Reign
Of Madness In Ekiti And Plateau
By
Reuben Abati
culled from GUARDIAN, October
14, 2006
Law and order has broken down
almost irretrievably for now in Ekiti and Plateau states. I shall start with
the former. In the past week, the politics of Ekiti state has moved from the
theatre of comedy to tragedy and has now become a theatre of the absurd. The
comedy began at the point when it was announced that the Ekiti state House
of assembly had resolved, 24 out of the 26 lawmakers to impeach the
Governor, Dr. Ayodele Fayose. The initial reaction across the country was
that Governor Fayose had it coming. With his problems with the EFCC, the
hounding of his aides and associates and his betrayal by a former contractor
who chose to sing like a canary before EFCC interrogators, the public was
fed with gross details about the affairs of Ekiti state.
The opposition in Ekiti,
particularly the large crowd of Ekiti elites who look down on Fayose for
his lack of LL. B, Ph.D, Professorship etc. etc.... in a state where if
you were to drop a stone from a height, it would land on the head of
someone with a double university degree, broke into peals of laughter
that resounded from the hills of Ekiti all the way to Abuja. The team of
Gubernatorial aspirants in Ekiti who had been wondering how to get rid
of Fayose, who to their dismay, seems to have mastered the art of
populism and mass psychology, supported those peals with mouth-wide
cackles.
They proceeded to
organise anti-Fayose rallies on the streets of Ekiti. The media
outlined the "sins" of Fayose as defined by the EFCC and the Ekiti
legislators. The story sold newspaper copies as circulation figures
rose. At that moment it seemed like the end of the road for Fayose.
There were insinuations about how it was time to teach him a lesson
about his excesses. His enemies and critics could not contain their
laughter. They began to dream up strategies for pushing him out of
Government House. Previous exertions by the Governor about how he is
effectively in charge of the state, and how he could win elections
in the state many times over suddenly became comical.
You mean Fayose is
not in control of his own House of Assembly? The truth is that
he was treated by the same lawmakers whom he once sponsored on a
trip abroad and even proposed to send their wives(!) as if he
was an alien that had to be banished; indeed no one thought of
him as a nemesis arising from the failings of the people of
Ekiti themselves. In comedies, there are underlying lessons that
must be realised and learnt, upon the cloak of thought, long
after the dentitions must have been closed. But before this
comedy could be resolved, tragedy set in, and again Fayose was
the protagonist. The embattled Governor threw himself into a fit
of paroxysms. Fayose must have been looking forward to the
elections of 2007 as an occasion for teaching his opponents a
lesson or two about power.
But for him, the
battle of 2007 arrived seven months earlier and the issue
was his survival as Governor of the state. A politician who
knows the value of the media and information, Fayose took
his battle to the open field and insisted on his innocence,
calling on the Living God, insisting that he is a victim in
the hands of his enemies. On World Teachers Day, he went to
the stadium in Ado Ekiti and addressed teachers imploring
them not to allow agents of darkness to remove their
Governor. Two teachers were given the gift of cars. All the
teachers in the stadium wore the same attire as the
Governor. Someone said Fayosse had lost weight. Another
observed that he looked unhappy and went on to deplore the
do-or-die nature of Nigerian politics. I was struck by the
tragic undertones. Here was Fayose who had been one of the
most visible Governors representing the Peoples' Democratic
Party, but his own party could not save him. Party elders
pretended that they were trying to reconcile him and the
legislature, but they could not. Here was Fayose whose state
was visited twice by President Obasanjo and who was openly
commended by the President after an inspection of state
projects, but the same Fayose was being hounded by the EFCC
which is under the President's control. I recall that at the
time in question, the President's letter praising Fayose for
his efforts was published in the papers!
Again, here
was Fayose who had served the PDP once as Chairman of a
panel that was asked to look for a Presidential
candidate, but the same party was now shopping for a
replacement for him. In his critical hour, it would
appear that Fayose was abandoned by those who had wined
and dined with him, upon whose support he had previously
depended. He is facing his loneliest moment still, and
for him it cannot be funny at all. At height of his
travails, there were insinuations that his Deputy, Mrs
Biodun Olujinmi, was not on his side, but the Madam
placed newspaper advertorials pledging her support and
loyalty. They have appeared side by side since then. All
tragic heroes learn bitter lessons about human nature
and circumstances, which they alone can appreciate. In
the last two weeks, Fayose must have covered the entire
spectrum of the emotional scale: from anger to anxiety
to fear, but he has one more line to cross: that of
anagnorisis: the point at which he understands the full
import of what is happening to him, and gains full
awareness of the consequences. Those who may be tempted
to laugh at his travails must be prepared to learn their
own lessons. ..
But the
more important development in the Ekiti saga is the
descent into absurdity. The theatre of the absurd is
defined by its illogicality and meaninglessness.
Ekiti before our very eyes has become a state where
anything is possible. Fayose's opponents in the
legislature and outside of it want him removed by
all means, but they are not prepared to follow the
laws of the land or any such thing called due
process.. He has been asked to resign. The man has
refused. The legislature served an impeachment
notice and the state Chief Judge proceeded, in line
with the Constitution to set up a panel to
investigate the allegations and establish whether
there is a prima facie case against the Governor.
