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Tag: KOGI

  • Kogi, Bayelsa elections

    Given that the governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states marked the first set under President Buhari and the new INEC chairman, their outcome was bound to attract considerable public interest. This is more so with the peaceful transition of the last general election. Before that election, fears were high that its outcome could dismember this country as sharp cleavages with religious and ethnic tinge dominated the language of political discourse.

    But that gloomy political atmosphere was to peter out when the election (though not without its shortfalls) came out largely successful culminating in the epochal defeat of a sitting president. The significance of that landmark event for democracy in Nigeria has since been chronicled by world leaders. With that success, expectations have been high that free and fair electoral conduct which had been the albatross of this country is beginning to take root.

    As both elections approached early in the life of the Buhari regime, public expectations were high that the mileage gained from the last general election would lead to a seamless outcome. Ironically, that expectation has failed to materialize as events from both polls have unmistakably shown. Both were declared inconclusiveness on account of electoral violence and sundry malpractices which prevented voting in some of the areas.

    In Kogi, elections did not hold in 91 polling units of 18 local government areas due to electoral infractions ranging from vandalism, snatching of electoral materials and outright violence. Though the APC was clearly leading the PDP with a margin of 41,253 votes, INEC declared the election inconclusive on the ground that the total number of registered voters in those polling units which stood at 49,953 was higher than that with which the APC led its rival. In its calculations, the remaining votes could still alter the pattern of electoral victory. It was for this reason which is in keeping with aspects of the electoral law that saw to the declaration of the election inconclusive.

    Opinions were sharply divided on the position of the electoral body. This is more so given that the universally accepted ratio of the actual votes cast vis-à-vis the total number of registered voters is put at about one third. What this implies is that the remaining votes may not substantially alter the winning pattern. And this came to pass when the final results of the re-run were put together. The APC had 6,885 of the votes while the PDP garnered 5,365. This figure is even less than one third of the remaining votes for which the election was declared inconclusive.

    The issue here is, had the election proceeded without hitches, the results would have been announced as a clear winner had emerged. By the same extrapolation, the complications and litigations that arose even within the APC fold, would have been staved off, the death of its governorship candidate, Abubakar Audu notwithstanding.

    Events of the botched elections in those polling units were to become the albatross of the Kogi election. INEC has been blamed for the pass in the Kogi polls on two fronts. It takes liability for observed shoddy preparations and for not declaring the result of the election when it was clear that the remaining votes cannot substantially turn the tide against the winning party.

    Even then, it would also appear the electoral body was playing safe given the penchant by our politicians to take advantage of any error of omission or commission to accuse it of skewing the process to the advantage of the ruling party. It is obvious it ordered the re-run to fulfill all righteousness. This point cannot also be discounted as there is precedence to back it up.

    But the violence and bad management of the election in Kogi is just a child’s play when paired with events of the governorship election in Bayelsa State. Reports spoke of sporadic shooting by armed militias in some areas especially in the southern Ijaw local government resulting in the killing of about five people. As a result, elections could not hold there. Curiously despite informed advice not to hold the election the following day because of the level of violence of the previous day, INEC went ahead with the election.

    The outcome of that error of judgment turned out disastrous. The electoral body had to cancel the election much later on the ground that it was substantially marred by violence, ballot snatching, intimidation and other irregularities. But that was after protests had erupted in the state capital accusing it of trying to manipulate the exercise taking advantage of the high level of insecurity in the area. How the electoral body and the security agencies came to the conclusion that free and fair elections were possible under that high level of insecurity in a state notorious for deadly militants, remains curious. But events have proved their decision futile.

    Not unexpectedly, that judgmental error has been largely responsible for the recrimination going on between the APC and the PDP with each seemingly claiming victory. The PDP said, having won in six out of the seven local governments where results have been declared, it has satisfied the requirements for electoral victory. The APC on its own says it has also obtained 25 per cent of the votes in two thirds of the local governments and wants the results of southern Ijaw which it expects to turn the tide in its favour to be declared.

    What the position of the APC implies is that if the result of the southern Ijaw council was declared, it would have garnered substantial votes to turn electoral victory in its favour. We shall demonstrate the possibility of this claim by critically appraising the pattern of votes scored by the parties in the seven local governments that have been so far declared.

    In Brass, APC had 21,755 votes against 6,516 by the PDP while in Sagbama PDP had 28,934 as against 5,382 by the APC.  In Yenegoa, PDP scored 24,258 while the APC had 14,563. These three local governments recorded the highest number of votes in the election. In the remaining four local governments, the margin was narrow even as the PDP led in all of them.

    But the wide margin of votes in Brass and Sagbama can be understood. The APC candidate hails from Brass while that of PDP is from Sagbama. Going by the votes in the two local governments of the candidates, whereas the PDP got nearly one third of the votes in Brass, the APC could not secure that in Sagbama.

    If this statistics does not clearly underscore the relative strengths of the parties, the case of Yenagoa where the cumulative votes of the two parties stood at 39,821 despite its voting strength of 132,025 says it all. The total score of the two parties represents barely one third of the total number of registered voters.

    Southern Ijaw which has a voting strength of 120,827 comes second after Yenagoa.  With barely one third of the total voting strength taking part in the Yenagoa poll and the margin of votes recorded in the other local governments, it stands to be imagined the kind of difference the southern Ijaw poll will make in the overall calculations of the final results. It will be a huge surprise if it turns the tide of the election outcome.

