26012020 - How bad an example was set in Zamfara

PAGE 26—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JANUARY 26, 2020
Edo politicians: Remember
Lassa Fever
In a typical society,
particularly a democ
racy, there are two
sides to what is generally
known as the Social Contract
Theory. The two sides
are the government and the
people. Whereas it is the
duty of the people to perform
civic duties such as
voting at an election, payment
of taxes and engaging
in community development
schemes; government on its
part is to protect the people
from every harm such as
diseases and crimes. Government
is also expected to
organize policies that
would improve the living
standards of the people.
Where these roles are pragmatically
played, society
develops rapidly but in
many societies that are described
as developing or underdeveloped,
government
is usually unable to be people-oriented.
Instead, persons
who find themselves in
public office are often selfconcerned
and as such appropriate
societal wealth to
only themselves. In most
cases, the said people in
government more known as
the political class are always
at war with themselves
in the fight for material
wealth. For long, that has
been the fate of Nigeria.
In Edo State, the advent
of an egalitarian Governor,
Godwin Obaseki gave
many, some hope that our
commonwealth may no
longer be spuriously
shared. Many policies were
generated to create a new
culture of governance and
Obaseki soon got nicknamed
‘wake and see’ governor.
This did not go down
well with those who had always
fed fat on the state at
the expense of the people.
Contrary to the pretensions
of Obaseki’s opponents, our
people know that the current
political tension in the
state is essentially caused by
the plan to compel the governor
to either return to statusquo
or get removed.
Painfully, in all that has happened
so far, the main victim
is the people. Our political
class does not seem to
remember the Social Contract
Theory and the expedience
of protecting our
people from harm, disease
and crime; rather the state
agenda has been dominated
by politics. Interestingly,
the crisis is within the
ruling party which confirms
that the fight is about personal
gains.
Only last week, some
members of the APC in Fugar,
Etsako Central Local
government area were at
war, leaving at least 7 people
hospitalized. Media reports
reveal that the crisis
was between two groups -
one in favour and the other
opposed to the governor’s
reelection. In what seems a
direct response to the situation,
Philip Shaibu, the
Deputy Governor had to
publicly reassure the people
of the state that “despite
gimmicks of detractors, the
multi-sectoral progress
and development witnessed
across the 18 Local
Government Areas of the
state will not be put on reverse.”
Shaibu, who spoke
with journalists in Benin
City, the Edo State capital,
was quoted to have said
that the state government
will continue to stand for
the collective interest of her
people adding that the administration
will not relent
in building infrastructure
and enacting policies that
would facilitate the emergence
of a productive and
vibrant economy in the
If the dangers of
distracting
government are not
too clear to many
politicians, those
from Edo North
should be different at
this point in time,
bearing in mind that
Lassa Fever which
occurs more in their
area is back again
state. If the dangers of distracting
government are
not too clear to many politicians,
those from Edo
North should be different at
this point in time, bearing
in mind that Lassa Fever
which occurs more in their
area is back again.
Some two months ago, the
epidemic reportedly
claimed two lives in Abia
and Edo states as the country
approached the peak
season for outbreaks of the
deadly disease.
According to the World
Health Organisation
(WHO), Lassa fever is
known to be endemic in
Nigeria usually between
December and June. Latest
figures from the Nigeria
Centre for Disease Control
(NCDC), confirmed 10 new
cases of the disease in five
states which included Edo,
where one person had died.
Indeed, the disease is now
spreading. So far it has allegedly
killed two doctors,
with 18 other patients in
parts of the country feared
dead. The doctors, a consultant
Anesthesia and
House Officer reportedly
died a few days after operating
a pregnant woman,
at the Aminu Kano Teaching
Hospital (AKTH) in
Kano, who was suspected
to be a primary carrier of
the disease. Although the
situation has been slightly
under control in Edo this
year, it is simplistic to think
all will be well considering
that last year, 327 cases of
Lassa fever were reported
across 20 states and the
Federal Capital Territory,
with the largest number of
cases (108) attributed to
Edo. At the beginning of
2018, the fever killed no
less than eleven persons in
the state.
From what we have said
so far, political leaders in
Edo State ought to be more
concerned at this point
about the health of the people
instead of fighting to
materially shortchange the
same people. One way of
doing this is for all arms of
government to collaborate
rather than some distracting
others. This is where the
unfortunate crisis in the
Edo State House of Assembly
points to atomistic politics.
With only 10 legislators
instead of 24 on duty,
the possibility that ample
oversight would put the relevant
societal institutions
on their feet would be hard
to achieve. What if we may
ask, would be the fate of an
infected local area whose
representative is at large?
Here, the point must be
made that our elected legislators
who may have had
what they consider a good
case against their adversaries
have probably inadvertently
betrayed their constituents.
