Supreme Court and politics of governorship verdict
Thursday, 02 February 2012
Regional Editor,Olawale Rasheed delves into the political schemings and anglings characterising the recent Supreme Court ruling sacking five state governors.
The last one week witnessed political fireworks which roused dead and dying political aspirations and raised the stakes for the struggle for political power in the affected states. Reports from the five states prove the inexhaustible capacity of the political class to play games and exploit all avenues for power acquisition.
While the judgment itself raised many questions than answers, it was however never ambiguous, as far as its main thrust is concerned, that the sacked governors had overstayed their constitutional tenure of two terms. The lack of consequential orders only allows for further litigations with specific goal of interpreting the judgment especially in such contentious states like Kogi and Bayelsa.That is however the realm of law on which judicial actions had already commenced.
The politics of the whole event is however interesting, as the ruling came against the background of simmering political rivalry and competition in the five states. In Sokoto, the ex-governor had been having a running battle with some chieftains of the party who fought bitterly to stop his re-contesting the governorship. In Adamawa, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is split since its gubernatorial primaries with a former PDP chief running against the party in the state. In Cross River State, the party had just concluded a controversial primary during which the ex-governor defeated Ambassador Soni Abang, a former state chairman of the party.
For Bayelsa and Kogi, it was a multi-pronged challenge. Former governor Timpreye Silvas is still challenging his exclusion from the PDP primaries even as Hon. Henry Dickson is sweeping the states through statewide campaigns. In Kogi, Jubrin Echocho is still bitter with his replacement by Governor Idris Wada, just as Audu Abubakar of the Action Congress of Nigeria is battling to nullify Wada’s election. Just a few days before the judgment, Wada’s and Abubakar’s supporters clashed at the governorship election petition tribunals.
The politics of each state got heated up with the judgment with those already disadvantaged by the status quo rising to get at those advantaged. A funny drama is already playing out in Cross River State where the supporters of the ex-Governor Liyel Imoke demonstrated in front of the Governor’s Office, hinting at possible lukewarm attitude of the Acting Governor to the candidature of the ex-governor in the forthcoming poll.
Unconfirmed reports had it that the ex-governor had earlier attempted to impeach the Acting Governor when he was a Speaker of the House. What motivated that attempt was not clear. But insiders noted that those within the governor’s inner circle were not sure of the Acting Governor’s loyalty, hence the move to remove him in anticipation of the court ruling. Others noted that it was the governor who saved the then Speaker, a claim faulted by those outside the ex-governor’s camp.
Now the Speaker as the Acting Governor is under watch with top party officials addressing what appears like a sponsored demonstration to whip the Acting governor into line. Supporters of Abang saw the ruling as an opportunity to hit back. Their first hope of a fresh primary is already dashed, as the PDP is standing by the subsisting and the most recent primaries. Their second hope is that the Acting Governor will revolt against Senator Imoke by ensuring a change of Imoke’s hold on the state.
That expectation is what is on ground now and playing out feverishly across the state. The Imoke machine, very entrenched in the state, was, at first, ruffled. But that has changed as reports said the Acting Governor also had to weigh so many options before nursing any thought of revenge. Imoke has the backing of levers of power from the state to the federal level, including what sources called “close affinity with the Presidency”. The Acting Governor may have thus discovered that there is little he can do about the concluded primary which produced the ex-governor as a standard-bearer. Equally, he may have fewer options than to rally support for the PDP candidate at the polls, no matter the misgiving he may have. Some of Imoke’s supporters were said to have perfected an impeachment option in case the Acting Governor proved to be uncooperative.
For Sokoto state, the seat of the Caliphate was agog with several news reports allegedly planted by the opposition with a view to destabilizing the ex-governor. Many among such reports were that he had been arrested until his aides called round to prove that their boss just arrived Sokoto after a private trip. At Aliyu Wamako‘s back are two camps of political enemies. While one is within, the other is outside. Those who contested the governorship ticket with him are still bitter and they wasted no time in launching attacks after the judgment.
For the enemies outside the PDP, the goal is to capitalise on the simmering crisis within the PDP to secure a victory for the All Nigerian Peoples Party ANPP. The reality is that Wamako‘s former boss when he was a deputy governor,Attahiru Bafarawa, has returned to the ANPP to rally round the opposition parties. What is not clear now that Wamako remains the proud holder of the PDP ticket is whether enemies within the PDP will team up with the opposition in their frustration.
