In the Grandiose Parlor…

In about 24 months, Nigerians will once again convey at the poll stations to elect their representatives. To seize the reins of government from the ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), some politicians have been canvassing for the formation of a mega-party with broad-based national representation.

The logic is sound — a fragmented opposition can not withstand the formidable force of the PDP, however; the current Nigerian sociopolitical climate will most certainly prove this is not only a waste of time but ineffectual against the PDP.

The logic is fraught with several unrealistic assumptions; the institutions required for this to happen are not on ground or severely compromised in status.

The only way a mega party will be successful is to expect the following: free and fair elections; imaprtial security forces; unbiased and competent INEC (electoral agency); and election petition tribunals manned by objective and incorruptible judges. These will create a level playing field for elections come 2011. But these can’t happen within 24 months.

However, can the opposition can still go ahead and create a mega party for all I care, but they must invest significant resources into public awareness — the voting public is the key if the PDP is to be unseated, not the creation of a mega party.

To prime the electorate over the next 24 months shouldn’t be a difficult task — the current PDP-led government has nothing to show for their time in office. And even if the president decides to wake up and assume a supernatural strength today, the global economic crisis is bound to damp his efforts.

The coming election is really for the PDP to lose if the opposition is ready to work where it matters — at the grassroots. This is the time for the creation of a mass movement and public enlightenment
campaign in Nigeria. This is time for change. When the people are well primed, they become empowered and will work to ensure their votes are counted. They will be ready to resist fraud at the polling stations.

Quoting Abba Kyari whose Guardian article is a must-read: “Public enlightenment, not mega party”

There is no royal ride to success. The people properly enlightened, educated, mobilised and adequately led will reject and revolt against a situation that has all but enslaved them and condemned them to poverty. Sardines do not applaud their can.

I’m most certainly in total agreement!

Opposition won’t enjoy money raised by Agagu, says commissioner, Nigerian Guardian

“We cannot allow the opposition to spend our hard-earned resources”, says commissioner.

Another reason why Nigerian brand of democracy is becoming meaningless.

It is a bliss to read the Nigerian Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, ponder over electoral fraud in Nigeria, asking , “what can we do to end this shaming cycle of electoral fraud?” This is a question that I have asked and discussed on this blog as well.

Professor Soyinka proffers some answers to the topic using Edo state as a case study – where the Appeal Court had to overturn an election recently, a legal decision that took 19 months to be pronounced.

The time calls for fire and brimstone!”, Soyinka states, “election rigging so costly to the perpetrators that it is not worth their while. Offer them, not a vision, but a taste of hell. Right here, on earth.”

He went on…’if there are means to bankrupt such high-and-mighty felons, make them forfeit their possessions – along similar measures to those that are applied to drug barons – these options should also be pursued.”

The guilty would be compelled, for a start, to pay the entire cost of the Tribunal proceedings, including legal and other costs incurred by the vindicated appellants. All known assets of the guilty will be seized, the costs of both Tribunals and Commissions deducted from the sale of such assets.

Those who connive with electoral criminals and break their oath of office – police officers, military personnel, returning officers, other staff and overseers, all the way up to directorate level within the commission – the penalty for any form of aiding and abetting should be imprisonment without the option of fine.

How can these measures be implemented? A question Soyinka not only asked but answered:

The answer is that we are not looking at a solution that will be effected within the next month or year.

The preliminary stage is the setting up the commission – or special courts – for criminal prosecution. The Tribunals’ case-books are routinely filled with evidence of just who did what, and how, and if some of those miscreants are sitting in any of the Houses, or in any governorship lodge, then obviously the rest is up to the electorate. Indeed, those who oppose any measures for the drastic sanitization of the electoral process should be marked down for the day of reckoning at the next elections. Any member of the civil society who believes that he or she is not required to be part of this corrective exercise has already succumbed to the blackmail of power and impunity, and cannot be considered part of the affected polity. It is up to the people to dislodge, in the most humiliating manner, the guilty or collaborating, from their undeserved; positions.

