By Debisi Olaitan Dave
1. Justice Denied
Yahaya Bello rose to power through the controversial process of substitution and the subsequent strange, illegal inheritance of the votes of the late political icon, Prince Abubakar Audu. This was a man whose candidature of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Bello fought to the hilt. In his bitterness and desperation to stop Audu, he joined forces with the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP to defeat APC at his polling unit, his electoral ward in Agassa and in Okene Local Government in the Saturday November 21, 2015 governorship election.
Having not been registered as a voter in Kogi State, a fact admitted by him through his Chief of Staff in the witness box at the lower tribunal, and having lost in the APC primary election to the late Audu, legal luminaries in the country attested to the fact that Bello is indeed a stranger to the 2015 electoral contest to the office of the governor of Kogi State.
Curiously, and in a manner that is unknown to the books of law and bearing no references to electoral events both in past and modern day democracies world over, Mr Bello was introduced at the tail end of the race through a conjured supplementary election and was subsequently declared winner of the 2015 Kogi gubernatorial poll having polled an infinitesimally cringing and jaundiced 6,885 votes against the 240,000 and 199,000 votes polled by Audu and the PDP candidate, Capt Idris Wada respectively!
That injustice and controversial decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC in connivance with the Attorney General of the federation is an open wound in the hearts of Kogi electorate who all trooped to vote for their choice governor, with Bello COMPLETELY out of sight.
Kogi electorate obviously unhappy and disappointed at the previous verdicts of the Elections Petitions Tribunal and the Court of Appeal, look up to JUSTICE COMING from the INCORRUPTIBLE judges of the Apex Court.
For the avoidance of doubt, the people are likely to become increasingly unruly and uncivil should their yearnings for the restoration of their mandate dashed by their last hope, the Supreme Court. The general consensus amongst Kogi electorate is that any judgment given by the Supreme Court not deriving from the truth, their pains and the fact of a stolen mandate will be tantamount to justice denied.
It is likely to degenerate into provocation and violence, capable of threatening peace and security in the North Central of Nigeria. Indeed for the confluence state to emerge as the potential new addition to the North East/South South flash points, is an invitation to more political, socio-economic and security trouble for the ailing country.
Ominous signs are in the air with the people choosing a Friday Juma’at prayer ground to primere what has now become famous as the “Stoning the Devil” movie. Bello, called unprintable names, booed and stoned at the Lokoja central mosque, now hardly moves around the state. In a few occasions he does, he is under heavy security cover with hooded guards. For how long would he be foisted on Kogi and the people who have openly rejected him both on the ballot and in conduct?
Mrs Bello, Yahaya Bello’s wife, tasted the bitter pill that is likely to continue unabated should the incumbent usurper be spared against popular wish, when she was denied entry into the university community in Anyangba. The wife of the governor had gone to Anyigba to donate items to the orphanage.
Expectedly, Bello reacted childisly to the mountains of opposition against him, his government and members of his family by ordering the arrests of Audu’s first son, Muhammed, with other 14 members of his family, under spurious charges that Audu’s son was armed robber! A development that has further heightened tension in the Kogi political firmament and certainly will be compounded by a supreme court judgement favourable to Bello. A group of eminent Kogi elders, Kogi State Concerned Group, in a press release issued against insinuations and false security reports of civil unrest that may arise should Bello be sacked by the Supreme Court affirmed that to the contrary “The vast majority of Kogites will jubilate that the Apex Court has corrected the wrong perpetuated by INEC, some powerful chieftains of the APC and the Attorney General, who conspired to rob Kogi people of the fruits of their franchise and good governance as the Election of November 21, 2015, represented the intent of the people”.
2. Setting Too Many Dangerous Precedents
Bello is the first Nigerian to become governor without voting. Supreme Court justices must see beyond INEC’s support for criminality and the deep seated ethno-religious sentiments imported into the politics of Kogi State and focus on the realities of what confronts our democracy if INEC’s mishandling of the situation is sustained by the apex court. The dangerous precedence is that as the highest court of jurisdiction, any pronouncement by the Supreme Court becomes part of the law. Therefore, sustaining INEC’s declaration is to say any Nigerian could contest election in ANY part of the country without being registered as a voter in that part.
