Earlier today I had a chance to observe the magic of the Nigerian government in action even though I’m thousands of miles away from the country. Just after finishing the piece on Ondo State, I got a call from Florida - the caller had been monitoring the NTA news (Nigerian national TV) via cable and told me the INEC Director of Publicity, Phillip Emeadi, speaking from Abuja, just declared Dr Agagu the winner of the gubernatorial elections in Ondo State. Impossible!
I made a call to Akure-Nigeria to confirm. My source told me the INEC Resident Commissioner, Mr. Josiah Uwazuruonye, had not declared the results, in fact, the Commissioner was getting ready address a press conference. And when he did, he rebutted the Abuja announcement - he stated the election “is being investigated and results would be announced afterwards.” But less than three hours later, the same Commissioner had another conference and basically confirmed what Abuja INEC office had stated earlier - he proclaimed Agagu the winner.
These implications of these events may be lost to those unfamiliar with the electoral process in Nigeria.
Let me clarify: Results are normally announced at the state level i.e. states where the elections are held, not at the federal level. Yet this is what happened in Ondo State; by releasing the results from Abuja, the feds have imposed Agagu on the people of Ondo state.
Yet, it’s the same Agagu, the same governor whose deputy - Omolade Oluwateru went about Akure on election day hijacking ballot materials! Yet INEC claims he and his boss have the people’s mandate in Ondo State! What mandate?
As I predicted in the precedeing writeup, ongoing events in Ondo State are far from pleasant at the moment. the Tribune reports:
“Following the declaration of the result of the governorship election in Ondo State, violence has erupted in some parts of the state with no fewer than 10 houses burnt in Ondo town. The burnt houses included that of the chairman of the Ondo West Local Government Area, Mr. Fredrick Akinpelumi, the family house of Senator Gbenga Ogunniya, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) secretariat in Ondo West was vandalised…Notable PDP leaders in the town were said to have fled their homes for fear of being attacked by the hoodlums. Soldiers and mobile policemen were later drafted to the town and they patrolled the major streets…The situation has led to the declaration of restriction of movement in Ondo East and Ondo West local government areas.”
Similar events are happening in other states as well. And this is happening on day 1!
When the president declared the elections were satisfactory, I’m sure he now wished he wasn’t that quick with his assertions. Check this report from Reuters:
“A short walk from where Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo voted in state elections, frightened residents describe how thugs loyal to his ruling party threatened voters and stuffed ballot boxes… even in Obasanjo’s home town — a powerbase for his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) — locals say gangs wielding guns and cutlasses overran voting stations…In Abeokuta, in southwestern Ogun state, there were no protests but disillusioned locals said they would boycott the presidential polls.”
I wondered what Mr president saw by declaring the elections satisfactory. Did Obasanjo know that his and all other votes casted at his Abeokuta ward (Totoro/Sokori ward number 11) were canceled because of electoral fraud?
The next couple of weeks will be interesting in Ondo State, my area of focus, and all over Nigeria, particularly the few days before and on the presidential elections.
The aggrieved parties in Ondo will be going to court to challenge the INEC verdict for sure. There is also a pending court case against Agagu the Ondo State governor-elect - four of his kinsmen are asking the court that Agagu be disqualified to contest the election “on sundry grounds including that he was indicted sometimes in 2001 by the Justice Obiora Nwazota Judicial Commission over mismanagement of the Nigerian Airways Limited between January 1983 to December 1999.”
Secondly, the recent Supreme Court ruling that permits Vice President Atiku to contest the presidential election next Saturday also has some legal implications on the just concluded state elections:
“The ruling affected not only Abubakar’s candidacy in next Saturday’s presidential poll, but at least six states where governorship candidates were disqualified in the state election.”
A uniquely interesting scenario for legal pundits and INEC to analyze. What the presidency is yet to appreciate however is the effect of violence that is slowly erupting nationwide, if this persists - who would risk going to the polling stations to vote next Saturday?
The events on ground in Nigeria simply bear little or no sense…who knows if what’s happening at the moment are fragments of a grand design to see Mr. Obasanjo continue in office beyond his term? Food for thought for all.
Its sad really. So sad it makes me wanna cry. Why should a bunch of illiterates hold Nigeria to ransom.
Its high time a nationwide demonstration against Obj and his satanic PDP is called to cripple the govt. and redirect NIgeria’s path.
’nuff said!
April 17, 2007 at 3:45 am
Unfortunately, I fear that foreign governments are more interested in the appearance of a “stable” transition that maintains the PDP grip on the government than in real democratic process. Of course, the country might be even more chaotic were each regional governor to come from a different political party. It does appear that Obasanjo’s attempt to exclude Atiku Abubakar from the election has backfired. Must we await the coming to power of your own generation before there will be honest civilian government in Nigeria?
April 17, 2007 at 5:40 am
No surprises…if you ask me. The surprise would have been if this (s)election turned out differently. That would have blown me away.
April 17, 2007 at 6:43 am
I left the following comment over at Chippla’s blog today and felt that I should share it with you and your readers as well. BRE(Bill) of Jewels in the Jungle said:
“I haven’t been able to follow the gubernatorial and parliamentary elections in Nigeria as closely as I would have liked over the past few days, but I knew where to come in order to get the lastest and best news in the blogosphere.
What this writer describes about her experiences on voting day in Lagos is really sad and the INEC and the ruling government of Nigeria must realize that they are bringing shame and disgrace upon the people of Nigeria. Now I understand better why so many young people from Nigeria who live here in Germany are totally oblivious and disinterested in these elections, feeling that no matter what they do the outcome has already been pre-determined.
The process so far is wrought with fraud and intimidation and outright violence perpetrated by the privelaged few against millions of honest Nigerian voters. These elections should be declared invalid and the upcoming presidential elections should be halted until the government of Nigeria and especially the INEC can guarantee its constituency, the voters of Nigeria, that it can carry out fair and democratic elections deserving of a great and proud people.” (End)
Where is President Jimmy “jemmah” Carter and why isn’t he and other high-profile world figures not speaking out strongly against the fraud and intimidation taking place down in Nigeria? It must indeed be the most courageous members of your and Chippla’s generation of Nigerians who will finally set your people free from this type of mis-governance and corruption. God willing.
April 17, 2007 at 6:45 am
Carter is in a bit of a bind, isn’t he? His secretary of the United Nations, Andrew Young, is in bed with Olusegun Obasanjo and the oligarchs of the People’s Democratic Party. So Carter cannot really promote free elections for Nigeria at the expense of a guaranteed result that will insure political stability and corporate growth for Young’s clients.
April 17, 2007 at 12:23 pm
I couldn’t have given a better response. I’m impressed with you grasp of “Nigerian bedroom politics”, Don.
But despite the absence and silence of Mr Carter, the international observers present have been quite vocal. The only positive comment I’ve read so far has been from one East African government official/observer.
April 17, 2007 at 1:23 pm