Lessons of the Ekiti governorship election

and secondly, as the voting trend became clear, Fayemi called his successful challenger, Mr Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to offer his congratulations. In the history of Nigeria’s often bitter and acrimonious electoral contests, these, though not unheard of, are rare occurrences, and have now become important additions to the evolution of […]

and secondly, as the voting trend became clear, Fayemi called his successful challenger, Mr Ayodele Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to offer his congratulations. In the history of Nigeria’s often bitter and acrimonious electoral contests, these, though not unheard of, are rare occurrences, and have now become important additions to the evolution of democracy in Nigeria. Fayemi’s gracious acceptance of the political tide that had turned against his administration, and even pledging to work with the incoming administration for a smooth transition, is the spirit of sportsmanship that politicians of all hues should strive to imbibe for the healthy growth of democratic culture in the country. Indeed, Fayemi went as far as foreswearing any legal challenge to his defeat, although it can be argued whether this was not a step too far, given that post-election analyses have not been concluded.
If these developments portend what Nigerians should expect, first from next month’s governorship poll in Osun State, and then the crucial general elections in 2015, we would have crossed a threshold and be on the path towards political stability in the country.  But there were features in the Ekiti State experience that should never have happened, nor should be allowed to recur because they represented the very antitheses to the expectation of the democratic ideal.  The preponderance of armed security personnel, including hundreds of soldiers, evoked images of a battlefield combat operation rather than civil electoral process, perhaps partly accounting for the voter turnout of less than 50 percent. The reports of harassment of party campaign officials by security officials should be a source for serious concern because of the potential to intimidate large swaths of the voting public and dissuade them from venturing out to polling booths. The goal of the conduct of peaceful, fair and free and generally acceptable elections in the country would be that harder to attain if such blanketing of the electoral field with gun-toting military personnel becomes a regular feature. The role of the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) in the Ekiti poll deserves some scrutiny too. Preparatory to the poll, Ekiti was held up by INEC officials as a foretaste of what the Commission would do in subsequent elections.  The usual cases of late arrival of materials, non-availability of electoral staff, names missing from the electoral register, late commencement of voting, and mass disenfranchisement of voters, etc, were remarkably minimal in the Ekiti election. This is a good omen for the upcoming Osun election. The police personnel deployed to electoral duty also displayed a higher degree of impartiality and restraint, although the barring of top APC officials from entering Ekiti State, evidently approved by superior political heads, was uncalled for, because it amounted to assault on freedoms of movement and association.
There’s some lesson here also for Governor-elect Fayose. He has held that position in the past before he was forced out of office, through impeachment, in circumstances that still haunt him to this day. Indeed, even after his electoral victory, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) insisted that it still had some case against him arising from his first tenure. In his thrill of victory, Fayose nevertheless accepted Fayemi’s message of felicitations. He was ready, he said, to work with Fayemi and Mr Bamidele Opeyemi, the Labour Party (LP) candidate in the election, to go “across the state for our supporters to know we need to work together for the sake of everybody in Ekiti State”.  He owes his victory to the people of Ekiti, and it is their aspirations he should seek to address with the mandate that they have given him. He was therefore wrong to have declared later that he would use his electoral victory to ensure that, as he put it, in keeping with martial environment, “we chase the APC out of the whole of the South-West”. Fayose should concentrate attention on his duty to his constituents; where the rest of the South-West goes politically should be left to the individual voters of each state in the region. He is fortunate to be part of a positive change in Ekiti State; the politics of the past, for which the South-West was notorious, is better left in the past.