Read the Professor Wole Soyinka’s article (From Sodom to Adam) in full on AfricanLoft.

When Adams Oshiomole (Action Congress candidate) decided to run for office as the Governor of Edo State, he didn’t know that it would take him 19 months to actualize his mandate. During those long and troubling months, the state and the people of Edo sat helplessly under the reign of Oserheimen Osunbor of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, whose “mandate” came via the manipulation of a weak electoral system.

On November 11 2008, The Appeal Court affirmed Oshiomole the duly elected governor of Edo State after the April 14, 2007 gubernatorial elections. While this can be seen as a major step in a democratic Nigeria, the fact that Oshiomole has his mandate back is just half of the victory; it is also necessary to address what led to the events during those 19 months.

While Oshiomhole looked on to the judiciary – at huge monetary and emotional expense – to make right what INEC and the Nigerian electoral system messed up, Osunbor, Oshiomole’s opponent from People’s Democratic Party sat in office as governor, calling the shots for good 19 months, a long time to allow an error of this magnitude to exist at such a high and delicate level.

Osunbor dictated the affairs of a state he had no business managing, got paid for a job he did not qualify, and enjoyed the trappings of power he did not deserve. And all Osunbor got for usurping power was an order to vacate office within 24 hours after the Appeal court verdict!

As it is, the Nigerian electoral system permits fraudulent ascension to power and encourages political contestants to bend the rules to the extent possible and with every ounce of impunity they can muster. This is what happened in Edo State and several other states in 2007.

After Peter Obi of Anambra State and Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, Oshiomhole becomes the third governor to secure his mandate through the judicial process. Edo state is also the first case in which an opposition party outwitted the ruling party among cases that had been decided. Many petitions are pending, as the Guardian reported, particularly that of Mimiko vs. Agagu in Ondo state.

Should the Nigerian electoral system reward fraud and injustice? No it shouldn’t; this is why electoral violations must carry stiffer penalties; annulments aren’t enough deterrent.

Related:
Nigeria: Jail terms for electoral violations

IN what is clearly a clear-cut abuse of of office and an affront on the independence of the university, the Government of Ondo State withdraws Gani Fawehinmi’s honorary degree.

Read the details (from Nigerian Guardian) below:

ON Thursday, August 14, 2008 my chambers received a letter dated July 31, 2008 from Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba, Ondo State signed by the Registrar (B.A. Oloketuyi, JP (Mrs) informing me that the university has decided to confer on me an honorary doctorate degree as a mark of honour. The letter reads, inter alia, as follows:

“This award is in recognition of your contributions to the growth and development of our legal system in Nigeria. You are a thoroughbred, distinguished international legal luminary, a social critic of note whose singular voice has continued to bring positive changes and development to this country, an effective judicial administrator and a highly-respected son of Ondo state and community leader who continues to serve as a role model to generations of Nigerians and a shinning example in hard work and integrity.

It is hoped that you would accept the award which is given in the best of academic traditions of universities all over the world.”

On Monday, August 18, 2008, I instructed my chambers from London to write to the university accepting the offer. Suddenly the date of the conferment was shifted from September 12, 2008 to September 19, 2008.

At the weekend on Friday, September 12, 2008, a letter from the Registrar (B.A., Oloketuyi,, JP (Mrs.) of the University was received in my chambers at about 4.20 p.m. The letter reads thus:

“Ref. AD/REG/CONV/21/182

September 8, 2008

Chief Gani Fawehinmi,

Gani Fawehinmi Chambers,

35, Adeniran Ajao Road, Ajao Estate, Anthony Village,

Lagos.

Re: 2nd Convocation of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko

Our earlier correspondence on the above-mentioned subject Ref: No. AD/REG/CONV/21/173 dated July 31, 2008 refers, please.