Midnight inauguration
and Speakership tussle
etc. may in due course
not justify what is obvious-
ly an abdication. How I
wish they could still return.
We must however commend
two of our leaders
among others. One of them,
Frank Okiye, the Speaker
of the State House of Assembly
will go down in history
as a great politician
and statesman. A less endowed
personality would
have found it hard to coordinate
an over-worked legislature.
But Okiye has admirably
held on, accomplishing
all that a full team
would have done. He has in
earnest given to the state a
consistent law-making
body which in the past was
essentially rancorous. We
must also laud Governor
Godwin Obaseki for keeping
the flag flying in spite
of incessant distractions.
He has organized a vibrant
sensitization programme
on preventing Lassa fever
through his formidable information
outfit and the
use of local council chairmen-
an effort which we
hear is directly led by the
Deputy Governor.
We are also aware that the
government made generous
provisions for the subject.
Only 4 days ago, she
donated 200 Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE) to
the Irrua Specialist Teaching
Hospital, as part of efforts
to curb the spread of
the viral disease in the state.
The state Commissioner
for Health, Dr. Patrick
Okundia, who personally
presented the items explained
that the donation
was to arrest the spread of
Lassa fever for the benefit
of Edo people, and to protect
caregivers from being
affected. As this is the time
for governance and not political
schemings, we can
only applaud officials who
are committed to the welfare
of our people.
PhD,Department of
Philosophy,
University of Lagos
08116759758
Imo: Where are the
philosopher-kings?(2)
Moreover, Rochas
Okorocha (now a
senator…can you
imagine that?) literally turned
Imo into his family estate or
familiocracy. As if he took a
cue from the example of President
Muhammadu Buhari,
he appointed members of his
family, in-laws, and cronies to
high positions in the state. For
example, Uche Nwosu, Okorocha’s
son-in-law by virtue of
being married to his first
daughter, Ulomma, was his
Chief of Staff and Commissioner
for Lands and Housing
at different times, whereas
Mrs. Ololo mentioned earlier
served as Deputy Chief of
Staff and Special Adviser on
Domestic Affairs to the governor.
The person Okorocha
nominated for the Federal
Executive Council (FEC) to
represent Imo State, Prof. Anthony
Anwukah, is the father
of Uzo, who is married to his
second daughter, Uju. In July
2017, Okorocha appointed
Christiana, Prof. Anwukah’s
spouse, as the President, Imo
State Customary Court of
Appeal. That is not all. According
to media reports, Geraldine,
one of Okorocha’s sisters
allegedly supplied food to
Imo Government House from
her fast food joint, while his
elder sister allegedly through
a proxy, collected market tolls
in the state. Instead of investing
scarce resources wisely to
improve Imo State University,
Okorocha spent billions on
a white elephant project, a
new university called Eastern
Palm University at his hometown,
Ogboko. For civil servants,
his eight years in office
were an existential nightmare.
Government workers were
regularly owed salaries for
over eight months at a stretch:
at some point, he unilaterally
reduced their salaries and
asked them to start farming
without adequately incentivising
his shambolic go-backto-the-farm
initiative or programme.
Overall, notwithstanding
the inane propaganda
of the former governor and
his acolytes, the eight yearsfrom
2011 to May 28, 2019,
can be aptly described as a
Dark Age in the history of Imo.
Therefore, it was not a surprise
that the electorate in Imo
rejected Okorocha’s anointed
replacement, his son-in-law
Uche Nwosu, in last year’s
governorship election. Emeka
Ihedioha of the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) was
declared winner by the Independent
National Electoral
Commission (INEC). According
to INEC, Ihedioha scored
the highest numbers of votes
– 273,404 – amongst all the
contestants and met the constitutional
requirements to be
elected governor. Uche Nwosu
of Action Alliance (AA)
came second with 190, 304
votes, whereas Ifeanyi Araraume
of All Progressives
Grand Alliance (APGA) and
Hope Uzodinma, candidate
of the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC), were third
and fourth respectively with
114,676 and 96,458 votes.
Just as Ihedioha was gradually
settling down to confront
the arduous challenge of rebuilding
the state devastated
by Okorocha, the Supreme
Court, in a unanimous judgment
penultimate week, toppled
the apple cart by accepting
the appeal filed by Uzodinma
against the judgement
of the Appeal Court which reaffirmed
Ihedioha’s victory. It
must be noted in passing that
since Ibrahim Tanko became
the Chief Justice of Nigeria,
the Supreme Court is gradually
acquiring notoriety for delivering
“unanimous” judgements
even in highly controversial
matters for which exactitude
leading to unanimity
of conclusion is virtually
impossible. In the Ihedioha
versus Uzodinma case, it is as
if none of the justices found
any iota of merit in the fourto-one
majority decision of the
Appeal Court in November
19, 2019, which upheld the
judgement of the governorship
election tribunal that had
earlier dismissed the petition
of Uzodinma. In the light of
serious anomalies identified
by Ihedioha’s lawyers in the
documents presented by prosecution
witnesses when the
matter was adjudicated before
it got to the Supreme
Court, could all members of
the election tribunal and the
appellate court judges who
ruled in favour of Ihedioha
have been so mistaken to the
extent that there was no dissenting
voice at the apex
court?
