The Sham Called An Election In Oyo By Victor Oluwayemi, PhD
Last Saturday, the people of Oyo State went to the polls to elect their local government chairmen and councilors across the 33 local government areas of the state.
With an express assurance of a free, fair and credible election given by the state electoral management, Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission, the political parties involved, especially the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP and the leading opposition party in the state, the All Progressives Congress, APC went to work during the electioneering, expending thousands, if not millions, of naira and other resources to attract, appeal to and convince the electorate to vote their candidates at the polls.
As the fourth estate of the realm, the media, particularly the radio stations in the state, deployed their arsenal of human and material resources to monitor and give on-the-spot reportage of the election across the state. Although as typical of Nigeria’s elections over the years, there were allegations and serious acrimony between the major political parties during the electioneering and the actual voting as the APC had earlier threatened to pull out of the whole process before later agreeing to see it through.
The chairman, Mr. Isiaka Olagunju, of the electoral commission had earlier promised during the week on some radio stations that his commission was ready for the conduct of a free, fair and credible election. However, the opposite became the reality on the day of the election as thousands of the electorate were not only disappointed but also frustrated by the abysmal logistics, conduct and management of the whole electoral process.
In different polling units across the state, neither electoral officers nor security personnel were present to carry out their constitutional duties, and where they were present, the electoral materials, especially the ballot papers, were infinitesimally below the number of registered voters on the voter register. For instance, in a polling unit of 800 voting population, the electoral officers usually had either 50 or 100 ballot papers. Even in some polling units, the candidates standing for the election were unable to vote as a result of inadequate ballot papers or before-time departure of the electoral officers.
In addition, while the announced timeframe for voting as declared by the Electoral Commission was between 8:00a.m. and 3:00p.m., many polling units did not see the electoral officers until 12:00p.m. and voting even closed earlier than expected.
Unsurprisingly but unfortunately, the electoral body declared a tsunami victory for the ruling PDP and its candidates across the state. This makes one to wonder why their was any need for the election in the first instance.
The Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, like his many colleagues and predecessors in the country, could have simply opted for a caretaker chairmanship option in the state, which has really become the norm; instead of wasting the limited and dwindling resources of the state and time of the people in this strangulating Emilokanic economy of the Bola Tinubu-led federal government.
Since the Governor had boldly declared his aversion for the (independence and financial) autonomy of the local government several times, there was no need conducting such a shambolic election at all. If since the return to civil rule in 1999, the states have failed in the management of local government elections across the country, one wonders how the recently touted state policing would be handled by the emperor governors in their respective states.
Nigeria as a whole should forget anything close to development if the basics of democracy are sacrificed on the altar of leadership selfishness, political gains and self-preservation to the detriment of the people.
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