Sam Nwaoko examines the issues in contention in the build-up to the forthcoming local government election in Ekiti State and sundry matters.

Contestants flying the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) addressed journalists recently and highlighted two major issues in the build-up to the local government election in Ekiti State.

The first issue the 16 chairmanship candidates addressed was the rumour that their party, and by extension, themselves, had opted out of the exercise. They denied the rumour and restated their participation in the election, saying their opponents were spinning the rumour to discourage their supporters.

The candidates enjoined their supporters in the 177 wards in the state to ignore the rumour, saying “in line with the ‘no boycott policy’ of the present leadership of our party at the national level, we want to participate.” They said “more importantly, non-participation of the party will demoralise its members.”

The second issue they raised when they jointly addressed newsmen in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, was an allegation bordering on security and the credibility of the election. The candidates cited the example of Lagos State, in which they expressed concern that there could be the “Lagos syndrome here in which the electoral commission there changed the results of the election in some of the local government areas.”

The 16 candidates also expressed security concern as the D-Day approaches, claiming that in some communities, there were plans to instigate breach of security to cause the postponement of the election in those areas to a later date. Some of the candidates emphasised that plans had been concluded to cause chaos in their strongholds on the day. “We live in the communities, we know ourselves and we hear all these things as they emanate,” the PDP candidates alleged.

They claimed that these had to be stated because “Ekiti is not Lagos where such things go,” adding that “the people of Ekiti are homogenous and we know ourselves and our true leaders.” They said they had brought these to the attention of the security agencies.

Also, the PDP, as a political party and a particpant in the election, is in court battling to stop the electoral commission, as currently constituted, from conducting the election. The party went to court last September with the allegation that most members, including the chairman of the seven-man commission, were card-carrying members of various political parties, especially the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). The matter is still pending in the court and the postponement of the election to February 4 has given the claimants a breather to ensure that their matter is heard and claims proven.

But the allegations, according to the Director of Media and Publicity of ACN in the state, Mr Tai Oguntayo, were not just unfounded, “but they could be likened to a drowning man who grabs at any straw as a means of survival.”

So far, the election seems to be hinged on the verdict of the court. Until that is determined, there can hardly be any concrete conclusion from observers.

In the meantime, while the electoral commission is going ahead with its preparations, the PDP in the state is preparing both for the election and to prove its allegation that members of the electoral commission are incompetent.

It was reported that the commission had visited all the local government areas in the state. It has also reportedly visited the police, other security outfits and relevant agencies. The commission said it had concluded the recruitment of the ad hoc staff for the election and would soon commence their training. So, it appears set to conduct the polls.

The political parties on their part seem set for the election. Although the two main political parties in the state, ACN and PDP, are viewing the elections varyingly, they are preparing for the election. The PDP, through its candidates for the election, said it was “convinced that we will win the larger percentage of the local government councils in Ekiti State.”

The PDP chieftains in their statement, signed by Ayo Babalola representing candidates from Ekiti Central; Chief Ayodele Arogbodo representing the chairmanship candidates from Ekiti North and Mr Ola Alonge for the candidates from Ekiti North hinged their conviction on what they said was “the adverse policies of the state government.” They claimed that most of the electorate in the state were “in support of our party as a result of the state government’s policies that are adverse to the people.”
The party stressed that “people of Ekiti State have come to realise that the present government in the state is not the messiah that will lead Ekiti to the Promised Land and are therefore resolute to vote for PDP in the coming local government election.”
Their fears, they contend, however, remains their unsubstantiated allegation that some chieftains of the ruling party in the state were boasting that there was no way they (the PDP) could win in the election “because we are in power and we can do whatever we want to do.” They maintain that “these are the bells that are ringing out there.”
But Oguntayo said his party was set for the poll, saying “despite the fact that we are the ruling party, we still go from town to town and the nooks and crannies of the 177 wards in the state to campaign and sensitise the people on the need to vote for ACN in the election.” He claimed that “PDP is only relying on a court order to stop the election,” saying the allegations of the plan to rig are incongruous.
Oguntayo advised PDP to go out to the public and “mend its battered image and resolve its internal crisis.” He maintained that the ACN was “more than prepared for the election and no amount of blackmail and unfounded allegation can stop the party from winning in all the 16 local government areas of the state, whenever the SIEC is ready to conduct the election.”
Reacting on the allegation that trouble was being planned in the stronghold of the PDP in the state, Oguntayo countered that “it is unreasonable for anybody to allege that ACN is planning to foment trouble in the stronghold of the PDP” and wondered if the PDP “can lay claim to any stronghold again in Ekiti State.”
While the ACN mouthpiece refused to comment on the court case against the electoral commission, he expressed surprise that the PDP which is challenging the composition of the commission in court is at the same time putting things in place to participate in the election. “Is it possible for someone to allege that a house is haphazardly built, yet, he wants to be a tenant in the same house?”
While ACN and PDP are trading allegations, EKSIEC is hot on its bid to conduct the local government election and the courts are waiting on the heels to determine the fate of the election.
The entire process even got a new face recently when a member of the commission, Alhaji Abduraheem Coker, reportedly resigned his membership for “personal reasons.” He happens to be one of those that PDP alleged were partisan and would not conduct a free and fair poll.
The drama keeps unfolding and by February 4, the people of the state will know where to go as regards the conduct of the election.