    So it is not just a matter of bandying claims to electoral victory. The facts on the ground speak for themselves. INEC should move fast and set a new date for election to be held in southern Ijaw after adequate security to guarantee free and fair polls have been put in place.

    Beyond these, INEC has disappointed the nation in its handling of the two elections. If it could perform so abysmally in two isolated elections, we shudder at what the situation will turn out during general elections. But the role of security agencies during elections and the desperation of politicians to win at all costs have become serious issues that will make or mar our attempts to institutionalize democracy on these shores.

  • Atmosphere of tentativeness in Kogi

    Atmosphere of tentativeness in Kogi

    Unfazed by the deliberate convolution scripted into the recent Kogi governorship election, Abiodun Faleke, running mate to the deceased All Progressives Congress (APC), Abubakar Audu, has stoically returned to the House of Representatives amidst cheers and approbation. He has put the Kogi conundrum in the hands of Nigeria’s eminent judges, assured that he and the state he strove to serve would get justice. In the hands of the media, reporters and columnists have judged the APC leadership derelict in their responsibilities, lax in political morality, and superficial in their understanding of the historical import of their actions, biases and prejudices. Were the matter to end in the media, both APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would stand condemned.

    The public, on the other hand, is ambivalent. They will flow and ebb with the tide of opinions on the subject. If APC’s Yahaya Bello, the anti-party politician and APC member peremptorily thrust forward to collect the diadem when the election was virtually concluded, then so be it. And if Hon Faleke, as morality, logic and common sense would dictate, then why not. Indeed, irrespective of the state’s ethnic configuration and the quaint arithmetic of the poll result, should circumstances dictate that Idris Wada, the governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) be foisted on the state by INEC’s electoral sleight of hand, again, to the ambivalent public, why not.

    For Kogi, held in thrall by unprincipled party leaders, hesitant and scheming INEC, and ambitious and grabbing party candidates, everything is in flux, as tentative as it can be. No one typifies this tentativeness as much as the opportunistic Mr Bello, now governor-elect. He had inherited a vote of over 240,000 from the Audu/Faleke ticket on November 21 simply by the decree of APC leaders, and added a little over 6,000 of his own in the supplementary election of December 5. But asked how he intended to harmonise the fractious state and placate the aggrieved, the governor-elect suggested, “In a family, there is bound to be one misunderstanding or the other, but if I assume the responsibility as governor, I will ensure that all the aggrieved parties are brought together.”

    Mr. Bello is sensible not to speak of justice, without which peace can neither be restored nor enthroned. He spoke, matter of fact, of a mechanical and abstract effort on his part to engineer peace and reconciliation, almost as if these goals float in the atmosphere, and can be plucked insouciantly. But more importantly, plagued by doubt, his conscience pricked, Mr. Bello betrayed his appreciation of the tentativeness unnerving the state when he talked of “if I assume the responsibility as governor.” It is not just doubts that plague him, it is clear his conscience is troubled. He is rightly judged by the public as grasping and opportunistic, but at least he has a conscience, it seems. Had APC leaders and INEC itself half as much reflectiveness and conscience as Mr. Bello, it is doubtful Kogi State would be enveloped by a spirit of tentativeness or confusion.

    APC leaders have suggested they would be minded to replace Hon Faleke as deputy governor-elect, should he continue to stick to his position. The public should ignore the party’s bravado. What ails them is not the implication of the conundrum they engineered in the state, or of any abiding interest in the cause of justice or even the welfare of the state. They are troubled by their frothing conscience. After all, the matter of selecting a running mate is definitely and constitutionally not the responsibility of the party, but that of the governorship candidate. The party’s leaders are worried that if Hon Faleke sticks to his guns, and Mr. Bello embraces realpolitik to pick an Igala running mate, it would foster the anomaly and injustice of having a governor and his deputy who were really not part of the process of winning the election. It is apparent APC leaders fear this injustice will haunt them to the very end of their days and, if iconoclastic posterity is anything to go by, be interred with their bones.

     

  • Making sense out of Kogi: The Audu/Faleke history

    Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters,” so said Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists that ever lived.

    Saturday the 21st November 2015, like June 12th 1993 has symbolically become an important day in the history of our democracy. There is no denying the fact that the biggest puzzle that remains unsolved by our current electoral body is the one that will remain a point of reference for so long in the land. Unfortunately, the puzzle was created by same electoral body that is saddled with the responsibility to untie the electoral bottleneck that characterised our electoral system before the advent of Attahiru Jega.

    Where is justice? What becomes of a nation if the Rule of Law is carelessly sacrificed for selfish political interests whereby the electoral body is involved as a party in the rape of justice? What precedence is the current scenario laying for our political future?

    The people of Kogi woke up on the fateful day hoping for liberation by sunset from misrule of Idris Wada of the Peoples’ Democratic Party. That wish was expressed widely via Abubakar Audu/Abiodun Faleke ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress. The people of Kogi saw freedom coming, but the ancient North Central state was openly gagged by the declaration of an already won and lost election inconclusive, following the death that struck the bearer of the hope, Prince Abubakar Audu.

    But all was not lost for Kogi people because the bearer of the torch of hope passed the baton silently to the heir apparent of the mandate (moral and constitutional successor), James Abiodun Faleke.  Silently while passing on, the Prince of Igala Land whispered for justice, handed a trust to Faleke and departed.

