By Edwin Ekene Uhara
\nAfter Governor Rauf Aregbesola was declared winner of the August 9
\nGovernorship election in Osun State, I have been expecting the spokesman
\nof the APC or some its foot soldiers to come up in their usual manner to
\nraise one complain or the other about the election or even threatening of
\ngoing to court over militarisation of the election or accusing the
\nPresident and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of one thing or
\nthe other, but all my expectations went the other way. In place of
\ngrumbling, what I saw and heard was commendation and congratulations going
\nout to the Governor-elect and the Independent National Electoral
\nCommission (INEC).
\nUnlike what happened after the conduct of the Ekiti State Governorship
\nElection on June 21 where the opposition leaders in their characteristic
\nzeal came out complaining and disturbing every one over what they called
\nMilitarisation of the election Stomach infrastructure,
\nFinancial inducement among others, such a thing was conspicuously
\nmissing this time around. The question now is how can the party acquit
\nitself of an allegation levelled against it by Nigerians that If APC
\nwins an election it becomes free and fair, but if it loses an election,
\nthe entire process becomes fraudulent? Or has the political realities
\nas was witnessed in Ekiti State changed on getting to Osun State? For
\nexample, Governor Babatunde Fashola in a press statement signed by his
\nSpecial Adviser on Media, Mr Hakeem Bellow said: The power rests on the
\npeople in a democracy. The ordinary people of the state of Osun have
\nspoken the truth about their Governor
\nand the people-oriented policies of the All Progressives Congress… Osun
\nState like every other state under the leadership of the All Progressives
\nCongress remains a proof of our resolve to lead the people of Nigeria to a
\nbetter rewarding future, while Governor Rotimi Amaechi in his own
\nfelicitation said The victory was well deserved and it goes to show
\nthat the Osun people decided to vote wisely.
\nIn similar vein, former Vice President Atiku Abukakar in a statement
\nsigned by his media office said The over whelming victory recorded by
\nAPC in the\u00c2 election was a clear indication that Aregbesola is very
\npopular among the people of the state and thus, the support given to him
\nand the political party that presented him.
\nBut, it is this same APC that complained in June when it lost the Ekiti
\nState Governorship Election to Governor Ayodele Fayose of the People
\nDemocratic Party (PDP). The party said that the election was skewed in
\nfavour of the People Democratic Party. In particular, the National Working
\nCommittee of the party after a meeting it held in Abuja issued a
\ncommuniqu\u00c3\u00a9 that reads From the militarilisation of the election to the
\npolice attacks on our supporters, arrest and detention of our leaders
\nacross the state and the use of huge funds to induce voters, the federal
\nauthorities skewed everything in favour of the PDP.
\nWith thousands of armoured troops, police, state security and civil
\ndefence personnel deployed to Ekiti, the state was simply under a total
\nlockdown. While we belief that the police and the civil defence indeed
\nhave a role to play in providing the necessary security for the election,
\nwe do not see why soldiers who were armed to the teeth need to be deployed
\nto a non belligerent situation like an election, especially at a time that
\ntheir services are more needed elsewhere.
\nAlso, another APC member and a senatorial aspirant on its platform, Mallam
\nShehu Sani said Those who accepted, endorsed and embraced Ekiti
\nelections as free and fair are by extension giving their imprint to the
\nadoption of it in 2015 general election… The PDP did not win in Ekiti
\nState; they captured it through the strategy of force and inducement.
\nGovernor Kayode Fayemi\u2122s acceptance of defeat is more for peace than for
\njustice. Those in Abuja revelling in the victory over APC are simply
\ntoasting to the cruel triumph of might over morality. The will of the
\npeople cannot be said to be freely expressed with a record military while
\nplanes were hovering over the skies of Ekiti and soldiers on the
\nground.
\nBut now that the APC has won in Osun State, they are not complaining. They
\nare not grumbling. They are not threatening of going to court. They are
\nnot accusing the President and the ruling People\u2122s Democratic Party
\n(PDP) of one offence or the other. They are not ascribing the victory to
\nHuge financial inducement or heavy military presence even when the
\nsame thing that happened in Ekiti was repeated in Osun. Instead, they are
\nsaying it is a proof of their resolve to lead the people of Nigeria to a
\nbetter rewarding future. Is this how to play politics?
\nAlso, now that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has
\nscheduled the Adamawa State governorship election to hold on October 11,
\nif the ruling PDP should win because of its great preparations, may be it
\nwill be because the former APC governor was impeached or who knows what
\nthey will come up with?
\nWe should therefore stop making the people believe that Nigeria practice
\ndemocracy only when the opposition wins election and vice versa. Our
\nfledgling democracy can only grow when we learn to celebrate victories
\nwithout hurting the other person as well as how to accept defeat in good
\nfaith without discrediting the whole process. This is the only way we can
\ngrow our democracy to maturity and global recognition! Anything less than
\nthat amounts to hypocrisy and the travesty of democracy.
\nComrade Edwin Ekene Uhara is an Activist and a Public Affairs Commentator.
\nHe is also a member of PDP Project Reloaded Media Team. Reach him on
\n07065862479 or edwinuhara@rocketmail.com<\/p>\n
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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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30401,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n