Almost immediately, the House of Assembly
rejected the panel set up by the CJ claiming
that the members are Fayose's loyalists. That
panel sat, it was ignored by the anti-Fayose
group and it came up with the verdict that the
Governor is without sin. The legislators
disagreed, and they responded by staging a coup
against the judiciary, by purporting to suspend
the state Chief Judge. They even went ahead and
appointed their own Acting Chief Judge, and a
new panel. That new panel has started sitting in
open defiance of the law and all known rules of
decency. The Chief Justice of the Federation and
many lawyers have risen in protest against this
brazen violation of the Constitution; the only
ones who are supporting the absurdity are those
who have a partisan stake in the matter.
But the bigger absurdity is that across the
country, it is assumed that what is going on
in Ekiti is normal in Nigerian democracy.
When you talk about illegality, your
attention is drawn to Anambra and Oyo state
before now, and the fact that this is
politics not law. One fellow in fact argued
that he does not know why the Chief Justice
of the Federation, Justice Modibbo Alfa
Belgore is commenting on the matter in Ekiti.
He was sure that not even the Supreme Court
is in a position to protect the rule of law.
He argued that we are running a gun-point
democracy. If you stay in the line of fire,
you'd be dead before you can get a chance to
insist on your rights. And can dead men
argue about rights? But what no one can
deny, it seems, is that the situation in
Ekiti has grown to the level of pure madness
and anarchy. The Deputy Governor apparently
has abandoned her boss, having sent her
lawyer to appear before an illegal panel...
there is information that the lawmakers are
not acting out of any commitment to the
common good but that they are playing out a
script handed over to them by the EFCC which
featured prominently before the new panel,
with some witnesses in its custody.. In
Ekiti, there is real breakdown at all levels
of government: the Executive is in the dock,
the legislature is staging a coup against
the other arms of government, the judiciary
is divided and breaking the law, the people
are confused and anxious...Anarchy is the
appropriate word.
The madness in Ekiti is matched only by
the current absurdity in Plateau state,
where eight lawmakers, acting under the
influence of the EFCC are threatening to
impeach the Governor, Joshua Dariye.
When the Nigerian Constitution talks
about 2/3rds majority of the legislature
for the purpose of impeachment, it does
not envisage a House made up of eight
members but the full complement of the
House in session. But nobody seems to be
worried about this. It is strange that
there are people in Plateau state who
are also determined to remove the
governor by illegal means if possible.
But Dariye seems to have an advantage
over Fayose, There are able-bodied
youths in the state who are prepared to
defend their Governor's mandate and they
attempted to do so two days ago;
unfortunately three of them were gunned
down! Whoever wants to remove Dariye
apparently has no respect for human
lives. We run a gun-point democracy
where the right to differ and the
insistence on it is an open invitation
to murder.
I don't want to be misunderstood. I
am realistic enough to know that
those who want to remove Fayose and
Dariye will do so even if the
Heavens fall. Nigerian democracy has
produced a crop of buccaneers who
have no regard for law and order.
They are driven only by their goals,
and even when there is merit to
their position, their lack of
decorum and decency destroys their
arguments in the long run. The
length of their conduct is the
desire to win the argument with
animal instincts and tactics. An
animal in the wild is unconcerned
about propriety. One form of
illegality is used to eliminate
another form of illegality as if we
are in the wilderness. So, don't be
surprised if you wake up one morning
and in Ekiti one group is saying
that Fayose is Governor and another
group is saying that he is not, and
another panel has to be set up to
establish which party is right, or
if in Plateau and Ekiti, the entire
state goes under the knife, with
every butcher carving away at the
flesh and soul of the state.
So, what do we think?
One, politicians must learn to
respect the rule of law.
Two, even when a man is
generally believed to be a
criminal, guilty beyond
redemption, he should still be
granted a right to fair hearing.
There are allegations against
Fayose and Dariye, fine, but
those allegations must be proven
before any form of conviction.
Three, the tragedy in Ekiti and
Plateau is that of the ruling
Peoples' Democratic Party. This
is a party that has been torn
into pieces by internal strife.
Four, what is happening in Ekiti
and Plateau again confirms the
underdeveloped nature of
Nigerian politics. What we have
on our hands is jungle
democracy, where the animal with
the sharpest fangs can hold the
entire kingdom to ransom, where
the lower animals are not
necessarily better, with every
animal seeking to rationalise
his or her choice by pointing to
the failings of others, and
thus, creating such cacophony
out of which decent men can make
no sense other than to wonder
and sigh.
Five: the Nigerian judiciary
is showing up very badly in
the crises. When lawyers and
judges break the law, the
drift towards anarchy is
complete.
Six: the Nigerian people
have every reason to be
anxious. Our people have a
saying: when a drum beats
too loudly, it will end up
in tatters, its skin will
tear into pieces. The drum
of Nigerian politics is
beating a bit too
discordantly; the drum of
democracy is sounding like
it is torn at the edges.
All the warring
personalities are birds of
passage: who for example
will check the legislature
in Ekiti and Plateau? Who
will stop the judex from
getting compromised by
partisan politics? In the
Ekiti case, however, only
two persons can afford to
laugh heartily: Adebisi
Omoyeni, former Deputy to
Fayose, who jumped before
the train derailed, and Niyi
Adebayo, Fayose's
predecessor in office who
must be saying to whoever
cares to listen: "serves
them right, good for them."
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