    It soon became a funny escapade that INEC suddenly declared that election inconclusive, to submit to a cabal who would produce their anointed candidate to conclude a process he was never part of. We should have passed this indecency. Robbing a dead man is un-African; robbing off the popular wishes of the people is inhumane; and robbing peace and conscience of people that were thirsty of good governance is ungodly.

    Various schools of thoughts have argued for and against INEC’s decision but none of the arguments have defeated the underlying truth of the matter – that a Faleke under the law remains the most senior bearer of APC’s flag in the race, and as long as he is alive, he was supposed to step into Audu’s position for completion of the exercise.

    For justice to prevail, according to Edmund Burke, good men must act otherwise the evil will prevail.

    For many years, the Peoples’ Democratic Party, dominated with cabals, toyed with internal democracy; they rob Peter to pay Paul many times, daring peoples’ feelings and grievance. In the end, the people spoke and opted for a CHANGE. As the ruling party in her 6th month, can we allow interests of masked few to dominate peoples’ strong desire and throw caution into the winds? Can we pass the integrity test as model for building a new Nigeria we envisaged? Can we dare to just do it right by doing the right thing even in the face of a political temptation?

    In words of wisdom, Faleke subtly reminded the party against setting it on a path of destruction through impunity and injustice, adding that APC should learn from what happened to the PDP. He said further that the present struggle was a complex one and beyond him as he was not willing to betray the trust late Abubakar Audu bestowed on him concerning the emancipation of the people and the future of the state.

    Obviously, after said and done, the total number of votes recorded in the supplementary election was a pointer to a mischievous plan which has been daringly executed through political instruments and agents in the system. In the end, I hope the court will excavate justice wherever it might have been buried.

    Abubakar Audu had responsibility to enable power change in Kogi politics which he upheld until his death. For anyone who does not understand the moral right referred to by James Abiosun Faleke in the public address that followed INEC’s decision, a view of the bond between German spies in the 2nd World War in a film titled ‘Operation Daybreak’ tells it all. Trust is never a trust until it was upheld by its custodian after demise of the bond partner.

    There is a great lesson to be learnt from Audu/Faleke scenario though the entire message cannot unfold immediately. The road that leads to justice is laden with difficulties and trial of patience. According to Martin Luther King Jr., human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle; the tireless exertion and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.

    For Faleke, I think the walk to justice can be long and rough like the great Mandela once said, but the truth is that in the end, victory is foreseen not just for Faleke but the people of Kogi who are first victims in this circumstance.

    “Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe”,  so said Frederick Douglas.

    The rest is left for our Judiciary, the last hope of common man, to do justice to this anomaly and blatant miscarriage of justice. If we must make sense out of our democracy, the Judiciary has a role to play in this trying moment!

    – Hon SegunOlulade is a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Epe Constituency II

  • Kogi indigenes must unite to honour Audu, says wife

    Kogi indigenes must unite to honour Audu, says wife

    Aisha Abubakar Audu-Emeje is the wife of Prince Abubakar Audu, the late governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State. In this interview with Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo, she speaks on her late husband and the way forward for the state.

    How would you describe the death of your husband?

    His death is shocking without doubt. Prince Abubakar Audu was a shining star; and he kept shining till he left the world. Prince Audu’s death was an encounter with destiny, belief and conviction in accordance with the theological order. Prince Audu’s death is not just a loss to the family alone, but also big loss to the people of Kogi State, Nigeria and more particularly the nation’s political field where he was an active player, captain and stakeholder who was very much understood and partially misunderstood. Prince Audu left the world a true winner. He always conquered. He was a true son of Kogi State. He was an upright and focused politician who was loved by his people till the last day.

    What would you miss about him?

    Everything! His love, compassion, sense of magnanimity and his accommodating quality stood him out. He was a man of sterling virtues, who was ever willing to help at all times.

    What are the implications of his death in the politics of Kogi State and Nigeria in general?

    Allah, who created Audu, took him away, but the vacuum created by his death predicates that the people of Kogi State must go back to the drawing board to forgive one another, close the distances, harmonise our positions and be our brothers’ keepers. We must forget about the past, because it is no longer important; we must try to learn by taking advantage of the present circumstance we have found ourselves. Prince Audu’s death, no doubt, has reconfigured the political calculation of Kogi State. Even in his life time, he was a game changer to the extent that he has always caused reversal or changes in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This happened when the constitution was reversed to allow him contest for a second term, 10 years after leaving the same office. And this took a great deal of legal fireworks in the courts. And at the moment, the entire country is faced with a constitutional crisis triggered by his sudden death. And that is the greatness I am talking about Prince Audu.  Let me emphasise that Kogi State is one of the frontlines states in agriculture potentials, diverse cultural groupings, great intellectuals, successful industrialists, dedicated leaders, eminent and dignified statesmen, disciplined and energetic youth, and above all we are dynamic and equipped to move the state forward by continuing from where Prince Audu stopped, and his vision must be upheld in the spirit of sacrifice and continued dialogue.

    What is the way out of the present political logjam in Kogi State?

    It is important to remind the entire citizens of Kogi State that the late Prince Audu was a man of peace and goodwill; he was not a sectional or ethnic bigot. As a great man, his legacies live on. As an Ambassador of peace, I will like to call on all the indigenes, different ethnic and religious groups, and political affiliations in Kogis State to embrace peace and reject violence. A time like this in our political journey certainly demands sober reflection; we must not beat the drums of war. I call on the Igalas to uphold peace and brotherliness; let the Igbiras and the Okuns come to peace with other ethnic groups, and let our differences be swallowed by all of us coming together as one.

