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By Ehichioya Ezomon
“You can’t beat a child and ask them not to cry.” But that’s exactly what many Nigerians, particularly members of the victorious All Progressives Congress (APC) in the July 14 Ekiti governorship election, have urged the defeated supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to do: take the loss in good faith.
Perhaps, those on the winning side do not realize the extent of the wound the defeat has inflicted on the psyche of the PDP members, who had written off the APC as destined for annihilation at the poll that they labeled as a “referendum” on the APC administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, and a predictor of the 2019 general elections.
They had foretold, as seers would, that the APC candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, a former governor of the state, would meet his “final” political waterloo. Recall that the incumbent, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, also a former governor, defeated Fayemi in 2014 in the 16 local governments. Basking in his “Winning Formula” of 16-0, 16 of 16 or 100% of 100 (meaning PDP concedes no seat to APC or any other party), Fayose had led the party to maintain that streak in subsequent elections until the upper Saturday.
Thus, you could imagine the earthquake that occurred in the PDP camp when the APC didn’t only win 12 of the 16 local governments, and got the mandatory one-quarter requirement in the entire state, but also defeated Governor Fayose in his Irepodun/Ifelodun local council.
No wonder the irrepressible “Peter The Rock” was tongue-tied for good 48 hours before he took to Tweeter last Monday, to attack his usual target: “The President should bury his head in shame for using the police, army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and INEC to snatch the mandate given to Olusola (PDP candidate) and deliver it to Fayemi ‘whom Ekiti people rejected,'” he wrote, adding, “On this Ekiti election, President Buhari demonstrated truly that he is not a democrat, but a dictator and fascist per excellence.”
Fayose’s vitriolic simply complemented the PDP national spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan’s description of the poll as “a daylight robbery, a brazen subversion of the will of the people and a direct assault on our democracy.”
Not to be outdone, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, who was in the shadow of Governor Fayose throughout the campaigns, did not mince words, declaring: “This is the most audacious electoral robbery of our recent history. It shall not stand. By the grace of Almighty God and your (Ekiti people’s) support, I will pursue and regain my mandate.”
As you read this piece, members of the PDP-led Ekiti House of Assembly have gone on a three-month “holiday” to protest the election results and alleged harassment of Governor Fayose and their members by security agencies.
Meantime, as goodwill messages poured in for the APC and Governor-elect Fayemi, two differing memos, one congratulatory and the other consolatory, came from former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, respectively.
Obasanjo, an anti-APC/President Buhari crusader, nonetheless, penned a personally-signed missive, which reads in part: “You (Fayemi) will agree with me, no doubt, that the outcome of the election broadly reflects the choice of your people, who have, by their conduct, visibly demonstrated that they cherish you and will do their utmost to make you succeed… You have fought and won the election and deserve to savour the victory.”
Observers were quick to infer that the “beautiful letter” by Obasanjo, a reputed repudiator of official failures, and purveyor of warnings and predictions, was a dig at Governor Fayose, who has trolled him for over a decade. So, for defeating Fayose, Fayemi has suddenly become Obasanjo’s “friend,” going by the dictum, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Conversely, Atiku, a presidential aspirant of the PDP, ostensibly joined his party in chorusing alleged official manipulation against “an excellent candidate (Olusola) in the governorship election,” even as he advised party members that all hope was not lost.
“As narrow as Fayemi’s victory might have been, irregularities notwithstanding,” the PDP supporters in Ekiti should “remain peaceful, orderly and cooperate with the party at the state and national levels, as they determine the next steps,” he pleaded in a statement.
The watching public had expected Atiku to urge the PDP to accept the outcome of the poll, the same way he had asked the APC to prepare to accept defeat in the contest.
Mid June, on a visit with members of the PDP Governorship Campaign Council to Ado-Ekiti, Atiku told the APC: “We are satisfied that the PDP is prepared for this election. We hope that the APC will accept the outcome of the election. They should be democratic for the first time. We have seen how democratic they are, but for the first time in 2015, we had an opposition party taking over from the ruling party; we expect them to do the same.”
Well, Atiku was only reinforcing the aphorism, “One good turn deserves another.” Still, he was right as regards the 2015 presidential election, which the incumbent, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, lost to the opposition candidate, General Buhari, who Jonathan conceded to and congratulated.
As Dr. Fayemi and the APC have triumphed at the Ekiti poll, why won’t Atiku ask the PDP to accept the result, and for Governor Fayose (and Prof. Olusola) to congratulate the Governor-elect, as he (Fayemi) did to Fayose in 2014?
Indeed, in his post-election speech, Fayemi reminded Fayose about that gesture, and hoped it would be extended to him. From all indications, that may be a forlorn hope, as the PDP members head to the courts, to seek to overturn the declaration by the INEC last Monday, July 15.
* Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.