Ogun Guber: Oppositions’ Post-Election Trauma

Femi Ogbonnikan

After the 2023 general elections, it’s time for Nigeria to forge ahead while those already elected and issued with the certificates of return begin to face the onerous task of good governance. Unlike the previous experience, the expectation was understandably high that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would surpass the old threshold of performance, especially with the introduction of BVAS and electronic transmission of results directly from the polling unit as promised by Professor Yakub Mahmood. People had expected the new technology to perform beyond the ordinary by curbing all forms of electoral manipulations.

However, there were some technical hitches here and there which some subversive elements have been complaining about, threatening to bring the roof down because they did not win. Whether or not the perceived infractions they complain about are substantial enough to accede to the agitation for the cancellation of the entire process is a matter for the judiciary to decide in the months ahead.   

The wheel of justice may be slow; it will surely grind to a halt one day and the aggrieved individuals will get appropriate redress. That is the way things are done in civilized democracies. In a democracy, there is no room for self-help, arbitrary or irrational behaviour that can torpedo the whole process. Yes, the election is not perfect, and, of course, there is nowhere an election can be perfect because human errors will always manifest in one way or the other. All the same, the electoral umpire did not perform too badly in this election, it performed remarkably very well, well enough to deserve the applause of all and sundry. But then, this is Nigeria, where the acceptance of the outcome of an election is determined by who wins and who loses.

By no means, this election is not the best but certainly not the worst. Some naysayers are merely trying to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it. They want the government to throw away the baby with the bathwater. It is impossible. No responsible government will do that. Doing so will amount to a waste of taxpayers’ money and also erode public confidence. We all must learn to play the game by the rules. In a way, INEC has its own share of the blame for some of the technical hitches during the conduct of the polls. Those lapses place higher responsibility on the Commission to improve its performance in future elections.

But beyond that, we must move away from the mentality of judging the credibility of the electoral process only by our own worldview or how fared we have performed in a contest. Without a change of such mentality, even if the performance of the INEC is improved upon, those who will not accept the outcome will still raise an eyebrow because, in our judgment, an election is free, fair, and credible only when our candidates as a party or individual win. Not surprising why some sore losers have dismissed the entire process as hogwash. 

As it has been observed, many unfounded allegations of rigging and other forms of electoral malfeasances have continued to flood the media space since the announcement of the results of the presidential and governorship elections. Most of these claims are based on the prejudices of the individuals concerned. As a matter of fact, some of the petitions already filed before the election petition tribunals at different levels are as worthless as the paper on which they were written.

In Ogun State, the political atmosphere has been so much polluted by the unguided utterances and actions of a few irredentist state actors that it would take a great deal of efforts to restore sanity back to the system. We can only appeal to those fanning the ember of disunity and disaffection to desist forthwith in the overall interest of the state and its good people. No personal ambition of any individual is bigger than the collective aspiration of the citizens.

Already, there is a deluge of petitions challenging the victory of Governor Dapo Abiodun as well as the state legislators elected on the platform ruling APC before the governorship and State House of Assembly Election Petition Tribunal. Apart from the pending litigation battle between Oladipupo Adebutu, the governorship candidate of the PDP and Governor Abiodun, no fewer than 16 aggrieved House of Assembly candidates in the March 11 elections are also contesting the validity of the results declared by the INEC.

These are normal parts of the transition process that can guarantee the legitimacy of those elected to positions of authority. While there is nothing wrong in seeking redress through the appropriate legal means, everything is wrong with incisive statements as well as the seeming intimidation of INEC and judiciary that has become a regular pastime of Adebutu and his co-travelers. That is not the right path to follow if the aim of contesting public office is to render service. Sometimes, defeat carries honour, respect, and dignity when the loser recognises that losing in a contest is not the end of a journey in life but corrective feedback to put you back on track.

This is what the PDP and its supporters in the last elections failed to realise before they took to the streets to protest the outcome of the governorship poll, while also threatening to bring down the roof because their candidates did not win. It is a sad development in our political history. One is even more saddened by the despicable act of violence brought to bear on the political atmosphere in Ogun State during the last elections. The recent sad incident of Emmanuel Adeniran, a staff of INEC, who was killed during the March 18 gubernatorial election, and a police corporal identified as Sunday Idoko who was shot dead by unknown gunmen while escorting election results from Ipokia to the Ilaro collation centre on February 24, 2019, brings to memory the alien culture of election violence that is unknown to the good people of Ogun State.