  • Kogi APC members insist on Audu/Faleke ticket

    Kogi APC members insist on Audu/Faleke ticket

    Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Kogi East and Kogi West senatorial districts said on Saturday that they would not shift grounds on Audu/Faleke ticket.

    The party leaders from Kogi East after a crucial meeting at Ayangba rejected the decision of the party’s national working committee to nominate Alhaji Yahaya Bello as a replacement for the late Alhaji Abubakar Audu.

    Prof. Isah Daniel, Vice-Chairman of the party in the zone, told newsmen at the end of the meeting that the Audu/Faleke ticket “won the Nov. 21 governorship election with or without the result of the supplementary election.

    “More than 6,000 votes scored during supplementary election are not enough to deny Audu/Faleke ticket; the mandate freely given to them before the election was declared inconclusive.

    “All stakeholders and party loyalists from the nine local government areas in Igala land have, therefore, resolved to stand on Audu/Faleke.’’

    In a similar development, traders under the aegis of the National Association of Market Women and Men of Nigeria, Kabba-Bunu Local Government, staged a peaceful protest to expressed support for the Audu/Faleke ticket.

    At a rally held in Kabba on Saturday, market leaders, Mrs Felicia Aiyeromi and Mr Stephen Oladipupo, said in separate interviews that the traders had an understanding with Faleke before the election which made them to vote APC during the election.

    They called on the leadership of the party to replace Audu with Faleke in the interest of justice and fairness.

    Also, at a meeting called by the leader of the APC in Kogi West Senatorial District, Rep. Buba Jibril in Lokoja, stakeholders and leaders rejected the nomination of Bello as a replacement for Audu.

    The leaders, in a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, resolved that although Faleke might pursue litigation against the party over the nomination of Bello, party leaders should not foreclose peaceful negotiation.

  • What next after Kogi poll?

    What next after Kogi poll?

    The declaration of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Yahaya Bello, as winner of Kogi State governorship election by the electoral commission is enmeshed in controversy. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN examines the crisis of succession in the Northcentral state.

    The sudden death of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu, threw the state into a deep constitutional crisis. It has also raised fundamental questions on the inadequacies of the 1999 Constitution. This is the first time in the history of Nigeria that a candidate in an inconclusive election would die. The drafters of the constitution did not envisage the scenario; hence, there was no provision for it. Analysts believe that the crisis can only be resolved by the apex court.

    The development in Kogi has thrown the ruling APC into a deeper mess. The party leadership had to grapple with three major problems:  the claim of Hon. James Falake, the deputy governorship candidate, that he was the right person to replace the late Audu; the refusal of the people of Kogi East Senatorial District to accept the choice of Bello and the refusal of the new candidate and the running mate to work together.

     

    Furore over substitute

     

    Initially, the APC had wanted to go for a fresh primary to pick a substitute for Audu. It was learnt that based on legal advice, the party decided to pick Bello, who was the runner-up at the primary. The party retained Falake as deputy governorship candidate. But, Falake insisted that he is the party’s candidate following the death of his principal, Audu.

    Falake, in a letter dated November 27, written by his lawyer, Wole Olanipekun, and addressed to the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, maintained that the nomination of any other candidate to serve as Faleke’s principal would be strange to law and the constitution, warning the party not to toe the path that would be full of legal landmines.

    He had, in a separate letter he personally signed, also rejected the party’s submission of his name as deputy governorship candidate to Bello, saying that he would remain committed to the ticket, which defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He maintained that, in the face of the law and the constitution, he is the candidate of the party. He said: “The issue involved is that of constitutional, formal and legal imperatives, rather than political expediency. In the eyes of the constitution and the law, our client is the governor-elect of Kogi State. There is no gainsaying this fact. It is a truism that cannot be discounted.”

    The letter stated that bringing another candidate to contest election in 91 polling units rather than the deputy governorship candidate is laden with legal land mines. “Falake could not be jettisoned by the party or have a fresh governorship candidate imposed on him as his principal because law does not recognise this type of supplementary election in 91 polling units with a total number of eligible voters with Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) not more than 25,ooo or thereabout. Put bluntly, there cannot be any legitimate governor of Kogi State, who would emerge from supplementary election outside Audu-Falake ticket with a maximum of 25,000 votes, assuming all the registered voters with PVCs cast their votes for the anticipatory supplementary candidate.

    Faleke cited the example of how the former President Goodluck Jonathan became acting President through the doctrine of necessity and urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the APC to subject themselves to the doctrine of constitutional imperative or necessity by allowing him to become the governor-elect.

    However, sources in the APC disclosed that the party resolved that the best option was to pick a candidate from amongst those that participated in the primaries, ahead of the November 21, poll. A source said: “The need for religious balance and the quest to escape the hammer of the courts on the imperative of candidates emerging from primaries informed the decision of the APC to field Bello as the replacement for Audu in the supplementary election held on December 5. Thus, the party settled for Bello so as not to run- foul of the Electoral Act, which stipulates that a candidate for an election must have been properly nominated through primaries”.

    Besides, the party also considered the fact that the second runner-up in the primaries, Mr James Ocholi, who hails from Kogi East as the late Audu has already been sworn-in as a minister. The thinking of the party, according to the source, was that the PDP cannot overturn the lead already established by the APC , and that in any case, whoever replaces Audu would win and be sworn-in early next year.

