Shortly
after he was sworn in as Ekiti State Governor last month, Ayo Fayose
ordered the closure of a petrol station in the state capital, Ado-Ekiti,
giving a standard made-in-Nigeria excuse. That filing station belongs
to one Adewale Omirin. Omirin also happens to be the Speaker of Ekiti
State House of Assembly and one of the progressives in the state. Last
weekend, Omirin retaliated by promising Fayose a second dose of
impeachment before Valentine’s Day, 2015. Clearly, these two are not
lovers.
But the Federal Government and Fayose moved in
first. Twenty four hours later, Omirin was “impeached” by seven House
members while a battalion of heavily armed federal police stood
watching. I guess when the Peoples Democratic Party promised Ekiti
voters more federal presence in their state, they weren’t kidding.
A
few days before that, the judge presiding over a lawsuit looking into
Fayose’s eligibility to contest the governorship election removed
himself from the case. His reason? He got a couple of death threats.
Ekiti seems determined to keep itself in the news – bad news.
Fayose’s
second coming was always going to play out like this. If you are a
dealer in boxing gloves, I’d suggest you relocate your business to Ado
Ekiti.
There’s no doubt that Ekiti is suffused with redoubtable
men and women. But an Ayo Fayose is their governor, for the second time.
You could see why there would be tension. But because of that tension,
some folk down there are giving the word “Progressive” a bad meaning.
The
first time Fayose called the shots in Ekiti, the place was in a mess,
the state became an object of ridicule. But his people wanted him back.
He was, surprisingly, their choice as leader. Well, the people’s choice
must be respected always. This is one bitter pill, one fact with which
the elite and the progressives have got to come to terms – and quickly
too.
Fronting for the progressives in Ekiti at the moment is a
group that christened itself, E11. Immediately after Fayose’s victory in
June, the E11 rushed off to the press and issued a congratulatory
message, pledging to work with Fayose for the progress of the state.
Then, something funny happened. A few days later, the same E11 recanted.
It declared that it will not accept Fayose as governor.
It was
the same with the All Progressives Congress. Following his defeat,
ex-Governor Kayode Fayemi who led that party in Ekiti promptly announced
that he accepted the people’s verdict. Fayemi was rightly hailed as a
true democrat and a progressive. However, a few days afterwards, his
party declared that the result of the election was unacceptable and
headed for court. All of that, in my view, is sour grapes, and in fact,
makes all these folk look bad. The APC might feel that it is doing what
an opposition party is supposed to do after an electoral loss, but at
some point, political parties in Nigeria have to recognise a defeat as
just that, congratulate the winner and move on to prepare for other
opportunities.
I understand that the E11 has been in court
challenging Fayose’s eligibility to contest, prior to the election. If
this was the case, then it was very strange for the same group to
congratulate Fayose publicly via a press statement, only to return to
court pushing its case. The whole thing is a joke, and if this is how
the “progressives” practise their trade in Ekiti, you can see why Fayose
had an easy victory there.
The Ekiti people have spoken and
have (overwhelmingly) made their choice. That’s democracy – warts and
all. When Fayose drops the ball again (and he will), the same people
have the choice and the mechanism to reject him. The current
manoeuvrings by the progressives come dangerously close to attempting to
override the people’s mandate, and it makes Fayose look like a
combative saint. In other words, it stinks and it’s clumsy. All their
exertions now look like class warfare. For all we know, the kerfuffle in
the state could be from Fayose’s camp or could be emanating from a
disgusted and frustrated citizenry who sees what appears like an elite
judicial coup against them. Heck, I would be upset too!
Oh,
there is nothing wrong with a group of sufficiently concerned citizens
coming together, wanting to do something about what they perceive to be
an anomalous situation in their community. Fayose should have been
stopped before the election. But once the people have spoken, that
should be it. A small elite group cannot take it upon itself to overrun
and overturn the people’s mandate. Today, there is one recluse in Minna
called Babangida who with all the military might at his disposal tried
to do the same thing back in 1993 but he was resisted. The gentleman was
forced to step aside and he never recovered politically.
I
don’t think Fayose is going to change in style or in substance. You
heard his inauguration tirade. We already had a preview of what is to
come. If Fayose stays true to type, he will be a disaster. But he will
be the people’s disaster as chosen by them and that choice has got to be
respected, I’m afraid. Even old governor Pilate could not overrule the
people when they asked for freedom for Barabbas rather than for Jesus.
Again, that’s democracy – warts and all.
So, please, enough of
the inelegant hide and seek. Let the progressives leave the people alone
to enjoy or to suffer their choice. Let Fayose and Ekiti, the stomach
infrastructure state, now get on with it. Speaking of which, I cannot
wait to meet that person who would introduce himself or herself as the
Special Adviser on Stomach Infrastructure, or hand out a business card
with that title on it.
...Egbejumi-David is a scholar and public affairs analyst based in Abuja
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