Day writers turned politicians

As the delegates waited, the aspiring writers-turned-politicians were busy negotiating last minute deals that would ensure their smooth sail into office. For a non-partisan association, camps started to emerge, one led by former Minister of State for Education, Dr. Jerry Agada, and the other championed by Yahaya Dangana, who happened to be battling on home […]

As the delegates waited, the aspiring writers-turned-politicians were busy negotiating last minute deals that would ensure their smooth sail into office. For a non-partisan association, camps started to emerge, one led by former Minister of State for Education, Dr. Jerry Agada, and the other championed by Yahaya Dangana, who happened to be battling on home ground. Both men were vying for the presidency of the 28-year-old association.

The last biennial election was held in Owerri, Imo State where Okediran and Denja Abdullahi were re-elected President and Secretary General respectively. As their tenure had elapsed, the two men had no choice but to bow out, which they did to applause.

In the hall, where the defective AC and the permutation of some of the most brilliant minds in the country had combined to heat up the place, an electoral committee was formed, comprising of academics –Prof. Sam Ukala, Prof. Ibrahim Malumfashi and May Nwosu. The three intellectuals  agreed that Prof. Ukala preside over the election.

The gladiators now took their seats in the hall and the elections commenced. It appeared it would be a smooth running when the four ex-officio offices were settled without any qualms. Those that stood for the offices were returned unopposed. One of them was erstwhile Secretary General, Denja Abdullahi, who had just stepped down.

But things heated up when Prof. Ukala called for nominations for the post of Legal Adviser. One of the nominees, Ahmed Maiwada, was not in the hall and the chairman of the electoral committee decided to throw out his nomination.

This decision caused a rift in the hall. Some felt it was the right move while others felt it was a unilateral decision by the election umpire. The question of nomination in absentia charged the atmosphere. Prince Hussein Yusuf Kodo of Niger State, who nominated Maiwada, was vehement in insisting that things must be done accordingly. But Prof. Ukala was adamant that without a citation from the constitution, Prince Hussein had nothing else to say and ordered him to seat down.

“Do you have a section from the constitution to show that there is nomination in absentia?” Prof. Ukala asked.

“I don’t, but there is a precedence,” Prince Hussein returned.

“If you can’t tell me that section so and so says this then sit down and let us continue,” Prof Ukala ordered.

For a while proceedings were stalled as those in support and against the chairman’s decision heatedly exchanged views.

In truth, there was a precedence of nomination in absentia. In Owerri two years ago, Jerry Agada, then Minister of State for Education, was nominated in absentia for the office of the association’s vice president. He was not even in Owerri at that time and the move caused a stir. The then electoral committee accepted the nomination and Agada was subsequently elected vice president. In this case, however, the chairman of the electoral committee announced that the nominee in question was reached on phone and had declined the nomination.

Prince Hussein was disappointed that his nominee was not in the hall at the time of his nomination, but insisted that things should be done the right way: “We are intellectuals. We are writers and we need to do what we are supposed to do. We elected the outgone Vice President in proxy. Why should we not follow the precedence?”

The elections proceeded however. Prof. Ukala was in a hurry to get the proceedings over with as early as possible. When two nominees for the office of financial secretary were presented before the congress, Prof. Ukala called them together and appealed to one of them to step down for the other. Chants of “Maurice Iwu! Maurice Iwu!” rented the air as delegates resisted the move. The candidates were determined to slug it out and the chairman had to abandon his initiative.

However, there was another controversy as one of the nominees, Ofenime Inyang was said to be the Chairman of the Akwa Ibom State Chapter. This would invalidate his nomination as the association’s constitution did not allow state chairmen to run for offices at the national level. But Inyang insisted he had stepped down as the State Chairman a week before the convention. The exco was not aware of that development. The constitutional provision was that all state elections must be supervised by a representative of the national executive. There was none in Akwa Ibom when Inyang reportedly relinquished his office.

But delegates from the state confirmed the development, saying Inyang was asked to step down and his deputy chairman was elected state chairman. That settled the matter and ballots were cast. Inyang eventually was declared winner.

Of the ten offices on offer, only four where contested for as the others were taken unopposed. Candidates for the office of the auditor, Financial Secretary, Secretary General, Vice President and President had to slug it out. And of the four, the most keenly contested was that of the Vice President. That post also drew the most controversy. Four candidates were nominated; one of them was Dr. Tope Olaifa of Ogun State.

