The tornado of change appears to be sweeping through the South-West geo-political zone of the country. With the latest Appeal Court verdict declaring Engineer Rauf Aregbesola of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as the authentic winner of the Osun State gubernatorial election held in April 2007, that wind of change has become evident to everybody in the political terrain.

Thus, Olagunsoye Oyinlola of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who had occupied the Osun State governorship seat (illegally, going by the court verdict) for almost the whole four-year tenure (apart fom his first four-year term), had to quit for Aregbesola, the authentic owner of the seat to begin his tenure afresh.

The wind of change had earlier swept through Edo State; Ondo State; Rivers State; Ekiti State; Anambra State and appears to be knocking also at the doorstep of Delta State. Those who had occupied the governorship seat in these states were judicially declared illegal occupants. Consequently, they were ordered to vacate the seats for the authentic owners to claim their mandate.

Some sympathisers of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party have started accusing President Goodluck Jonathan of being a weakling politically. The view of such people is often premised on the innocuous argument that such losses by the ruling party, especially in the critical South-West zone, were not possible during the tenure of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as president.

During his tenure, despite glaring electoral frauds nationwide, the ruling party never suffered any major setback as being witnessed in the political terrain today. They all held on tenaciously to their political loot throughout the mandatory four year tenure. In other words, if Obasanjo is still in control of the reins of power, would it have been possible for Dr Olusegun Mimiko; Dr Kayode Fayemi and now Engineer Aregbesola of Ondo; Ekiti and Osun states respectively to reclaim their mandates from the ostensible usurpers?

Implicitly, with the same judicial system and almost the same personnel still in place, it is believed that the major critical factor bringing about the change must be traceable to the disposition of the man in the saddle at Aso Rock, the nation’s seat of power, or the extent of power wielding by him. The first logical and pertinent question then is: “what accounts for the change in the actions and/or inactions of the judicial officers now as against under Obasanjo?” If another Obasanjo assumes power at the centre tomorrow, would the same judicial personnel still behave the same way they are behaving now for justice to prevail?
Again, the court verdicts provided the proofs that there was a lot of electoral frauds during the 2007 elections in the country. It was a repeat of past exercises that were characterised by election malpractices. It is a truism that the First Republic died on the platform of electoral fraud. A politician then was quoted as saying that “whether you vote for us or not, we shall remain in power.”

They actually remained in power through election rigging and all forms of malpractices. But the consequence was a political conflagration that consumed the First Republic. That was apart from the bad governance that often characterised any government formed by election riggers. A replay of the ugly political scenario was witnessed in the Second Republic. No wonder, the same fate befell it.

Election malpractices have always been identified as the major impediment to good governance in the country and, consequently, socio-economic development. Yet, no one has ever been punished for committing electoral fraud in the country. Rather, they have always been well compensated with juicy political appointments and contracts.

The critical question now is: if we are not to experience the fate of both the First and Second Republics, what efforts are being made to identify those responsible for the electoral frauds? After identification, what happens to them and the gains of their illegality? These are crucial and critical questions that must be addressed before thinking of the possibility of free, fair and credible election in the country.  Unfortunately, the reality in Nigeria today is  who will throw the first stone?

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LIVING WITH THE ROT CALLED NIGERIA LEADERS
written by goke elujoba, December 17, 2010

you dont need a rocket scientist to know what is wrong with the Nigerian nation and what need to be done to fix it. While we all identify these several problems since 1960, what we all lack is the implementation of the solution.Simple: HORRIFIC DETERRENT TO PERPETRATORS,PROTEGES AND PROCEEDS. We dont need efcc,icpc,police and the army for they are all part and parcel of what we need to clean.Ordinary Nigerians should start getting their own guns.we should have a jungle justice which will lead to civil justice after some time. This may sound shocking and perhaps unfathomable solution from what you call intellectual thinking,but i assure you that the Nigerian national management is not really different from a jungle justice management system.Just close your eyes for a minute and you can picture it.If the set of people parading themselves as leaders today are not ashame of the fact that many ordinary citizens on the way to their palacial homes are poor beyond believe and ability to feed in a country of plenty. Best solution they should contact the blacksmith among them to start with the production of local guns for each of them. YOu must remember the problem of Nigeria starts from the guns.The solution can quickly come from it. Dialogue and discussion to sole it and Nigeria will remain in the same place in the next 50 years.

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