In the North Eastern state of Adamawa,the situation is as tricky as ever. The gubernatorial flag bearer of the Congress for Progressive Change, Buba Marwa took active party in the litigation leading to the ruling. The ruling is thus of serious significance to Marwa that his arch rival, Muritala Nyako would not be a sitting governor when the governorship election will be holding. State cover for a sitting governor has been effectively taken away from Nyako, a development that has further strengthened the opposition to PDP in the state.
The second implication for Adamawa was that ex-military men in both the PDP and the CPC [Marwa/Nyako] appear to be playing the game ahead of each other. Long before the ruling, both sides appeard to have commenced the scheming for power positioning. Some observers believe the Marwa group may have been faster going by the change in the House leadership without the knowledge of the sitting governor.Nyako‘s camp attempted to block the then new speaker, Alhaji Ahmadu Fintiri, from assuming office before reasons prevailed.
Now the then Speaker now the Acting Governor is to preside over the affairs of the state while the governorship election is holding. Already, the Acting Governor is wielding the big stick as already political appointees of the ex-governor have been relieved of their appointments. This is coming as the opposition parties held a recent press conference where they urged the Acting Governor to simply provide a level playing field for all contenders while not according Nyako any preferential treatment.
Where will the pendulum swing? Will the Acting governor forget party affiliation while presiding over the polls and the state? If the Acting Governor is sympathetic to the opposition, that may spell trouble for the PDP in the state. The Friday Edition was told that the Acting Governor is under intense pressure to remember his party and protect the PDP as a politician while ruling the state.
Bayelsa‘s case is largely subjudice.Even at that, the game is on outside the court. Hon Dickson is campaigning hard. What is not clear is whether the ex-governor is behind the A C N governorship candidate who is said to be taking the state by storm. Unconfirmed reports suggest a deal even as ex-governor Silva battles his way on the PDP ticket. Can Silva stage a comeback like the Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi? The court will decide.
A state with interesting complication is Kogi where Governor Wada had urged restraint and pleaded with the people of the state for understanding. His assumption of office was controversial and immersed in the ethnic politics of the state. What that brief period of confusion demonstrated according to impartial observers was that polarisation along ethnic lines is becoming more entrenched in the state. That the Ebiras and Yorubas are bitter with Igala‘s domination came to the fore more than ever before.
While Governor Wada is comfortably seated pending the determination of the cases against him, a review of those uncertain forty eight hours painted a picture of a bitterly divided state which can only be healed by such steps as reconciliation committee the governor has promised to put in place. Rightly or wrongly, the Igalas today believe the Ebiras attempted to rob them of the governorship through their domination of the judiciary at the state and federal levels.
The Chief Judge of the state, Justice Nasir Ajanah, is from Ebiraland and he conducted the swearing in ceremony of another Ebiraman, Hon Abdulahi Bello, as the Acting Governor of the state.Coincidentally, the Attorney General of the Federation, Bello Adoke who issued the order for the swearing in of the House Speakers as Acting Governors is also from Ebiraland.While those concerned said it was a mere coincidence, the Igala disputed such as untrue.
The office of the Justice Minister noted that the decision was taken in national interest as there was never a time the judiciary booted out five governors at the same time and without a consequential order.Kogi, they argued was just one out of the five affected states. The Chief Judge also noted that he was only effecting a directive from the Chief Law Officer of the Federation in line with the provisions of the constitution. The House Speaker himself denied any insinuations, noting that the event was only a constitutional one.
While the political solution arranged by Vice President, Namadi Sambo was on, two incidents happened which further angered those who believe in the ethnic plot theory. The first was the reluctance of the House Speaker to accept a party position as requested by the vice-president.
The second were two statements purportedly issued by the then acting governor. The first statement came on Monday, a day after the political solution meeting in Abuja. The other was a letter from the State Assembly to the Attorney General asking him to clarify his earlier order.
Though the political solution is holding with Wada already the elected and sitting governor of the state, the wound is an open sore that may take time to heal. In any case, the battle has shifted to the court.
If there is anything the judgment has done, it is to wake up sleeping contenders and provide rooms and platforms for the aggrieved and the contented. The reverberation is going to be with the affected states for some time to come.
Show/hide comments
Show/hide comment form
Subscribe to Daily News