Ekiti 2014: Unity of strange bedfellows

Next month’s governorship election in Ekiti State has generated controversies. FEMI MAKINDE, in this piece, x-rays the contentions surrounding the coming election A few weeks to the Ekiti State governorship election, the rumblings within the political circuit of the agrarian state is typical of Nigerian politics. The two foremost parties in the state, the All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party, have had their shares of blackmail, intrigue and controversies. The Labour Party is also a growing force to reckon with in the state. The exit of former Governor Segun Oni from the PDP has, however, caused no little stir just as the exit of the House of Representatives member, Opeyemi Bamidele, popularly referred to as MOB, from the APC was surrounded by controversy. Oni, the immediate past governor of Ekiti, used to be an avowed opponent of the incumbent governor, Kayode Fayemi, who ended the three and a half years reign of the Ifaki-Ekiti-born engineer via a court victory. Not a few consider the exit of Oni under the umbrella of Ekiti PDP as a major setback for the self-acclaimed largest party in Africa. Many believe that the governorship ambition of Oni’s predecessor, Ayo Fayose, would have received a boost if Oni was still a member of the PDP. Although Fayose and Oni were formerly in the same party, they belonged to different camps within the party and the rivalry between them explained why Fayose abandoned his party’s candidate (Oni) during the rerun supplementary governorship election in 2009 and worked for Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who contested on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria. The political rivalry between the two gladiators also came to the fore during the state congress of the PDP, which produced Mr. Makanjuola Ogundipe-led PDP executives in the state. Fayose teamed up with the camp of a former Minister of Police Affairs, Navy Capt. Caleb Olubolade, and the current PDP chairman won by 18 votes against Oni’s candidate, Akin Omole. Fayemi, who is seeking re-election, is a beneficiary of the rift between President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo, especially with the defection of Oni to the APC. Oni, who is a loyalist of Obasanjo, was sacked by the court as the National Vice Chairman of the PDP in the South-West. A former Governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who is also a loyalist of Obasanjo, also suffered a similar fate when he was removed as national secretary of the PDP. Obasanjo’s loyalists in the PDP executives were shown the way out in the wake of the rift between the former president and the incumbent. So, the announcement of Oni to dump the PDP and work for Fayemi against Fayose in the June 21, 2014 governorship polls is seen as a payback time in some quarters. The decision of the former governor to pitch his tent with Fayemi came to many as a surprise. To others, the volte face made by Oni to work for the success of Fayemi who chased him out of power further confirmed the axiom that there are no permanent friends or permanent foes in politics but permanent interests. Oni and Fayemi had contested the April 14, 2007 governorship election and Oni was declared winner. However, the legal battle instituted by Fayemi in various election petitions tribunals lasted over three and a half years and this eventually led to the ouster of Oni on October 15, 2010. The battle did not stop even after the verdict of the Court of Appeal which was the final arbiter in election dispute as of that time. After his ouster, Oni returned to the Appeal Court in Ado-Ekiti, asking the panel to reverse Fayemi’s victory. Eventually the dust raised by the controversial governorship election conducted in the state finally settled on May 31, 2013 as the Supreme Court dismissed the fresh case. By that time the legal marathon battle had lasted over six years which made it the second longest election litigation in the country – after the Osun governorship election battle that lasted for seven and a half years. With the intense acrimony between Oni and Fayemi, many did not expect that there could be a synergy between them, at least for now. This explained the surprise expressed by many at the return to the fold of the ‘progressives’ by Oni who was much vilified especially after the rerun governorship polls. His return was well celebrated by the same set of people who described him as ‘vote robber’ then. Ironically, he is being referred to today as a man of integrity who strayed into the midst of corrupt politicians. Oni had, on Monday, made public his decision to work with Fayemi. At a ceremony held in his residence in Ifaki-Ekiti, his hometown in Ido-Osi Local Government Area, Oni said he returned to the fold of the progressives in the interest of the Ekiti people. There was a rally held by the APC later in the town to herald Oni’s declaration. The former governor said that he had weighed the options before him and stuck by Fayemi, who he said was far better than other contestants jostling to occupy the governorship seat in the state with the sobriquet, ‘Land of Honour.’ He said, “We must ask ourselves who is in a better position to give Ekiti a better future; the kind of future that we want? This is why we are doing this. If you are an Ekiti person, ask yourself, who is in a better position to bequeath your children a better future? “Tomorrow is greater than today and yesterday. Let us look at our future. I am not talking about perfection. I know God is the only one who is perfect. We must not focus on personal interests. Let us think about the future of our children. Tomorrow has started today.” Addressing Fayemi, he said further, “The Almighty God will grant you honour beyond your projection. This venture (re-election) will succeed. Your tenure will be a huge success.” Oni’s departure was preceded by the defection of a former Commissioner for Information, Mr. Taiwo Olatubosun, to the APC but Oni’s deputy, Dr. Sikiru Lawal, pledged to work for the PDP’s candidate. The gale of defection afflicting the PDP continued as the party suffered another loss on Tuesday with the defection of one of its two lawmakers in the state House of Assembly, Mrs. Bunmi Oriniowo, to the ruling party in Ekiti State. Conversely, a stalwart of the PDP, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, who was the State Universal Basic Education Board chairman during Oni’s time, has pitched his tent with Fayose. He will obviously work against the interest of his former principal just as politicians like Ayo Arise and Prof. Tunde Adeniran would slug it out with Oni in Ekiti-North Senatorial District. Some of the PDP leaders are claiming that Oni was promised the party’s ticket for Ekiti-North Senatorial District in 2015 even as those close to him said Oni did not need a senatorial ticket, adding that he took the best decision in the interest of the majority of the people of the state by defecting to the APC. But Fayose and his supporters have played down on the negative impact Oni’s exit may have on his ambition by describing the defection of the engineer-turned politician as good riddance to bad rubbish. A statement by the Director-General of the Ayo Fayose Campaign Organisation, Mr. Owoseni Ajayi, said, “Ekiti State Peoples Democratic Party will not miss Mr. Segun Oni. He is free to take along with him other directionless followers to the APC. We have no regret over his departure. He is of ACN, just returning to where he was before he was imposed as PDP candidate in 2007. If he wants to come back to PDP, he will not be granted a waiver. Oni felt uncomfortable to remain in Ekiti PDP because of the rising profile of Ayo Fayose. If Oni is spiritual enough, he would know that it is the table that is turning back to its original take-off point of 2006. We wish to remind him that the likes of Dayo Adeyeye, Bisi Kolawole, Dipo Anisulowo, Ojuawo, Aborisade, Tunde Adeniran, Biodun Olujimi, Ayo Arise, who he could call his foot soldiers are with us in Ekiti PDP.” Indeed, the PDP is pushing to get back into reckoning. Support from the national secretariat of the party and President Goodluck Jonathan is giving the opposition party the confidence that it can unseat the incumbent governor. Bamidele is also seen as fighting the political battle of his life which will either make or mar his political fortunes. There have been violent attacks in the state since the campaigns started and allegations and counter-allegations have also not been in short supply while leaders of various parties have been warning opponents against attempting to subvert the will of the majority of the people during the polls. The national leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, showed the seriousness his party attaches to the polls when he said that the party was not ready to travel through the tortuous path of election tribunals again. Tinubu spoke at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, during his investiture as the chancellor of the university and the conferment of doctoral degree in Management Science on him. The former governor of Lagos State had, earlier in his speech, said that the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan was inept. According to him, the government’s war against corruption is a façade, stressing that the Jonathan administration was “married to corruption.” Tinubu said that any government who needs the vote of its citizens would not treat the people the way Jonathan government has done. While alleging the PDP-led Federal Government of planning to rig in Ekiti and Osun governorship elections, Tinubu warned that anyone caught doing that would be roasted on the spot. The PDP Secretary in Ekiti State, Dr. Tope Aluko, while reacting to the rig and roast catchphrase, said that members of the APC would be the ones to be roasted because they were the ones planning to manipulate at the polls. Aluko said that the APC would not go to court to challenge any election result because those judges that were aiding the party to victory had been sacked. He said, “I want to assure Tinubu that Ekiti people are fully prepared to roast to ashes any APC member whether in Ekiti or thugs imported to rig the poll or cause mayhem. Tinubu should understand that this is Ekiti State and not Lagos and the APC should never think it has monopoly of violence. This is a stern warning to Tinubu.” The Chairman of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties in the state, Mr. Tunji Ogunlola, in an interview with our correspondent, said that security agents must work extra hard to ensure that nobody was allowed to rig the election to avoid an outbreak of violence. Ogunlola said that the violence which characterised the rerun election in the state should be avoided this time around. During the rerun poll, the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Ido-Ekiti was set ablaze; some people were shot while a woman had her teeth plucked out in the large scale violence. The CNPP chairman said that the people of the state know who they want, stressing that no matter the scheming, the most popular candidate would emerge as governor. In all this, the LP in Ekiti has been careful because the party’s governorship candidate, Bamidele, was one of the lieutenants of Tinubu and it is obvious that he did not want to say anything which will pit him against his former boss boss.