Aloysius Emeka Attah
1 December 2008
analysis
Awka — That History was made on Tuesday 11th of November 2008 in Edo State Nigeria when the Appeal court in its ruling restored the stolen mandate of Comrade Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole as the State Governor is no longer news.
The landmark judgment which has been dubbed "eleven eleven 2008" because of its remarkable day and month of the year has elicited much reflections, comments and analysis. Reflecting on the days of darkness in Edo State, Nobel Laurete, professor Wole Soyinka, captured it succinctly in his treatise - From Sodom to Adam.
Testifying before the US congressional hearing on the 2007 elections, Soyinka said, "Edo was a classic case of abuse of power and treasonable conduct, an intervention that only consolidated desperate, state engendered campaign of thuggery"
Kongi's view of course was the apt way to describe the rape on democracy, which its archenemies - the proponent of do or die election, alias Otta farmer and his field marshal, professor of pharmacognosy conducted for us in Nigeria. The wild jubilation that trailed Oshiomhole's victory was quite understandable.
Disillusionment has been the lot of Nigerians in the past going by the pronouncements from various appeal court rulings on election matters
The order for fresh elections in various states and the attendant financial constraints for the contestants which most often ended in "landslide and moonslide" victory for the usual so called winners have made serious mockery of our democracy.
Barrister Okey Ezea and Chief Dubem Onyia of the labour party and Action Congress respectively in Enugu State once described the appeal court as the blacksheep of the judiciary.
Their declaration was the aftermath of the governorship election tussle in the state and the roles played by the judges at the appellate court.
From the Edo ruling, we can now conveniently learn so many lessons and take proactive measures to sanitize our polity and reshape our electoral system in Nigeria.
We should be happy that despite the great public obloquy which various appeal court judges have faced in recent times, we can see that our judiciary still retain some men of integrity who can hold their head high even in the midst of high wired intrigues and inducements.
The likes of Justice Umeadi of the election petition tribunal, Justice Umaru Abdulahi and other members of the appeal court with conscience still show us light at the end of the tunnel.
Comrade Oshiomole touched the people's heart in his speech shortly after taking oath of office. The ban on all illegal levies in the state and his promise to create between 5,000 to 10,000 jobs in the public works sector was a soothing balm to so many bruised souls.
Daylight thuggery and brigandage unleashed on the people by the so-called revenue collectors during the Osunbor administration rose to an apogee. Edo residents and travelers alike that have tasted the bitter pill in the hands of these thugs will shock you with their stories.
Not quite long, before this verdict, my younger brother, Jude Attah escaped death by the whiskers in the hands of merchants of death at Okpella on his way to Asaba from Abuja.
The boys not only vandalized his Nissan truck after presenting him with a bill of thirty eight thousand naira for various emblems that only exists in their enclave but the leader of the team pulled a gun on him for daring to make some phone calls.
It was divine intervention through a fellow comrade in Benin that saved my brother and till today, he is yet to recover from the trauma.
As a new era has begun in Edo, the comrade governor should know that the task is Herculean. Labour unionism and being the state chief executive are two different ball games. Now is the time to match promises and eloquence with actions.
We hope Comrade Oshiomole will not be another Bola Ige (God bless his soul) who hastily told us that he would turn stone into bread in the power sector without taking cognizance of the enormous rot already in the system. My Editor friend once wrote that Edo people after evaluating the abysmal failure of one of their past governors made a vow that nobody adorning mouthstache will govern them again for life. Their hope is now reposed in the Comrade believing that his Khaki signifies work first before "chopping".
The victory in Edo State is victory for all genuine democrats but until we take some concrete steps to reform our electoral system, it is not yet "uhuru" for us. The lacuna in our electoral Act is inimical to the actualization of our democratic ideals
Mr. President recently lent his voice to the need for the speedy passage of the electoral reform laws in Nigeria. His words: "I am not aware of any country for example where litigations arising from elections drag on for years after the presumed winners have been sworn in. The distractions that these cause for the smooth government and delivery of the dividends of democracy are better imagined. it is reasonable to expect that such litigations should be concluded before officials are inaugurated". Waohl, after reading this, I asked myself, was Yar'Adua soliloquizing or did he really mean what he said? If Mr. President is not paying lip service to our situation, then action should start now.
It is nauseating that those who usurped the people's mandate are allowed to go scot-free after sack by the tribunal and courts without any form of accountability and punishment. Now is the time to ensure that litigations arising from elections doesn't exceed three months. A situation where an illegal occupant of political office uses the state's resources to prosecute his case is no more acceptable.
For our political system to work, those thrown out of office through legal means should account for and refund to the last kobo the entire amount stolen or collected as the tenure elapsed. The delay in obtaining justice in election matters has brought incalculable distortions, inconsistencies, destabilizations and consequences to our polity.
Anambra State is unique in all the states in Nigeria; almost all other states have spent 19 months or more in the new civilian dispensation after the 2007 elections. Yet, the incumbent governor of Anambra state still has till 2010 to finish his tenure in the 2003 election.
Today, the usurper in that election which brought this distortion now lives in great opulence in America and here in Nigeria on holidays enjoying his loot. Not even the fact that the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has declared him not entitled to pension for he was never a governor (going by the Appeal court judgment) can stop people from addressing him as an ex-governor nor change his life achievement status again.
Haba! Let us change this system now. Congrats to our democrats, a million boos to the apostles of do or die politics. Your wall of Jericho has fallen.
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