The mangled mandate of Zamfara people

This has brought up the notorious Nigerian factor associated with elections in Nigeria which advises governorship aspirants to do their worst in ensuring that they get elected and all other things will be in their favour. By this native political wisdom, all the election sins can also be rigged out of reckoning by deploying the […]

This has brought up the notorious Nigerian factor associated with elections in Nigeria which advises governorship aspirants to do their worst in ensuring that they get elected and all other things will be in their favour. By this native political wisdom, all the election sins can also be rigged out of reckoning by deploying the billion naira incumbency factor to settle the big-wig lawyers. Indeed this wisdom reigns supreme today as we take note of the blanket endorsement that has been bestowed on sitting governors even in defiance of established judicial precedence and norms.  As a result, lovers of democracy are increasingly disgusted by the judiciary’s superiority in determining who ultimately wins an election, irrespective of the integrity of the process.

A typical example of this scenario played out in Zamfara State where against the projections of political analysts, election observers and the expressed will of the electorate, the incumbent governor was denied a well-deserved second term by clear case of election rigging. His spirited effort to compile abundant evidence into an election petition authored by renowned lawyers for judicial review and redress was however thwarted by the compromised discretion of an election tribunal apparently programmed to maintain status quo instead of upholding justice. One of the peculiarities of the 2011 elections was the evident shift in rigging strategy from the polling booths to the collation centres which was seen to be a desperate response to the heightened vigilance and public scrutiny witnessed at polling centres that made it difficult and dangerous to attempt rigging. At the collation centres however with only a few election officers around, the manipulation of figures and settlement of officials was easily executed without stress.

So it came to pass that after successfully polling a majority of lawful votes cast in the elections as compiled from field reports by accredited agents, PDP’s Mahmud Shinkafi and his jubilant supporters across Zamfara State were later shocked to the bones by conflicting compilations emanating from collation centres which literally stole the popular mandate freely granted by the electorate. The scene of crime was traced to six local governments- Gusau, Maru, Bungudu, Tsafe, Gummi and Bakura and Dakko and Yargeda wards where forensic examination of the election materials later proved convincingly that the process was hijacked by known agents of ANPP who, realizing the futility of trying to defeat a popular incumbent via election, invested more heavily in manipulating the process behind the backs of the voters at the collation centres.

Among documented irregularities and malpractices compiled and testified to by credible witnesses presented before the Zamfara State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal were violence and obstruction of voters, snatching of ballot boxes, stuffing of ballot boxes and recording results far in excess of accredited voters. The brazen manner these rigging tactics were executed facilitated the convincing presentation of credible evidence and appearance of 34 witnesses before the tribunal which attracted huge turnout of Zamfara people to proceedings. It was therefore not surprising that prior to the conclusion of the tribunal’s sittings in Gusau, widespread public expectation across the state marked with sporadic anticipatory jubilation in several places was that the declared victory of ANPP candidate Aziz Yari would be reversed by the tribunal in favour of PDP’s Mahmud Shinkafi.

The expectations of more legally informed witnesses to proceedings of the tribunal were however additionally influenced by the failure of the INEC, Zamfara State Commissioner of Police and the Inspector General of Police to call any witnesses in support of their orchestrated pleadings against the petitioner throughout the proceedings. This was deemed to amount to accepting the facts of electoral irregularities and substantial non-compliance with the Electoral Act. It also deprived their pleadings of any legal value while lending more credence to the petitioner’s case against the election results backed by 34 witnesses unchallenged, uncontradicted and uncontroverted. The petitioner’s erudite legal team profusely cited credible legal authorities and precedence of recorded verdicts in similar cases in the past unequivocally striking out and dismissing such uncorroborated pleadings outright to the benefit of the petitioner/appellant. This serious deficiency was also demonstrated to be fatal to the other submissions and interests of the parties concerned. Meanwhile, the desperate need for human and economic development in poverty and ignorance-ridden Zamfara is again blowing away in the harsh harmattan winds.

Marke is a retired health worker in Gusau