By Edwin Ekene Uhara
After Governor Rauf Aregbesola was declared winner of the August 9
Governorship election in Osun State, I have been expecting the spokesman
of the APC or some its foot soldiers to come up in their usual manner to
raise one complain or the other about the election or even threatening of
going to court over militarisation of the election or accusing the
President and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of one thing or
the other, but all my expectations went the other way. In place of
grumbling, what I saw and heard was commendation and congratulations going
out to the Governor-elect and the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC).
Unlike what happened after the conduct of the Ekiti State Governorship
Election on June 21 where the opposition leaders in their characteristic
zeal came out complaining and disturbing every one over what they called
Militarisation of the election Stomach infrastructure,
Financial inducement among others, such a thing was conspicuously
missing this time around. The question now is how can the party acquit
itself of an allegation levelled against it by Nigerians that If APC
wins an election it becomes free and fair, but if it loses an election,
the entire process becomes fraudulent? Or has the political realities
as was witnessed in Ekiti State changed on getting to Osun State? For
example, Governor Babatunde Fashola in a press statement signed by his
Special Adviser on Media, Mr Hakeem Bellow said: The power rests on the
people in a democracy. The ordinary people of the state of Osun have
spoken the truth about their Governor
and the people-oriented policies of the All Progressives Congress… Osun
State like every other state under the leadership of the All Progressives
Congress remains a proof of our resolve to lead the people of Nigeria to a
better rewarding future, while Governor Rotimi Amaechi in his own
felicitation said The victory was well deserved and it goes to show
that the Osun people decided to vote wisely.
In similar vein, former Vice President Atiku Abukakar in a statement
signed by his media office said The over whelming victory recorded by
APC in the election was a clear indication that Aregbesola is very
popular among the people of the state and thus, the support given to him
and the political party that presented him.
But, it is this same APC that complained in June when it lost the Ekiti
State Governorship Election to Governor Ayodele Fayose of the People
Democratic Party (PDP). The party said that the election was skewed in
favour of the People Democratic Party. In particular, the National Working
Committee of the party after a meeting it held in Abuja issued a
communiqué that reads From the militarilisation of the election to the
police attacks on our supporters, arrest and detention of our leaders
across the state and the use of huge funds to induce voters, the federal
authorities skewed everything in favour of the PDP.
With thousands of armoured troops, police, state security and civil
defence personnel deployed to Ekiti, the state was simply under a total
lockdown. While we belief that the police and the civil defence indeed
have a role to play in providing the necessary security for the election,
we do not see why soldiers who were armed to the teeth need to be deployed
to a non belligerent situation like an election, especially at a time that
their services are more needed elsewhere.
Also, another APC member and a senatorial aspirant on its platform, Mallam
Shehu Sani said Those who accepted, endorsed and embraced Ekiti
elections as free and fair are by extension giving their imprint to the
adoption of it in 2015 general election… The PDP did not win in Ekiti
State; they captured it through the strategy of force and inducement.
Governor Kayode Fayemi™s acceptance of defeat is more for peace than for
justice. Those in Abuja revelling in the victory over APC are simply
toasting to the cruel triumph of might over morality. The will of the
people cannot be said to be freely expressed with a record military while
planes were hovering over the skies of Ekiti and soldiers on the
ground.
But now that the APC has won in Osun State, they are not complaining. They
are not grumbling. They are not threatening of going to court. They are
not accusing the President and the ruling People™s Democratic Party
(PDP) of one offence or the other. They are not ascribing the victory to
Huge financial inducement or heavy military presence even when the
same thing that happened in Ekiti was repeated in Osun. Instead, they are
saying it is a proof of their resolve to lead the people of Nigeria to a
better rewarding future. Is this how to play politics?
Also, now that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has
scheduled the Adamawa State governorship election to hold on October 11,
if the ruling PDP should win because of its great preparations, may be it
will be because the former APC governor was impeached or who knows what
they will come up with?
We should therefore stop making the people believe that Nigeria practice
democracy only when the opposition wins election and vice versa. Our
fledgling democracy can only grow when we learn to celebrate victories
without hurting the other person as well as how to accept defeat in good
faith without discrediting the whole process. This is the only way we can
grow our democracy to maturity and global recognition! Anything less than
that amounts to hypocrisy and the travesty of democracy.
Comrade Edwin Ekene Uhara is an Activist and a Public Affairs Commentator.
He is also a member of PDP Project Reloaded Media Team. Reach him on
07065862479 or edwinuhara@rocketmail.com