3 July 2009
editorial
Lagos — Most controversies, corruption cases, probes and other scandals in the country dominate the headlines and airwaves only for a period, and notwithstanding the seriousness of the issues at stake, they are soon forgotten and those involved walk away without as much as a reprimand.
The sad trend seems about to repeat itself as the controversy that trailed the conduct of Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo, the Ekiti State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), during the governorship re-run election is about to be swept under the carpet, irrespective of the fundamental nature of the issues at stake.
Mrs. Adebayo had, in the heat of the re-run polls that pitched the Action Congress (AC) candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flagbearer, Mr. Segun Oni, reportedly raiseD an alarm that some people were trying to get her to subvert the will of the people in the areas where the re-run elections were conducted.
In a widely publicised letter to President Umaru Yar'Adua, which was copied to the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Maurice Iwu, the REC had "resigned" her position, claiming that she would not go against her conscience as a Christian by doing the bidding of those she claimed were putting pressure on her. She failed to name the culprits.
She went underground thereafter and only resurfaced when the Inspector General of Police declared her wanted. She announced that she was still part of the INEC family as well as the Ekiti state REC and went back to her Ekiti base from Abuja to conclude the re-run election.
The drama that attended Mrs. Adebayo's alarm that her life was in danger, her resignation, disappearance and reappearance may be inconsequential but her conduct and the weighty allegations she made are still deserving of thorough scrutiny.
There were tepid reports that her conduct and allegations were being investigated but as is typical of such "investigations," nothing serious has been heard of the matter since then.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Adebayo's conduct and allegations are so serious that they could have thrown the country into chaos, especially considering the volatility of the state in question over election matters.
A very senior officer of her standing was not expected to have disappeared from view the way she did to the extent that those in authority over her did not, for some critical hours, know her whereabouts. Her assignment is so sensitive, especially during election periods that she was not expected to be incommunicado for any length of time at all.
Besides, the allegations she made are so serious that the authorities should insist on getting to the root of the matter.
Mrs. Adebayo said that she was pressured by people to announce a fake result and that her life was threatened. These are two very grave offences that should attract the full wrath of the law upon those that perpetrated them.
But to the best of our knowledge, up till date, the Ekiti REC has not made public the identities of the individuals or groups of persons that subjected her to the alleged pressure and who threatened her life.
Unless she was joking when she made these allegations, and such jokes would really be unacceptable, it means that the matter had ceased to be the personal affair of Mrs. Adebayo. Anybody that tried to subvert the will of the electorate should be subjected to the demands of the law, and the Ekiti REC owes the people of that state as well as Nigerians in general the duty to divulge the identities of such scoundrels. Indeed, she should be compelled to name those involved and if she persists in covering them up, it might well be that she could be considered an accessory.
It is important to get to the root of this matter and to punish those found culpable, so that others would learn how not to attempt such escapades in future. It is even more important to do so as the 2010 governorship election in Anambra and the 2011 general elections approach, so as not to leave any loop hole for the subversion of the will of the electorate.
Mrs. Adebayo should also not be made to get away with her allegations so that next time, she and any other public officers that are so minded, would weigh their words carefully before they speak.
Indeed, we suggest a full scale public inquiry that would have the power to summon people and take evidence on oath, so that all those that have something to say that would throw more light on what happened in Ekiti can come forward to say so.
Except the ghost of the Ekiti re-run polls is buried, it might move around to haunt future elections in the country, and Mrs. Adebayo holds the key to the resolution of this impasse.
If she refuses to co-operate, she should be called to account and if it is found that she cried wolf where there was none, the full weight of the law should also be brought down on her to act as a deterrent to others in her position that may be tempted to act in a like manner.
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Nigeria now is the revised animal farm where some animals are more equal than others.Mrs Adebayo was to be a good example and a saviour of this God forsaken democracy in Nigeria but she threw that chance away.She ought to be jailed until she clarifies herself.But the issue is either way the justice comes,she lost and she remain a loser for life.Because nobody put hands in her mouth before she said her conscience as a christian would not allow her to continue BUT yet she continued.She only brought more disorderliness than order to the polity.IF NIGERIAN DUBIOUS JUDGEMENT PREVAILS,HOW ABOUT GOD'S?All of them will never go without reaping their works including Mrs Adebayo.