I write to acknowledge the receipt of your reply Ref. No. GFC/ADM/RAAU/0818/2008 dated August 18, 2008.

However, I am to inform you that, owing to unavoidable circumstances, the offer of the award has had to be re-considered. This is because, on review, it has been discovered that three (3) eminent personalities in the legal profession were put up for the award. It has therefore become imperative that we reduce the number by one.

We crave your understanding on this matter, please, while any inconvenience caused by the development is highly regretted.

Closed with the assurances of our highest consideration.

B.A. Oloketuyi, JP (Mrs.)

Sgd..

Registrar”.

An insider information has revealed that the Governor of Ondo state Dr. Olusegun Agagu on hearing of the offer prevailed on the university to postpone the convocation and to withdraw the offer of conferment of the honorary doctorate degree on me.

I consider the intervention of the Governor of Ondo state in this matter as a clear-cut abuse of his office and an affront on the independence of the university. It must be clearly understood that the Adekunle Ajasin University belongs to the people of Ondo state and not the Governor of Ondo state.

The Governor and government of Ondo state have no authority under the law establishing the university to impose on the university those to be honoured by the university. What the Ondo state Governor and government have done in my case demeans the intellectual integrity of the university and violates the independence of the institution. It is not right for the university to succumb to the illegal, unconstitutional and immoral pressure from the Governor and government of Ondo state.

When I was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Laws by Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife in December 2003, I was at the forefront of the opposition to Obasanjo’s administration. As a matter of fact I contested the presidential election against General Olusegun Obasanjo in April 2003.

Despite all these, the Senate of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife approved the Honorary Doctorate Degree of Laws which was conferred on me on December 6, 2003. Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba should have done the same by standing its ground, defending its integrity and protecting its independence.

The barbaric action of Governor Agagu in this respect cannot stop me from continuing to criticise his regime for its corruption and election rigging, which of course has been unprecedented in the history of elections in Nigeria. What happened in the governorship election in Ondo state on April 14, 2007 was an abominable and despicable act of daylight electoral robbery. Justice demands that nobody should be allowed to profit from the proceeds of such robbery. My support for Dr. Rahman Olusegun Mimiko is total because it is based on truth and justice.

*Fawehinmi is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

I love Obama for what he stands for, and for what he has done, to get to where he is today. And I will most likely vote for him for those reasons, not because he is black, like me.

But this is not how some of my countrymen in Nigeria see him. He’s their brother; he’s black; he’ll save Africa!

One of those people is Ndidi Okereke-Onyiuke, the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Ndidi is the Chairman of the Africans for Obama 2008, a Nigeria-based pro-Obama group. Speaking in Lagos while inaugurating ‘Africans for Obama Presidency’ in June, she said, “the policies of Obama will have effect for Africa, not only the world, because he believes in Africa.”

On August 12, Ndidi and her friends held a fund raising dinner for Obama at the MUSON Center Lagos.

The price tag?

About $2,500 to 20,000USD per plate!

Their goal is to raise 100 million Naira (about 1 million USD) to mobilize the five million Africans in United States to support and vote for Obama in November.

There are many things wrong with this. Even if there are five million Africans with American voters registration cards, is it legal for a non-American pressure group to embark on political advocacy projects within America?

Was Ndidi and co aware of “The US Foreign Election Campaign Act (FECA) 1974?”

I don’t think so.

The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) prohibits any foreign national from contributing, donating or spending funds in connection with any federal, state, or local election in the United States, either directly or indirectly. It is also unlawful to help foreign nationals violate that ban or to solicit, receive or accept contributions or donations from them. Persons who knowingly and willfully engage in these activities may be subject to fines and/or imprisonment.

One thing is clear about most Nigerians, including our dear Ndidi: An obsession for foreign ready-made products. This obsession manifests in every facet of life in Nigeria. Now some have seen Obama as a prime object for that obsession.

