Kayode Komolafe
12 November 2008
column
Lagos — It has been said, with a good measure of justification, that the Barack Obama effect would be ultimately universal. While that is yet to be seen in policies when the United States president-elect goes to work from next January 20, the cultural effects are already noticeable. Obama has given to the world a new language of politics. At least some of the words and phrases introduced by his legendary campaign for the presidency are already universally appropriated. People do so without apology or any copyright consideration. The often borrowed phrases include " Audacity of Hope" the title of one of his books; "Change : We believe" and "Yes, We can".
With the confirmation of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole as the winner of the April 14, 2007 governorship election in Edo State yesterday by the Court of Appeal, the electorate whose majority voted for Oshiomhole can as well appropriate the words of the Obama campaign by saying : "Yes, We can". The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) led by Professor Maurice Iwu declared Professor Oserheimen Osunbor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner of the election. By the way, this was the same election that Iwu reportedly asked America to emulate. Oshiomhole headed for the tribunal to challenge this rape of the democratic process. The electoral tribunal chaired by Justice Peter Umeadi declared Oshiomhole of the Action Congress (AC), the true winner on March 20. Osunbor went to the Court of Appeal to dispute the ruling of the tribunal. The Court of Appeal pronounced the last word on the matter yesterday and Oshiomhole would be sworn in as the Governor of Edo State today.
The verdict of the Appeal Court is remarkable in many respects especially what it says about the democratic prospects in this land. The restoration of Oshiomhole's stolen mandate is unique among the various resolutions of electoral disputes carried out by the courts since last year. In this instance, the court has ensured that the people's votes indeed count. What is more, the court helped in actually counting the votes. Indeed, the tribunal engaged in some electoral arithmetic to determine the winner. The Appeal Court has also declared this to be the proper thing to do.
To fully appreciate what this means for democracy and social justice, one may have to ignore the unjustifiable delay in the judicial process to undo the subversion of the electoral process. To be sure, it was only yesterday that the election conducted by INEC on April 14, last year was really concluded. Something is fundamentally wrong with an electoral process that allows the wrong person to claim victory in an election and goes ahead to exercise powers and assume responsibility for the affairs of millions of people for good 18 months before he is finally told that he is a mere usurper. Even as Oshiomhole and the people of Edo State savour this most deserved victory over the grand assault on the electoral process, not a few genuine democratic-minded Nigerians would still wonder what was the logic of the delay in constituting the panel to hear the appeal. The Electoral Reform Committee led by Justice Muhammadu Uwais is expected to come up with recommendations to rectify this electoral anomaly. The loophole in the system being exploited by manipulators and cheaters constitute a huge democratic deficit. Certainly, the system cannot afford this deficit for long.
However, all that would now seem a paradox, in retrospect, considering the wide acclaim of the enormous justice embodied in the verdict of the tribunal and the confirmation by the Appeal Court. By restoring Oshiomhole's mandate, the judiciary has again confirmed itself as the champion in building confidence in the system. The message being sent out there by the courts is that this system, despite all the doubts, is actually viable enough to be tested. The courts are saying that this system can be made to work. On this score, the judiciary has given more hope to the people than the other two arms of government. Come to think of it, with the Edo example, "fixers" and other experts in manipulation of polls might think twice next time before perpetrating electoral crimes. They now know that the days of reckoning might come and juggled figures can be undone and the true winner of an election could eventually emerge. Even if there are those who refuse to learn from the meticulous efforts of the tribunal to unravel the fraud and they still go ahead in future to cook the electoral books, it would be easy to persuade the aggrieved to seek the legal option rather than resorting to violence. In the particular case of Oshiomhole, the former labour leader could muster the capacity to mobilise his supporters for civil disobedience and other forms of protests. He wisely chose the option of going to court. Now, that has paid off handsomely. So, if someone else were to be robbed of his electoral victory, it would be reasonable to counsel him to follow the Oshiomhole example. The system gets more matured in the process. The democratic process will become more refined as a result. When this happens, it will be a tribute to the courage of the courts to dispense justice.
For Oshiomhole, now is the hard part, as they say. He has fought doggedly to reclaim his mandate. He now has even a greater challenge to meet the very high expectations of the people. He cannot complain of lack of time to perform. Luckily, it is already settled legally that he will have four years to perform from today when he would take the reins of power. The interest in the electoral dispute in Edo has certainly transcended the precincts of the state. This is natural because Oshiomhole has made a loud statement as a labour leader at the national level about his capacity to articulate and fight for people's interest. Up till now, his national clout has been an advantage in his bid for governorship; from today the same clout will become a challenge, if not a burden. What he does or fails to do will surely have symbolic effects on other members of the progressive movement that may wish to seek elective offices in the future. That is why his performance will be monitored not only by the Edo State people who have given him the restored mandate, but also other Nigerians who pin their hopes on the efficacy of progressive politics.
Oshiomhole will be responsible to the people of Edo State who have reposed confidence in him; but he also has to meet the great expectations of many others outside Edo State who will be eagerly watching if he can perform. What they expect of him is the sheer force of example of the possibilities of a progressive leadership. It is an intangible; but it is politically significant.
In his accomplished career, Oshiomhole has led epic battles protesting against those in power who refused to act in the people's interest. Now, from this morning he will have a great opportunity to act in the people's interest. He has no option than to perform as a development-oriented governor. Charateristcally, the people's lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi, in a congratulatory letter sent from London to Oshiomhole yesterday, aptly defined the job of the new Edo governor. According to Fawehinmi, this important victory is a "challenge to Adams Oshiomhole to give maximum joy and happiness to his people". He asked the new governor to focus on infrastructural revamp, quality and accessible education, healthcare, water supply, social security and policies that would generate jobs. Expectedly, the lawyer also wants Oshiomhole to fight corruption.
The expectation of the people would be that Oshiomhole's tenure would set new standards in governance both in terms of performance and ethics.
As we congratulate the comrade governor, he must be reminded that he has to deliver on those promises that made the Edo people to have seemingly said: "Yes, We can" when they elected him.
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