    It was learnt that the leadership of the APC plans to placate Kogi East Senatorial District through juicy appointments at the federal level to reduce the tension in the area. A party chieftain said: “A number of strategic appointments have been lined up for the people of Kogi East for supporting Bello-Faleke ticket and bringing the APC back to Kogi Government House. The party recognised the fact that the Igala tribe, as the major ethnic group in the state, the East Senatorial District has held on to power for so long and its candidate was at the verge of another victory, but for the sudden death of Audu. The APC will surely do the needful to make the zone happy.”

     

    Can a party substitute its candidate?

     

    The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, said since INEC declared the election inconclusive, the exercise must be concluded and that the APC has the right to substitute its candidate for the purpose of the supplementary election. He said: “The issue is very straightforward. Fundamentally, Section 33 of the Electoral Act is very clear in case of death. The right for a substitution by a political party is sustained by the provisions of Section 33 of the Electoral Act.

    “The APC, as a party, is entitled to substitution by the clear provisions of Section 33 of the Electoral Act. Also, Section 221 of the Constitution is clear that the votes that were cast were cast in favour of APC. Arising from those deductions, it does not require any legal interpretation. The interpretation is clear: APC will substitute, which right has been sustained by Section 33 of the Electoral Act. So be it”, AGF stated.

    A lawyer, Mr Enitan Adegbola, aligned with the AGF’s position. According to him, the current position of the law on substitution or change of candidate is encapsulated in Section 33 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended). It provides as follows: “A political party shall not be allowed to change or substitute its candidate whose name has been submitted pursuant to section 32 of this Act except in the case of death or withdrawal by the candidate.

    “Also of relevance to the issue of substitution of candidate by the reason of death is Section 36 (1) of the Electoral Act. It states thus: “If after the time for delivery of nomination paper and before the commencement of the poll, a nominated candidate dies, the Chief National Electoral Commissioner or the Residential Electoral Commissioner shall, being satisfied of the fact of the death, countermand the poll in which the deceased candidate was to participate and the Commission shall appoint some other convenient date for the election within 14 days”.

    A lawyer, Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN), said the APC has the right to substitute its governorship candidate, following the death of Prince Audu or ask Faleke to take over.  The death of Audu cannot nullify the election. It was APC that contested the governorship election, not Audu as an individual.

    “The Supreme Court had settled in the Rotimi Amaechi’s case that votes cast at an election stand to the credit of political parties and not the candidates. Although a party cannot participate in an election without sponsoring a qualified and living candidate, the votes cast in favour of party cannot be invalidated merely because the candidate of the party has died as there is provision for substitution of the deceased candidate,” he stated.

     

    Supplementary poll

     

    Both Faleke and Idris Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have tried to stop the supplementary election from holding, but a Federal High Court in Abuja struck out their suits, saying they lacked jurisdiction as the matter could only be resolved by the Election Petition Tribunal.

    The declaration of Bello as governor-elect by INEC after the supplementary poll has deepened the crisis within the APC. Falake has distanced himself from the APC ticket and refused to be part of the victory. He said he would not be available for swearing-in with Bello on January 27, 2016. “I will not disappoint Prince Abubakar Audu. Nobody consulted me before making me a deputy to Bello. He, too, did not consult me. I have made my position known to the party leadership. I am not ready to betray and disappoint Prince Audu,” he reiterated.

    On Faleke’s claim that he was not a running mate to Bello, the INEC Director of Publicity, Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, said at no time did he (Faleke) withdraw from the race. Osaze-Uzzi said it would have amounted to a legal absurdity for the APC to have made Faleke its candidate and ask him nominate a new running mate. Such a development, he said, would have thrown up fresh legal challenges.

    “We got a letter from Faleke saying he is the governor-elect. At no time did he withdraw his name either. In any case, we never relate with individuals. We only deal with candidates through their parties. Even so, his withdrawal would have been correct if it was done within the time frame of 45 days before the election and if his party has forwarded his withdrawal letter to the Commission. When he was nominated as deputy governorship candidate, it was his party that forwarded his resume, affidavit and other details to INEC and not Faleke himself.”

     

    Court as final arbiter

     

    With the controversy trailing the declaration of Bello as governor-elect and considering the divergent positions canvassed by lawyers, it appears the Kogi imbroglio will be resolved by the court. Both Faleke and Wada are set for a legal battle with the governor-elect.

    The PDP has declared its candidate, Wada, as the winner of the election. The party argued that its standard bearer at the polls on November 21 and December 5 scored 201, 877 votes against the APC Bello’s 6’885 votes at the supplementary election. The PDP insists that Wada had more votes than Bello and therefore should be returned by INEC.

    A lawyer, Mr Wahab Shittu, said the death of Prince Audu had set in a constitutional crisis which can only be resolved by the Supreme Court.  According to him, the AGF ought to have sought the intervention of the Supreme Court to resolve the issue before the supplementary poll.

    According to Shittu, Section 295(3) of the Constitution provides: “Where any question as to the interpretation or application of this Constitution arises in any proceedings in the Court of Appeal and the Court is of the opinion that the question involves a substantial question of law, the court may, and shall, if any party to proceeding so requests, refer the question to the Supreme Court which shall give its decision upon the question and give such directions to the Court of Appeal as it deems appropriate”.