Did Obama get to be the first American black presidential candidate because he had people like Ndidi supporting him?

Wouldn’t it be great if the Ndidis of Nigeria (and their rich friends) re-channel their obsessive energy toward something more practical and relevant to their immediate society?

Rather that obsessing over an ‘American Obama’, how about helping to create a local system that would produce a ‘Nigerian Obama’, say within the next five years?

Related:
Lagos state legislators are Obama-psychotic

For more than 12 months, I and several others have been waiting patiently for this day to come to pass. Shortly after the results of the 2007 flawed elections became known in Ondo state – where the incumbent, Dr Agagu won the election ‘miraculously’ – I have waited for justice to prevail.

Today, justice come around 4:00AM (10:00AM GMT) when I heard the Agagu miracle has been nullified, and the rightful winner of that election, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, has been awarded his mandate. The incumbent, Dr Agagu has become – and rightfully so too – the 11th sacked governor in Nigeria. Thanks to the state election tribunal.

Those who have been following the more-than-a-year-old legal battle would appreciate the extent of planning and preparation that went into the process.

The Mimiko team raised the standard of post-election litigation in Nigeria by using forensic technology and bringing in handwriting and fingerprint experts to buttress its case. The litigation was painstaking to the extent of being overwhelming. Today, those strategies paid off.

Besides the legal duel, there were several remarkable moments associated with the Mimiko-Agagu tussle, even before that flawed voting began.

Mimiko – once the Housing Minister during the past administration, and former Secretary to State Government under Agagu – is perhaps the only Nigerian politician I know that would rather abandon a well-established ruling party (PDP) for a new, unknown party with uncertain future.

Labour Party – Mimiko’s party – came to being in Ondo State less than six months before the elections. With limited resources but massive grassroots connection, the Labour Party defeated the deep-pocketed PDP, and an incumbent governor, who happens to be a very close associate of the former president Obasanjo.

As the state election tribunal closed its last case today, a total of 15 PDP candidates have had their elections annulled in Ondo state; the highest in Nigeria history to date!

Some would remember the media explosion that followed Obasanjo’s wrongfully accusation of Mimiko during the campaign. In Akure, Obasanjo publicly stated during a campaign rally that he begged Mimiko to not run against Agagu, but he refused. ‘Mimiko is a thief’, the president continued, saying ‘Mimiko soiled his hand’ as the Housing Minister, and will soon be arrested by the EFCC. This was the former president playing dirty and hardball politics on behalf of his boy – Agagu.

Of course, the move backfired. EFCC issued a statement clearing Mimiko of any fraud. The Media and several political pundits and commentators jumped in and tongue-lashed the president for stooping so low. This is the beginning of Mimiko ascent, and I strongly believe, that day marked the onset of Agagu’s political demise as well.

For Mimiko to have done what appeared impossible – and even foolish to most people – is nothing more than a confirmation of the power of grassroots politics. It also affirms that Mimiko – though driven by personal ambition – is a resourceful politician whose goals are guided by an uncommon passion to serve the people.

Mimiko is a man of uncommon traits. As I wrote in February 2007, (see: The Mimiko-Phenomenon: The Power of Grassroots Politics, this trait shows clearly in his persona:

His open-door policy endears him so much to the people who have come to see his as an acquaintance, friend, leader, mentor, and messiah; his reach extends far and near; he’s charismatic and modest; and above all, a gentleman and full-blooded social activist…

These traits are uncommon in the Nigerian political scene. This, coupled with his extensive wealth of public service experience (two-time state Health Commissioner, Secretary to State government (SSG), and federal Minister), makes Mimiko a prime candidate and someone who has the clout to orchestrate the unexpected.

And he has done just that!

Dr Olusegun Mimiko now belongs to that rarefied class of individuals one can say are true politicians with genuinely strong grassroots connection. And there are just a handful of them in Nigeria.

Iroko is a majestic African tree. Its wood is tough, dense, and very durable.