Surely, the candidates
on parade at last
Saturday’s Edo poll had
great expectations; but
when dusk descended
late that day, only
Comrade Oshiomhole
had his expectation
fulfilled by the teeming
electorates who had
their day and say. When
democracy works, it
separates the good, the
bad, the ugly, the bigger
and the smaller parties,
and leaves lessons for
all to draw on and learn.
That is the beauty of
democracy.
Not so much a lesson
for the smaller parties.
In the context of our
experience, the smaller
parties stood no chance
at the Edo poll. Though
democracy is about
alternatives, our
monetised polity does
not allow parties with
lean resources to foster
and grow and pose
alternatives. But, we
must ensure their
survival. That the
Peoples Democratic
Party, as the ruling
party at the centre, lost
in all wards showed
how its fortune had
plummeted, how its
fate was sealed by the
people it so terribly
despised. There are
lessons to be learned.
Edo State shall never be
the same. Its
landscape, once mapped
by shenanigans and
made ugly by the
dubious political
architectures erected
by politicians of the
most despicable ilk, has
now been cleansed by
the people. On Saturday,
the notion of the people
being at the core of
democracy was
reinforced by the choice
that derecognised the
ethnic boundaries the
Peoples Democratic
Party tried to create by
its choice of General
Airhiabvere, a Benin son.
The Peoples Democratic
Party failed to
transcend the ethnic
divisions it promoted in
the state for years and
it was roundly trounced
by the people. The
people, by pitching their
collective resolves for
change with
performance, they
located the possibility
of change within
themselves and in
Comrade Oshiomhole as
the driver. Perhaps
nothing highlights
performance more
vividly than the impulse
of responsibility of
politicians the people
recognised Oshiomhole
had instilled.
Responsibility in
Oshiomhole’s lexicon is
that which every
politician owes to the
people. For him, no
politician is bigger than
the people. The people
are cheerful givers. And
Oshiomhole was
handsomely rewarded.
This is one lesson
politicians must learn.
For years, our
successive electoral
umpires protected the
brittle ego of the ruling
party. Many feared that
Jega’s Independent
National Electoral
Commission (INEC) had
gone the way of other
leaderships of that
institution that came
before his own. With
results not going the
way of opposition
parties, critics pointed
to how ‘elections were
stolen’ by the Peoples
Democratic Party in Kogi
and Adamawa. I do not
hold brief for Professor
Jega, but it’s
preposterous to
assume that the
Peoples Democratic
Party won in Adamawa
and Kogi states
because it stole votes.
Let the truth be told.
With the opposition
parties putting up
disunited political fronts
in Adamawa, in the
face of the infernal rage
of the Peoples
Democratic Party, it
was clear they were
out for the roasting.
They all got roasted
and badly too. The Kogi
contest was between
two devils; and the
people chose the devil
they didn’t know over
the devil they knew.
Last Saturday, Jega’s
Independent National
Electoral Commission
wasn’t on top of its
game. Three hours into
the poll, electoral
materials hadn’t gotten
to most polling centres
across the state and
Comrade Oshiomhole
had to question the
integrity of the electoral
process before the first
ballot was cast. Again,
the inadequacies and ill-
preparedness of Jega’s
Independent National
Electoral Commission
were exposed. At a
time many perceptive
observers thought our
courts had saved
Professor Jega his
blushes by introducing
staggered elections into
the electoral calendar,
the bespectacled
professor of political
science disappointed
yet again. Increasingly,
Professor Jega has
shown his incapacity for
delivering on his remit.
This is inspite of the
huge resources that
were placed at his
disposal. Let’s put the
Edo shame into
perspective, here. In a
state of 1.7 million
registered voters, only
600 thousand plus
voters that were
accredited actually
voted. There were
reports of names
missing from the
electoral register and of
voters’ accreditors
absent at the poll
centres. Invariably, the
questions that desire
answers are: what
happened to the 1.1m
voters? Or were they
ghost voters? It’s
either the Independent
National Electoral
Commission presented
us with inaccurate
figures or that the
discrepancies so glaring
on poll day were
occasioned by
disappearances.
The Edo State poll has
come and gone. As
Comrade Oshiomhole
settles down to the
business of governance,
it is important to sound
the caution. Power is a
dangerous tool in the
hands of those
individuals who wield it.
The mistake the
electorates have to
avoid is giving the
wielders of power
absolute trust. We saw
what Comrade
Oshiomhole was
capable of during his
party’s 2011 primaries
when he imposed
candidates on his party.
In January 2012, he
didn’t take sides with
the people during the
fuel subsidy protests.
Edo people, having lived
through the painful eras
of godfathers, must
shine their eyes as is
often expressed in
these parts. Edolites
must ‘shine their eyes’
if they have truly
learned the lessons of
the past. To do
otherwise would be
dangerous.
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