What INEC did by declaring the November 21, 2015 Governorship Election inconclusive and going ahead to conduct a supplementary election simply amounted to circumventing the extant provisions of the constitution of the country to blatant coronation. Or how else do we explain allowing Bello to participate in the governorship election even when he had no such locus not being a registered voter in the state and not casting his vote even supposedly for himself, during the election? This is a position Bello’s star witness admitted under cross examination at the Tribunal.
This is the first time in the history of this country that a governor would emerge without voting in an election nor being a registered voter in the state. INEC committed more blunders by overlooking Section 179, subsection 2 of the constitution which states very clearly that the candidate with the highest number of votes and spread in any governorship election is deemed to have been duly elected. Bello, with a paltry 6,885 votes and having not campaigned nor signed a social contract with the electorate could not have been deemed to have met the provisions of the above section of the constitution.
Finally one in the legion of dangerous precedents that would have been set for Nigeria’s democracy should the supreme court fail to save it from Bello and cohorts is that politically exposed persons can be wasted with ease as it encourages politically induced murders. According to a public affairs analyst,Mr Phrank Shuaibu, “If we have to go by what the INEC has applied in Kogi state it may advance political criminality to an extent which will encourage the abrupt elimination of candidates of great potency for victory with many disastrous consequences on our politics. Realistically, for Kogi election to reflect an apt democratic process, a candidate that deserves the mandate of the people must be subjected to general and transparent election not controversially inherited votes. Thus, it must be stated that in untangling the web over the Kogi election, the esteemed justices of the Supreme Court must recognise the need to desist from making any new law that will be a clear attraction for political miscreants and greedy men to kill. It is apparent that so many sensational analyses have cropped up on Kogi elections, some expanding the argument for quality democracy, others diminishing it for self-interest.”
3. Encouraging Political Impasse Through Interference by Partisan Federal Authorities in Electoral Processes/Administration of Justice
Amidst fears of subtle moves by Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami to procure judgements for Bello on the purported instructions of The Presidency, there is growing apprehension that influential Nigerians/Kogites have been responsible for the present political impasse and the crises sorrounding the ascension of Mr Yahaya Bello.
It is a known fact that the deliberate partisanship of the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice has brought judicial pronouncements in Nigeria into disrepute and created the impression that administration of justice under the present regime is capricious and whimsical.
Whereas INEC as the nation’s apex electoral body with a team of senior advocates at its disposal had options to seek constitutional interpretations of the lacuna created by the events of the death of Audu midway into election results announcement, it will be recalled that few moments after Attorney General Abubakar Malami took his position, INEC quickly queued behind the AGF and ordered the replacement of the late APC candidate with the runner-up at the party’s primary election without recourse to the provision of the constitution. It mattered less to INEC that the said primary had lost its existence at the expiration of the exercise that produced the late Audu; that the so called runner up in the primary election did not participate in all the processes of the election and; that the elective process had a timeline!
The law provides that before, during or after an election, if there was a lacuna, the apex court ordinarily was to adjudicate on the issue, but the powers that be, scuttled it, in this instance. Malami erred by not heading straight to the apex court. Hence the pending Supreme Court judgment that does not come with deterrent to such presumptions will be tantamount to aiding interference by partisan federal authorities, especially the AGF, in the administration of justice and subversion of popular will of the people.
4. Invitation to Uprising in The Civil Service/Unmitigated Corrupt Practices
Kogi State is experiencing unprecedented hardship under the government of Yahaya Bello. The bombastic pupil government is populated by inexperienced, young zealots with questionable cognate backgrounds and experience. Elders have been totally shut out from governance. Akin to a martial dispensation under Bello’s iron fist rule, the people of Kogi State once revered as one of the most happy and peaceful in Nigeria, now live in palpable fear of intimidation, maladministration, unmitigated looting of treasury and the unknown.
The civil service, disorganised and discombobulated by the corrupted reforms through deliberate omission of names from the state government’s payroll, flagrant disrespect to civil service rules; endless, ineffectual screening of workers, selective and near total non-payment of salary to the majority of workers running to nine months, has been rendered impotent. The irresistible conclusion by the workers in Kogi State within seven months is that of a heartless governor and a misfit. This is as a result of deprivation of legitimate workers of their pay in order for the governor and his cronies to loot the state as it is obvious today.
Tempers are daily rising among legitimate workers who were deliberately removed from the state’s payroll; those workers who were officially cleared and their salary accounts dubiously moved to two banks (Access Bank and Zenith Bank), and yet have not been paid for upward 8 months are daily trooping to the street to protest what they called “man’s inhumanity to humanity”.
