It always looks normal and easy for people to point out the deficiencies in others while covering their own. ( Ipako onipako laa ri, eni eleni nii ri teni).
I have read Governor Seyi Makinde’s latest Newsletter, tagged ” Newsletter No 136″.
He raised two major topics.
First, he talked about the efforts he is making to unveil, what I will call, the gubernatorial candidate for his would be Political party.
Secondly, he made a lengthy sermon about his perception that Nigeria is drifting towards a one party-state.
He emphasized on the dangers a one party-state portend for Democracy and I completely agree with him.
However, I was surprised that when Governor Makinde was pontificating about the dangers of a one-party system, he didn’t pause, for once, to look at himself in the mirror.
He who comes to equity, must come with clean hands.
The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has placed the responsibilities of conducting Local Government elections on state Governors.
How has Governor Makinde fared in discharging this Constitutional responsibility?
Has he been fear to opposition political parties?
Has he not turned the conduct of Local Government election in Oyo state to just a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP affair?
He has conducted Local Government elections twice, since he became Governor and his party, the PDP was declared winner in all the 33 Local Governments and 351 Wards of Oyo state on both occasions.
Presently, the Oyo state Independent Electoral Commission, OYSIEC, has released the timetable for another Local Government election, setting the date of election for December, 2026.
In 2021, violence erupted in both Ido and Ibarapa East Local Government Councils on the day of the Local Government election of that year.
The violence in Ibarapa East eventually claimed four innocent lives and no election ever held on that day or any latter dates.
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Surprisingly, the OYSIEC, at the time, declared the PDP as winners of the Chairmanship and Councilorship election that never held in all the 10 Wards of the Local Government.
The Local Government Chairman and councilors were produced from a killing field!
I remember that OYSIEC was forced to cancel the election in Ward 5, New Eruwa at the time because, New Eruwa is the entry point to Eruwa from Ibadan and even the Police Commissioner at the time, who rushed to Eruwa had to turn back from New Eruwa as she could not enter the town as a result of the terrible violence brought on the people by PDP thugs led by Mukaila Auxiliary.
Three people were shot dead at New Eruwa, Ward 5 and another individual, a young man, was shot dead at Sanngo, Ward 6.
Only God knows the exact number of people who were matched at Eruwa and Lanlate on that day.
Is that how you strengthen Democracy? Is that how not to stifle the opposition?
The 2023 Local Government election was not different.
In 2023, the major opposition party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, unlike in 2021, fielded Chairmanship candidates for all the 33 Local Governments and Councilorship candidates for the 351 Wards.
The OYSIEC promised heaven and earth.
The Commission said it would be transparent and fair to all but what did we see on the day of election?
It was total nonsense.
In Oorelope Local Government, the office of the OYSIEC was under lock and keys on the day of election.
No official of OYSIEC was seen anywhere around the Local Government.
Oorelope’s case was not an isolated case.
That was the standard all over the state.
OYSIEC officials became invisible.
The APC party chairman was attacked by PDP thugs and was almost killed at the Ibarapa East Local Government Secretariat where he went for a meeting with the OYSIEC Electoral officer.
Those who went out to perform their civic duties and couldn’t find OYSIEC officials were calling Radio stations to complain.
Ballot boxes became invisible but yet, the PDP were declared winners of the Chairmanship and Councilorship election all over the state.
They won elections that were never conducted.
Though, a Tribunal was set up to hear and determine petitions arising from the conduct of the Local Government election but strange and very extreme measures were introduced to ensure that those who may be dissatisfied were discouraged from filing election petitions in 2023.
Those strange conditions attached to the filing of petitions in 2023 were not present in 2021 when the APC didn’t participate.
For example, in 2023, a petitioner must deposit huge amounts of money before he could file an election petitionsl.
So, when I saw Governor Makinde complaining about a one party-state and the dangers it portend for Democracy, I just laughed.
If Oyo state were to be Nigeria and Governor Makinde is the president, Democracy would have been doomed a long time ago.
Maybe, Auxiliary would, by now, be the National Security Adviser.
Tommy, I don’t know his real name, would be the Minister for Transport.
Seye Famojuro would definitely be the INEC Chairman and the Commissioners of INEC would definitely be sourced from the Parks Management System, PMS.
What a country we would have been having by now?
Let me now address this idle talk about the APC stifling opposition political parties.
The last time I checked, Nigeria has almost a hundred registered political parties.
These platforms, I am sure, are still open for anyone to contest upon.
So, where is this talk about the stifling of opposition political parties coming from?
It’s not like the PDP, APC, LP and the ADC are the only political parties in Nigeria or is it?
As at now, we still have the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, we have the Social Democratic Party, SDP, we have the National Democratic Party, NDP, we have the National Democratic Convention, NDC and scores of other political parties.
Should the APC take responsibilities for the inabilities of some opposition political parties to put their Houses in order?
I think not.
Governor Seyi Makinde, until very recently, was a member of the PDP.
He was also a member of the now, defunct G-5.
He was one of the 5 PDP Governors who publicly worked for the destruction of their party in 2023.
Who does he want to take responsibilities for that action?
The APC or is it president Tinubu?
When he and others were about to disobey court judgments last year, by holding a National Convention of the PDP, the former Senate President, Bukola Saraki advised against such a step.
He advised them further to embrace the setting up of a Caretaker Committee but they didn’t listen to him.
So, should the APC also take responsibility for that action?
Infact, I am always amused when Governor Makinde and his co-travelers begin to say that something is wrong with the PDP.
Is anything wrong with the PDP?
Certainly not.
What could be wrong with a political party that just conducted it’s National Convention with structures all over the country?
The fact that Governor Makinde and his followers lost out in a battle of wits with Nyesom Wike does not mean that the PDP is not existing as an opposition political party.
So, playing on emotions won’t change the narratives that Nigeria is practicing a multi-party system.
I won’t bother myself about Governor Makinde’s candidate in embryo for now.
I just hope he is also working on the political platform for the candidate to contest.
By the way, will Governor Makinde accept responsibilities for asking aspirants to put the PDP logo on their Billboards when he already knew that the PDP was dead end or, should the APC also accept responsibilities for that also?
Sola Abegunde.