  • Anambra, Enugu, Kogi in peace meeting over oil wells

    Since the discovery of crude oil deposits in the boundary areas of Anambra, Enugu and Kogi states, the affected communities have not known peace. Members of these communities in the areas have taken up arms against one another as the states lay claim and counter-claim over which state the oil wells belong to.

    The building of a private refinery, the Orient Petroleum Resources Plc owned by Anambra State-born business men at the area did not assuage the people. Rather, it escalated the crisis as Anambra and Kogi states engage each other in fierce clashes.

    The three oil-producing states met recently and have resolved to take steps aimed at addressing the continuous oil-related crisis existing among their communities.

    Rising from a stakeholders’ meeting in Enugu recently which was tagged “Inaugural Meeting of Peace, Truth and Reconciliation” and which featured various stakeholders from the communities, they affirmed that their various communities would make good use of the oil in the area.

    In his opening remark, the immediate past Special Adviser to the ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Egbogah, regretted that the communities across the states have under-utilised the “blessings

    from God” in the form of oil in their lands.

    According to him, it was unfortunate that there is no peace existing among the oil-producing states, adding that the various stakeholders should put their differences aside and work for the good of one another.

    His words: “We are given a blessing by the presence of oil in our communities and we are trying to throw away, to scatter this blessing. It is not proper. So, we are gathered here today to bring ourselves back to that blessing. To work in unity, tranquillity and understanding so that we can actually feed from that blessing.

    “If we understand the meaning and benefits the host communities have individually and collectively, then we wouldn’t have been having one form of misunderstanding or another.”

    In a related speech, the President of Host Communities of Nigeria (a body uniting communities with oil and gas deposits in Nigeria); Prince Mike Emuh emphasised that without peace, nothing meaningful can be achieved from these communities of Anambra, Enugu and Kogi states. He assured that his group will ensure that lasting peace will be realised shortly.

    Prince Emuh further urged the government(s) of the affected states to put more efforts so as to guarantee the safety of lives and properties in these communities.

    Also speaking, a representative of Orient Petroleum Resources Plc, Mr. Marcel Ifejiofor, expressed the commitment of the companies to better the lives of members of the host communities.

    While pointing out that the oil companies cannot operate successfully without the help of the host communities, he called on the various communities to play their part to bring about peaceful co-existence.

    “We need encouragement and support from local communities for a safe and secure environment; and encouragement for enough investments through which these communities could be developed.

    “So, we strongly believe that our company will bring heavy investment to these

    communities,” he said.

    Pointing out that the usual factors responsible for persistent problems between oil companies and host communities is lack of understanding and communication breakdown, he said the company will do all within its powers to live up to expectations.

    “We believe that we are going to empower the communities with scholarships and various other rural projects to aid mutual co-existence,” he said.

    Speaking to newsmen in an interview, the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to Anambra State Governor, Hon. Ngozi Okoyo revealed that the government of Chief Willy Obiano has been doing all within its powers to enthrone peaceful co-existence within these communities. She noted that Governor Obiano’s administration has committed resources and time, all geared towards achieving peace among the communities.

    Furthermore, another delegate representing Enugu State, Mr. Mike Nwakife advocated for an alternate means of conflict resolution for peace to reign. He frowned at the attempt of some people to hurt others or even take others’ lives over the misunderstanding among the communities as, according to him, the Igbo culture and tradition forbid such.

    He further regretted that Enugu State is being taken for granted even though the state hosts a large amount of oil in the region, especially in Iga community. According to him, none of the professionals from the state are featured in the employment schedule of the oil companies, adding that such act is totally uncalled for.

    While cautioning that the state wouldn’t resolve to any violent means for it to gain recognition, he said for peace to reign among the three states there was need for fair treatment and equity.

    In his submission, a representative from Anambra State, Sir Kingsley Nnabuenyi, said there had been series of unresolved issues among some of the feuding communities outside of oil. He said that there had been communal problems existing in the past before the issue of oil came up.

    “Oil became an escalating factor. So, we have to look at the root of the problem and resolve these things historically first,” he added.

    At the end of the meeting, a committee was set up to devise a means of putting an end to the oil-related crisis. Members of the committee were drawn from the three affected states and the executive of the Host Communities of Nigeria. The committee was given two months to conclude its assignments.

  • Kogi: From tragedy to farce

    Kogi: From tragedy to farce

    Kogi State residents were still struggling to come to terms with the sudden death of Abubakar Audu, their former governor who was on the cusp of returning to Lugard House for a record third stint, following his commanding showing in the November 21 election.

    Amidst the mourning and the wailing, tragedy quickly turned into farce.  And the whole thing has remained a perfect calendar of farce ever since.

    I am not referring to the jubilation that punctured the funereal ambience, following reports that Audu had resurrected, Lazarus-style, on account of a miracle worker’s intercession.  Elsewhere, that would be farcical indeed.  But in Nigeria, such claims, and even more brazen ones, are made routinely by syndicated charlatans with eyes on the main chance.

    This long-running farce began when, without research and without consultation, the returning officer, Professor Emmanuel Kucha, declared the election outcome inconclusive.  Audu and his running mate on the APC ticket had built a lead that their opponent, incumbent Governor Idris Wada, could not surmount even if he won every ballot in the constituencies where the voting had to be rescheduled because of logistic problems or election malpractices

    The APC, said INEC chair, would have to nominate a candidate to replace Audu.  That candidate would then pick a running mate, and together, they would face Wada in a supplementary poll.

    The Federal Attorney-General, who had not figured in the matter thus far, weighed in and endorsed INEC’s position.