The workers in their thousands protest across the state on a daily basis. While those at other LGs protested freely, their counterparts in Lokoja were beaten, arrested and detained by the Police for demanding their legitimate entitlements.
The popular expectation was that upon assumption of his stolen mandate, Bello would move to endear himself to the people by driving socio-economic development. Road construction across the state, renovation/construction of health facilities, youth empowerment and job creation, etc, should have been his priorities. All these and more were the people’s expectations, most especially, the youth whose class Bello was said to belong.The expectations turned out a huge disappointment for the few who held such hope, plus the attendant disaster for the state and her people.
What has followed is the unmitigated looting of the state’s treasury is legendary: within seven months Kogi under Bello has raked in about N50 billon from monthly allocations from the federation account, workers salary assistance bailout fund and development fund. With literally NOTHING to show in terms of infrastructural development, Bello has his hands full with questions bothering on probity.
Thus far, N4billion has been squandered on exotic cars for himself, aides, council caretaker administrators etc; over N300 was frittered celebrating his 41st birthday; N50 Mullin expended on his Chief of Staff, Edward Onoja’s wedding and over N1.5 billion was alleged to have been withdrawn from one of the ‘friendly’ new generation banks and moved to Abuja ahead of the tribunal judgment earlier in the year. Another N2 billion was reportedly looted ahead of the appeal court judgment, N25 million for the governor’s expenses during his Chief of Staff’s reception at Okpo by the Ogugu Development Initiative and over N300 for the Kogi at 25 Silver Jubilee celebration which was beamed live on about four national television networks for the duration of the charade.
Further provoking mindless celebrations amidst massive looting of Kogi Stste treasury at the expenses of development, is what would have been aided by the apex court should Mr Bello’s illegal occupation of the Lugard House be allowed to continue.
Aside the bailout, federal statutory allocations for all of the seven months Bello has been in charge have not been accounted for. Typical of a surreptitious, deceptive, arrogant, heartless, mischievous, cheeky and wicked brood of functionaries, Bello and cohorts subject the workers to untold hardships at the bank. Workers were sent “Media Alert” – a peculiar kind of credit alert you get from bank but your account is not truly funded. His action is in gross violation of the civil service rule and terms of engagement.
As if a man on a devil sent mission, he was never dissuaded in his quest to create cracks and plant the seed of discord among the people of Kogi State. Permanent secretaries and LGs treasurers sent on a compulsory leave since February have not been recalled or told what their offence had been. The Kogi State Council of Ulamas and Imams rekindled the hopes of the people when it rejected the rice and rams donated by the apostates for this year’s eidel kabir. “Allah,” quoting the clerics “does not accept such saddaqqa (alms or charity) from an usurper especially when the workers could not afford a cup of rice.”
An average Kogi worker will not wish to see the present situation continued. The dying pensioners who also have not received their pensions in nine months are daily lamenting the emergence of a tormentor “Pharaoh” they did not vote for and are entreating that the Supreme Court come to their rescue.
5. Continued Disregard for Rule of Law/Executive High Handedness
Mr Bello’s disregard for the rule of law and the Constitution is second to none. It was not by accident that Kogi made history becoming the first state in the federation where the minority members of the state House of Assembly are the “majority” and vice versa. Kogi electorate also have Lord of the Manor (Mr Bello) to thank for installing the present Speaker of the House from the minority APC who now calls the shot over the majority PDP members!
Mr Bello, with the use of force, including the Nigerian Army, sponsored five (5) Members to impeach the sitting speaker of the Assembly, Jimoh Momoh Lawal of the PDP and suspended 15 majority members, paving the way for a 5-man Assembly. Despite the fact that the National Assembly invoked Section 11(4) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), Mr Bello refused to heed the calls of the National Assembly, he instead went ahead to appoint Commissioners and Advisers, passed the state budget with his stooges nonetheless that the National Assembly had taken over the functions of the state legislature pursuant to the Constitution. The Governor encouraged and aided the five House members to continue to sit regardless of court pronouncement sealing up the House.
A favourable judgment for Bello at the apex court is justification for utter disregard for rule of law and executive high handedness.
– Debisi Olaitan Dave, an indigene of Kogi lives in Victoria, British Colombia