Kudirat Kekere-Ekun of the
Supreme Court who delivered
the verdict on behalf of her
colleagues did not give an exhaustive
justification for the
startling unanimous judgment,
especially for accepting
the uncertified, INEC-rejected
result sheets from 388 polling
units. She claimed that
Whereas President
Buhari and APC
stalwarts praised the
judgment, the PDP and
a broad section of Imo
people dismissed it as a
hideous and
reprehensible travesty
of justice
those very results were unlawfully
excluded from the overall
collated results. Further,
she stated that results from the
cancelled polling units
amounted to 213,295 votes,
which meant that Ihedioha
was deemed elected based on
a wrong computation of results.
By implication, the
INEC-discredited results tendered
by Uzodinma are valid
and should have been accepted
by the electoral body. If that
was done, Uzodinma, not
Ihedioha, would have been
returned as the duly elected
governor. Expectedly, the judgment
has elicited mixed reactions.
Whereas President Buhari
and APC stalwarts
praised the judgment, the PDP
and a broad section of Imo
people dismissed it as a hideous
and reprehensible travesty
of justice. Being an indigene
of the state, I cannot stand
aloof without contributing to
the debate because the future
of my state is at stake. But some
intellectually lazy people have
argued that only lawyers can
have a valid opinion on the
matter, which is totally unacceptable.
What is at stake is
not just about hair-splitting
technicalities of law. There are
core moral issues that rear up
in every controversial judgment,
especially one that
seems, ab initio, to contravene
the principles of natural justice,
equity, and good conscience.
Moreover, as a logician
I know that any law or
judgment that contradicts
well-established principles of
valid reasoning or engenders
inconsistent results in practice
or leads to manifest absurdity
cannot withstand the searchlight
of rationality no matter
its grounding in pure legalism.
It follows that when lawyers
disagree about a particular
judgment, as in this instance,
that is an opportunity to critically
examine extra-legal considerations
that might have
influenced those who made
the judgment.
Now, the legal team of Emeka
Ihedioha has been criticised
for not filing a cross petition
at the apex court challenging
the discredited results
from the three hundred and
eighty-eighty polling units,
which are the linchpins of
Uzodinma’s petition. However,
there is a trending post in
the social media from the legal
team of Ihedioha by Rotimi
Peters Esq., which requires
attentive reading. According
to available information, the
issue of authenticity of the results
paraded by Uzodinma’s
witnesses was exhaustively
dealt with at both the election
tribunal and at the Appeal
Court against the petitioner
because his lawyers failed to
meet the stringent conditions
stipulated by relevant provisions
in extant Electoral Act
and decided cases from the
Supreme Court to give probative
value to the results tendered
which tilted the outcome
in favour of the APC
candidate. Indeed, it appears
that the Supreme Court did
not give adequate weight to
decisions of the election tribunal
and the appellate court
as to whether the contentious
results contained in bags and
sacks presented by Uzodinma’s
witnesses actually reflected
valid votes cast during
the election. This suspicion is
corroborated by the fact that
under cross examination during
one of the trials, polling
agents in twenty-eight out of
the over three hundred contentious
polling units and
prosecution witness admitted
that the result sheets they identified
either were not legible
or did not contain the scores
of all political parties that
contested the election. They
also agreed that those purported
result sheets had no
entry to show the number of
ballot papers issued to the corresponding
polling units, and
the number of ballot papers
used and unused in those units.
Moreover, the names and signatures
of the presiding officers
were omitted in many of
the documents, while some
had dates that were before or
after the election day proper.
To worsen matters, one of the
prosecution witnesses confirmed
that there was evidence
of over-voting in some of the
results he brought forward
during cross-examination.
Clearly, if the information presented
above is correct, the insinuation
that Tanko and his
cohorts were merely rubberstamping
a script already
crafted by the so-called cabal
in Aso Rock to increase APC’s
foothold in Igbo heartland
using a very vulnerable governor
may not be as farfetched
as it might appear at first sight.
It is quite understandable
that, in their negative triumphalism,
Hope Uzodinma
and his supporters would
praise the judgment while
Emeka Ihedioha and his
group are now in the slough of
despond. But from my interactions
with several Imo people,
there is a general feeling
of despondency and disenchantment
across the state
because of the abrupt truncation
of the small restorative
steps Ihedioha had taken already
since he became governor
and the unflattering reputation
of Uzodinma.
To be continued