Controversy started when the former Secretary General, Denja Abdullahi, pointed outthat Dr. Olaifa was still the Chairperson of her state chapter. Again Prof. Sam Ukala refused to recognize her nomination and urged her to take her seat. But Dr. Olaifa insisted that she too had relinquished her post to her deputy in Ogun.

“As far as we are concerned, you are still the state chairman, we are not aware of any elections in your state,” Abdullahi insisted.

Apparently, the National Executive was not notified of elections in Ogun even though delegates from the state confirmed there was indeed an election. The new chairman of ANA Ogun came out to explain that he is now the chairman, not Dr. Olaifa.

“Who was there from the National EXCO when you were elected?” Prof. Ukala challenged.

The delegates confirmed there was no representation from the National Executive though they insisted there was an election.

“Madame, your nomination has been cancelled. Can you take your seat now so we can continue,” Prof. Ukala ordered.

This move irked a number of delegates who felt the same treatment should be given Dr. Olaifa as Ofenime Inyang of Akwa Ibom, who claimed to have relinquished his office at the state level to his vice without informing the National Excutive.

Dr. Olaifa stood her ground. “The National EXCO is too far from the state,” she said. “Even the election that brought me in as a state chairperson was not supervised at the national level yet that did stop them from recognizing me in that capacity. This is just left there as a banana peel for someone they did not want.”

She insisted there was a gang up by a few officials to scheme her out of the contest to pave way for their preferred candidate. The hall was in disarray as no one was certain what to do, except of course Prof. Ukala. He was determined to have his elections regardless of what anyone thought. Eventually, Dr. olaifa was persuaded to take her seat by her supporters.

Disappointed, Dr. Olaifa told Sunday Trust that the association should not stoop to the level Nigerian politicians have descended to.  “This shows that the dreg of society is quite evident in a society that should be the reformatory body for the society. We begin to see, unfortunately, that what we are fighting for, what we are writing against, we are not practicing, which is the disastrous part of it, what we preach, we do not practice,” she said.

Nonetheless, she conceded and elections proceeded. Sunny Ododo was eventually declared winner in the Vice Presidential election.

Then the biggest masquerades rolled out. Nominations were called for the office of the president. Pre-election favourite, Jerry Agada and his counterpart, Yahaya Dangana, were nominated. Standing in front of the congress, the two men prompted the controversial chairman of the electoral committee to say, “Look at them, the two of them are looking like PDP men in their agbada.” There was general laughter. That seemed to dissipate the tension that accompanied the last ballot.

The ballots boxes came out and votes were cast. At the end of counting, Prof. Ukala announced that Dangana scored a total of 44 votes while Dr. Agada scored a total of 155 votes. With this result, Jerry Agada becomes the duly elected president of the association.

Unlike typical politicians, Dangana was gracious in defeat. He promptly went over to hug, shake and congratulate Dr. Agada. “Everything has to do with God and this is how God wanted it. This is his time. My time is coming,” a disappointed but gracious Dangana told Sunday Trust. “At the same time, I am happy my opponent won and I wish him best of luck.”

Speaking immediately after he was sworn in, Jerry Agada asked all members of the association not to take the election to heart. “Let no body see another one and throw his nose somewhere because the person feels that during the election you were not with him. As far as I am concerned, all of us here were all with ourselves,” an elated Agada said.

Though the pains of defeat lingered, there was a general feeling that the elections were free and fair and conducted in good spirit. Despite the many camps that tried to manipulate the elections outcome, many believed it was a contest of popularity and proven ability.

“ANA is an association where you don’t just fall from heaven and say you want to contest. You have to climb gradually and your ability has to be known, “Dr. Agada said. “If you look at the previous presidents they had all held smaller posts  before and people saw what they could do.”

Even those whose candidates did not make it to the podium at the end of the elections agreed. “Yes, the election is free and fair.” A now calm Prince Hussein told Sunday Trust. “I want to assure you that all the candidates that won are credible people.”

As the Agada led EXCO gets set to reposition the premier literary association in the country, observers are waiting to see what the ex-minister will offer this association that seems to have stagnated in time.

New EXCO of Association of Nigerian Author elected at the Minna Convention

President:  Dr. Jerry Agada

Vice President: Dr. Sunny Ododo

Sec. Gen:    Hyacinth Obunseh

Asst. Sec. Gen: Alkasim Abdulkadir

Treasurer: Maryam Ali Ali

Fin. Sec.: Ofenime Inyang

PRO North: Omale Allen Abduljabbar

PRO South: Anthony Ebika

Legal Adviser: Tade Ikpedeola

Auditor: Greg Mbajiogu

Ex Offico Members

Joy Esuku

Denja Abdullahi

Dare Ajayi