    If INEC stuck to its decision, the bet was that Faleke would replace Audu at the head of a new ticket and then pick a running mate for the final stage of the election.  That seemed to be the position of the APC, a position dictated by common sense and backed by some of the nation’s leading attorneys.

    Nonsense, thundered Olisa Metuh, the last man standing in a long line of hacks who made the PDP the odious brand that it was and has remained.  With Audu’s death, he said, the APC had “crashed out” of the contest and the PDP’s candidate who had the second highest vote tally was the outright winner.  For stating otherwise, INEC’s chair and the Federal Attorney-General should resign immediately, he demanded.

    Resign, and then what comes next?

    But Metuh is not in the business of proposing solutions.  With him, nothing succeeds like bombast, and the more sophomoric the bombast, the more he celebrates it as a mark of achievement.

    Emboldened by Metuh, Wada who had won in only five of the 21 local government areas compared to the Audu ticket’s 16, found his voice.  He proclaimed himself winner of the election.

    Meanwhile, a solution that had seemed so commonsensical was vitiated by lawyers and non-lawyers canvassing a solution guaranteed to muddy the waters and generate maximum confusion. Faleke could not replace Audu, they said, because Audu had not been “duly elected”  governor at the time he died. Beside, Faleke had not participated in the primaries that threw up Audu.  It made no difference that he is joint legatee, with Audu, of the votes cast for the APC.

    Then, in a move that baffled and confounded its supporters, and the attentive public, the APC caved in to INEC and the Attorney General and agreed, per its National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to hold a primary to pick a replacement for Audu.   It was like snatching defeat from the jaws of unassailable victory and sowing the seeds of bitter conflict within the party.

    In its new wisdom, the APC settled for Yahaya Bello who had come a very distant second in the primaries that threw up Audu, and had contributed nothing to Audu’s campaign.  He was even reported to be preparing to defect to the PDP after his loss.  It is a measure of his political standing and influence that he lost his ward to the PDP in the November 21 election. In a curious reversal, Faleke was designated Bello’s running mate.

    Faleke, insisting that he was the rightful person to step into Audu’s shoes, had made it abundantly clear that he was not available to serve as Bello’s or anybody’s running mate.  But  the upshot was that Bello who had contributed nothing to the Audu/Faleke ticket stood to inherit the votes the twain had garnered, the very votes they said Faleke could not inherit.

    They went to the supplementary poll with that arrangement anyway, and Bello was proclaimed winner.  When added to the votes the Audu/Faleke ticket had won, the 6,885 cast for Bello’s dubious APC ticket last Saturday resulted in a plurality of more than 40, 000 votes.

    Bello has since been proclaimed governor-elect of Kogi State.  But no rejoicing, no dancing in the streets, no victory lap, has followed this strange victory.

    When reminded that Faleke had declined to serve as Bello’s mate, the returning officer had  replied curtly that Faleke could not do so since it was the APC that had designated him Bello’s running mate.  The APC is going to rue this one.

    Trust Olisa Metuh to stir things up.  Designating Bello governor-elect, he said, amounted to “a waste of time, a waste of scarce national resources and ridiculous shadow-chasing.”

    By the PDP’s reckoning, he said, Bello – “one Bello” he called him, with his trademark condescension — had scored only 6,885 votes in the supplementary election, as against Wada’s 204, 877 votes overall in the election.  The votes cast for the Audu/Faleke ticket in the earlier election had died with Audu. Wada was, therefore, the undisputed winner.

    In a rare moment of sobriety, he refrained from declaring that Wada had won  by a landslide. Perhaps the word had escaped him in the heat of composition. Something tells me he will deploy at his next press conference.

    So, there you have it.

    There are now three claimants to the gubernatorial perch at Lugard House in the Kogi capital, Lokoja: Wada, who lost at each stage of the election, Faleke, who was poised to win with Audu until Audu died at their moment of triumph, and Bello, who was substituted for Audu in a process that cannot pass the test of fairness and equity.

    There is even a fourth claimant:  None of the above.

    And each claimant has a formidable team of attorneys in its corner.

    I am here reminded of a quip about lawyers I first heard from the late Chief Bayo Kuku, a corporate lawyer of no mean repute.  A lawyer, he said self-deprecatingly, is the one who, when two parties are fighting over a cow, steps in between to milk the cow.  I am sure the lawyers will figure out how to proceed with the milking when there are three or more parties claiming ownership of the cow.

    The courts are going to have a hard time figuring out this one.

    It would be the height of judicial perversity if they found for Wada or Bello.  But anything can happen in a judicial system mired in perversity.

  • Betrayal of Kogi

    Betrayal of Kogi

    As this column was being written, Kogi State was heading to 91 polling units in 18 local government areas to vote in the December 5 controversial supplementary election ordered by a vacillating Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The electoral body had declared the November 21 governorship poll inconclusive on the grounds that the registered voters in the disputed polling units exceeded the difference between the ballots cast for former All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Abubakar Audu, and Idris Wada, governor and Peoples Democratic Party candidate. INEC ignored the more definitive statistics that the permanent voter cards collected in all those units were less than 38,000, implying that there was no arithmetical miracle by which the APC could have lost the election. Sources in INEC, however, indicate that in declaring the election inconclusive, the electoral body was simply fulfilling the letter of the law.