Intriguingly, Adebutu threw caution into the wind while on a condolence visit to the family of Adeniran, accusing supporters of APC of perpetrating the dastardly act, claiming that he was murdered for refusing to rig during the governorship election. You cannot approbate and reprobate at the same time. As a candidate in the contest, he should have exercised restraint in making such an inflammatory statement which is capable of arousing genuine suspicion from the members of the public. For justice to be done, he should have allowed the police to conduct their investigation and make their report public before jumping to such a conclusion.

To say the least, that reckless statement is too presumptuous and hypocritical. It is an attempt to abort justice. The world is watching.

In another breadth, Adebutu, in a statement issued in Abeokuta, raised the alarm that he might be killed over the outcome of the governorship election and his quest to challenge the same at the tribunal. But the Publicity Secretary of the APC, Tunde Oladunjoye, in a quick reaction, responded appropriately, saying “All the resort to red herrings, cheap blackmail, and futile propaganda will not help him achieve what he could not achieve through the ballot even with documented inducements and several breaches of the Electoral Act.”

“As a progressive party and government, we pride ourselves as people who are irrevocably committed to the plurality of opinions, the freedom of choice and association which our constitution and democracy provide. That choice has been freely and democratically exercised on the 18th of March, 2023 governorship and House of Assembly elections,” he added.

Having been sufficiently traumatized by those who are hell-bent on setting the blaze because of the election, it is high time we put the sad memory behind us and forge ahead with the task of building a prosperous economy for the good of all. And on this note, Governor Abiodun has promised to remain focused on his developmental agenda. Ahead of the inauguration of his new administration on May 29, he has unveiled his next line of action, assuring that he would deliver on all his electoral promises without fear of discrimination against any person or particular area of the state.

Governor Abiodun, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Kunle Somorin, said though the election was keenly contested, his re-election came to him as a sign of good faith and a vote of confidence in his administration by the people, declaring that his second term would usher in more goodies of democracy. He said the renewal of his mandate for another term of four years showed that power belongs to God, describing his victory as heart-warming, and “further proof that no man can play God or stop what God has ordained.”

He said his victory was a further challenge to deliver on the manifesto of the APC, even as he promised that he would continue with the government of inclusiveness that had been the hallmark of his Administration in the last four years.

While commending the people for conducting themselves in a peaceful manner during the polls, the governor equally INEC, security agencies, the media, and other relevant stakeholders for ensuring an atmosphere that enabled peaceful elections.

He further added that the people in the state would see his administration working to provide electricity in Abeokuta, Ota, Ijebu-Ode, and Sagamu in the first instance, while it would continue to provide road infrastructure with a focus on inner township roads.

He also assured that his administration would work extra harder to ensure youth development through job creation as it was done in his first tenure, while equally promising to host the best National Sports Festival in the history of the festival in the country.

He restated his commitment to full implementation of the Kajola Dry Port in the Kajola Free Trade Zone, pointing out that once the port is completed and ready for use, cargo can be shipped directly to the state, thereby reducing demorrhage and creating job opportunities for the people in the state.

On education, the governor said his administration would continue to ensure the state dominance in the sector, whilst ensuring that schemes like the broiler project where day-old chicks were given to some young men and women through some of its partners, and the Anchor Borrowers Programme are fully promoted and implemented in the second term.

According to the Governor, the 7,000 members of the Ogun State Development Council and the Ogun State Cooperatives Federated Limited that had received their letters as Social Investment Assistants would soon begin to receive their remuneration. This, he said, would help his administration to reach the grassroots at any point in time his administration’s plans to intervene and educate the people of the state.

What this implies is that the administration has already prepared itself to hit the ground running as soon as the much-awaited inauguration for its second tenure is done on May 29. Of course, there would be distractions both from within and outside the ruling APC. While former governor Gbenga Daniel continues to play the ostrich, Adebutu is suffering from post election trauma. The governor is not unaware of the two sad scenarios. He is very well abreast of the clandestine moves by the opposition working in concert with some traitors within the APC camp to bring his government down.

But he is not losing sleep over that threat and does not need to because every effort has been made to mitigate the effect of any possible disruptive tendency by those who see their ambitions to be bigger than the collective best interest of the good people of the state. Surely, the days of suspected individuals who are engaging in anti-party activities are numbered. They will soon give way to the new administration to focus on its promise to deliver more dividends of democracy to the people.

Ogbonnikan wrote from Abeokuta, Ogun State capital