NASS election: The fall of the Goliaths!

DIMEJI BANKOLE

In one famous historical fiction, A Tale of Two Cities, written in 1859 by Charles Dickens, the French Revolution occurs and the French peasants brought down their aristocrat leaders. In the account, the shouts of joy filled the streets as the leaders were decapitated at the guillotine. One by one, as they watched the tyrants and oppressors’ reign being brought to an end, the people’s joy was palpable.

The closest thing Nigeria experienced to the joy of the French peasants came on Saturday/Sunday at the start of the 2011 general elections, which saw the reign of some bigwigs being toppled.

In Ogun State, godfathers and ‘principalities’ have been unseated in a manner that is as shocking as it is as surprising. The former president and godfather of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s numerous battles for his daughter, Iyabo, finally reached a near unbelievable climax when, even in his own ward and through the district, father and daughter lost the election to the rival Action Congress of Nigeria. If that of Obasanjo is a shock, then consider the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, who didn’t only lose his ward but lost his constituency also. In Oyo State, Oyo Central Senatorial District has been the place to watch out for because of the tussle that preceded the selection of the candidate.

The PDP candidate, Jumoke Akinjide, a scion of the old lawyer and PDP chief, got the shock of her life when she was handed a loss. With her father’s name and the party’s might and resources, it was not expected that she could lose. Another one who fell was Kamoru Adedibu, the son of the late godfather, Lamidi Adedibu.

When the godfather was alive, he was said to have told the incumbent governor that his son would take over from him as governor in 2011. Others like the Senate President David Mark and the governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki, had a tough battle before narrowly managing to scale through with a humble win. For the Vice-President, Namadi Sambo, it was more than merely losing elections. In his own ward, he was so badly humbled there that he was said to have left for Abuja in a hurry.

For the South West, it was a return to the old order. Strikingly, it is the return to the times when the Unity party of Nigeria and Action Group reigned in the south-western part of Nigeria. Right now, except for Ondo State, where the Labour Party is winning and strong incumbents like Senator Bode Olajumoke have been toppled, the ACN is clearing the South-West with its party winning in Lagos, Osun, Ogun and significantly polarising Oyo State. As the results tumble in, it is obvious the party is making inroads in places like Benue State. The party also managed to make an incursion into the South-East and in places where it was not given a chance earlier.

Another party that has lived up to its pre-election billing is the Congress for Progressive Change. Without a single ward councillor to its credit before, it is toppling the incumbent PDP in its strongholds, even within the seat of power: the Aso Rock itself. In many states in the North, as the results are trickling in, the CPC is bulldozing its way through after getting a sending down cold jitters down the spine of people who did not expect that there would be a ballot revolution. In many places in the North, the party keeps clearing the way. In Katsina, the home of the presidential candidate, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, the party won the three senatorial districts.

However, it has not been a total tale of woe for the PDP. The party managed to retain its hold on places like Enugu, Ebonyi and even Plateau. It has clinched a seat each in Gombe and Adamawa. The results are still coming in and so far, the PDP is grappling for life and when the entire results are collated, it might no longer have the majority in the country. It is obvious that the party has really suffered an earthquake of cataclysmic effects with the results that have come in so far. Unlike in the past where the PDP boasted that it was invincible and would always dominate Nigeria, it has received a beating that has humbled the key party people in a way they didn’t think or even assume would be possible.

From what has been seen so far, the way the PDP is falling in every corner like a house built with dew, this election raises the issue of the past popularity of the party, whether it has actually ever won elections fairly in the past or it has always depended on its famous rigging machine to win elections. With this election, the INEC boss, Prof. Attahairu Jega, has made it clear that rigging will be very difficult for anybody to achieve. In a broadcast after the election, he said there were instances where ballot boxes were still snatched and cases of violence were recorded. He said those who engaged in rigging in such a manner were still living in the past because there was no way they could influence the outcome of the election through the measures INEC had put in place.

In all this, one thing is clear from the jubilation across the places: the people’s will may be overriding selfish interests. In Nigeria, the only election that has always been held up as free and fair is the one that took place in 1993 which was, unfortunately, annulled by the ruling military junta. And if things continue the way they start, with the people’s will allowed to prevail in place of vested interests, Nigeria’s political history, especially as it concerns elections, might be on the way to being bettered. That means the ambulance chasing lawyers who are ready to take up election briefs and go to court on behalf of aggrieved clients might have less work to do this time. It means that the process might become cleaner and more efficient. It means that Nigeria might even be on its way to achieving some respect from other countries. That is, if it gets it right all the way.