    No one will, however, dispute the fact that INEC fostered the stalemate and opened the doors to the controversy ravaging Kogi State. Why they did it, and whether they were externally influenced by those dead set against both Prince Audu and Hon Faleke for political and religious reasons will be hard to say at the moment. There are only indications that INEC was not surefooted, and that it appeared to have surrendered its independence to certain elements, including the Attorney General. If INEC behaved most uninspiringly, the presidency, which behaved most depressingly conspiratorial, is even worse. The presidency’s cavalier attitude towards the poll gives plenty of room to suspect its motives, especially the mala fide manner it distanced itself from the candidates and the poll. The first impression created was that the APC candidate, Prince Audu, was tainted, and as the PDP suggested and campaigned, it would be counterproductive for the president to identify with him. But not only was the corruption case yet to be proved, even the president himself was tainted with religious and ethnic fanaticism; yet a majority of Nigerians ignored the campaign and rallied to his side.

    Closely leashed to this is the presidency’s appalling misconception of party politics and supremacy. Even in the best of times, the Buhari presidency never quite showed a grasp of what a party is and what it stands for. Now, with the contempt demonstrated by the president for the Prince Audu ticket, it was not surprising that he declined to campaign for him before he died. The APC on the whole did not even mourn their standard-bearer in the truest sense of mourning. Not only were they eager to move on, they were joyous in betraying the Audu/Faleke ticket and rubbishing it on flimsy grounds. Some analysts have however accused the party of being influenced by religious and ethnic considerations, inadvertently corroborating the longtime argument of politicians like Femi Fani-Kayode who suggested that the party had an underlining religious and ethnic agenda.

    The betrayal has also permeated, for now, two of the state’s senatorial districts. Kogi Central, constituted mostly by the Ebira, and from among whom the APC picked Yahaya Bello as the substitute for Prince Audu, has ignored the cause of justice and rallied enthusiastically to the side of their son. Justice be damned, they seem to say; after all, they were not the ones who inspired the initial unjust manoeuvre by INEC, nor were they the ones who pushed a deliberately malevolent APC to rubbish the Audu/Faleke ticket, nor still were they the people who turned the president against the APC’s democratically chosen ticket for the November 21 poll. As far as they were concerned, they had no reason not to profit from the massive betrayal of the APC ticket and the wholesale repudiation of political ethics mindlessly engineered by certain APC bigwigs.

    Kogi West, Abiodun Faleke’s senatorial district, is also believed to be desperately asking their son to take the consolatory position of running mate in the APC ticket so that they would have something to show for their efforts. It does not apparently matter to them that they would be forsaking the principles and the cause of justice they have been known to fight for over the decades. Their elders unwisely fought for and embraced the idea of Kogi State only to end up holding the short end of the stick. Now, their children  are on the edge of repudiating the values their great ancestors fought for, their fortitude in the face of injustice and unfairness over the centuries, and the great and ennobling achievements they made as a people in the fields of culture, education, politics and even religion. It is expected that Mr Faleke will stand pat, even if he remains the last man standing, and that he will be prepared to lose the governorship seat rather than abjure the values and principles he has campaigned for, even if everyone around him, including his party, surrenders to infamy. He will not be part of the immorality of transferring the Audu/Faleke victory to the party’s favoured interloper.

    It is not clear how Kogi East, where Prince Audu hailed from, would have responded had the entire process been voided and fresh primaries ordered, especially considering how they had over the years resisted power shift. But for now, having apparently lost to their bitterest rival, the Ebira, and are about losing everything except the courts say otherwise, it is expected they will stay the course and stick to the Faleke inheritance.

    The most important lesson in the serial betrayal gnawing at the liver of Kogi State is that the APC was never really a party, and that whatever pretence it still has to being called one is only to the extent that a few people in the party, having hijacked the levers of party power, are now striving to foist certain primordial and parochial agenda on the rest. Intertwined with this is the fact that Nigeria is in crying need of true leaders, men and women who are neither beholden to religion, ethnic agenda or private and short-term political goals; men and women who take the long, expansive, larger and visionary view of politics and country; men and women who have a passion to break down the walls that divide Nigerians and forge a common purpose for the country; men and women who despite their own losses and disadvantaged positions would fight for justice whatever the cost, in the understanding that in the long run the society is hurt when leaders pursue or disguise private interests under national, altruistic interest.

    It is also dismaying that while the Kogi APC candidature controversy raged, the only voices heard were social and public commentators and legal experts, nearly all of whom have argued from the general lacunae in the electoral law and the constitution. There was not one statesman from the North or South heard. It was as if the disingenuously aloof and silent President Buhari was the country’s only surviving and senior statesman. No statesman reminded the country of the consequences of past injustice, and no one warns of present injustice. There was no moral voice, no voice of caution, no warning against the creeping ethnocentrism and sectarianism of some powerful APC leaders who have taken a position that negates the cause of justice and endangers the future of the ruling party. If care is not taken, the betrayal of Kogi may yet be the archetype of Nigerian politics, a symbol of what is to come, as the country falls deeper into the clutches of ruthless mafias.

  • Voting commences in Ajaokuta

    Voting commences in Ajaokuta

    Voting has commenced in Ajaokuta in the Kogi governorship rerun election.

    Meanwhile electoral materials reached Dekina in Dekina LGA under tight security.

    Dekina where Governor Wada hails from. It is the local government with the highest number of cancelled votes put at 17,000.

    It is also where the INEC area office was burnt down in the early hours of Friday by suspected hoodlums.