organisation, Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA), Africa, the All Progressives Congress (APC)  in Ekiti,  as well as other stakeholders on Sunday expressed divergent opinions on the outcome of Saturday’s governorship election which produced Dr Kayode Fayemi as winner.

    The Nation reports that Fayemi of the APC won the election after securing 197,459 votes, beating  the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, who got 178,121.

    YIAGA said in Ado-Ekiti at a press conference  that accreditation, voting and counting generally complied with extant regulations.

    The Executive Director of  the organisation, Mr Samson Itodo, however, commended INEC on the timely opening of the poll with essential materials present as well as prompt  announcement of results.

    He also urged Fayemi and APC supporters to be magnanimous  in victory

    “ For those candidates who did not win, we urge them to accept the results because they reflect the votes cast.

    “ YIAGA Africa calls upon all the candidates, all parties and all Nigerians to show political maturity and to maintain the peace,’’ he said.

    The APC in the state also described the party’s victory as “ well-won and much deserved.’’

    In a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti, the Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe, thanked electorate for the massive turnout and  “ voting conscientiously for the party.’’

    The chairman also  thanked President Muhammadu Buhari and other party leaders for their support in winning the governorship election.

    He, however,  called for calm and appealed to the opposition parties and their candidates to accept defeat in good faith.

    “ The APC thanks the Ekiti electorate for voting for the party in the keenly-contested election.

    “ The Ekiti electorate have voted for the candidate of their choice  who they consider as having a proven track record of performance and integrity, and who will bring about the kind of turnaround the state needs at this crucial period,’’ he said.

    He gave an assurance  that the governor-elect would  be magnanimous in victory  and deliver on the expectations of the people.

    Mrs Bolanle Olatunde, a former Special Assistant on Diaspora to former Gov.  Segun Oni congratulated the governor-elect and urged  him to put the welfare of the people at the heart of his programmes.

    She also said Nigerians must learn lessons from the outcome of the elections, especially on the need for “ anyone saddled with the position of authority to  do the right thing at the right time.’’

    “Even though, there might be claims of inducement here and there, some things I have learnt especially in Ekiti is that as incumbent, you should  do the right thing  in terms of discharging your duties.

    ” While people still talk about stomach infrastructure and all that, this can only be sustained if your performance as governor is good and you don’t waste public funds on irrelevant projects.

    Read Also: I will restore Ekiti values, says Fayemi

    “Most importantly, be humble, because when you are humble, you will be promoted. In these areas, rural people see and appreciate their governor interacting with the common man, but at the same time these people still go to the same market your wife goes to.

    ” You should set up SMEs, community development initiatives  and sustainable development projects that will bring true governance to the people,’’ she said.

    The police in the state also said the election was successfully concluded without reports of violence.

    The spokesman of the police in the state, Ikechukwu Caleb, told our reporter that the election was peaceful and orderly, adding that no arrest was made during the exercise.

    The  police had  deployed 30,000 operatives, two helicopters and 250 patrol vehicles, including  Armoured Personnel Carriers, for the  election.

    The security operation for the poll was supervised by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Operations, Joshiak Habila, assisted by an Assistant Inspector-General of Police, four Commissioners of Police, eight Deputy Commissioners of Police and 18 Assistant Commissioners of Police.

    Mr Maxwell Adeleye, a PDP youth leader in  Ilogbo-Ekiti in Ido/Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti, however, described the conduct of the election as “ a show of shame and mockery of all tenets of democracy.’’

    He advised the PDP candidate in the election to brace up for the challenges ahead, saying “  the victory of the APC was without jubilation on the streets.’’

    Adeleye , however,  congratulated the governor-elect on his victory and wished  him well in the governance of the state.