Humbled
at home
By Femi Adeoti
Sunday, April 4, 2004
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• Akande
Sun News Publishing |
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Certainly, the so-called political heavyweights will not
be in a rush to forget the March 27 council polls so easily.
Even if they put up brave pretense, the ghost of that elections
will not be deterred. It will continue to haunt them where
it hurts most.
Reason: March 27 was the day they were not only humbled, but
humiliated by their own and worst still, at their very bases.
Their stooges who stood in as candidates were equally made
to fumble and wobble.
It was so hopeless that some of these godfathers could not
even secure their wards. Those that were lucky to secure their
polling booths must be thanking their stars by now.
Agreed the elections were fraught with hues and cries of massive
electoral malpractices. Yet, it is ridiculous that these political
giants could not withstand the onslaught on their strongholds.
How could they be out-rigged at their own homes? Simply inexplicable!
On the national scene, they parade themselves as heavy weights
of sort, but at home, they are nothing but mere paper tigers.
Nothing else proved the worth of these prominent politicians
holding equally prominent political positions both in government
and in their various parties than the last local government
elections.
In what appears a field day for the best riggers, the election
results were trailed by various complaints. These range from
allegation of outright rigging to falsification of results.
The Conference of the Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) an
association of all the political parties except the ruling
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) pointed fingers at the PDP
as the chief culprit of electoral frauds during the local
government elections.
Prominent among those humbled at home in the council elections
last Saturday are the Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari, from Katsina State; former military
Vice-President, now Chairman of Board of Trustees, All Nigeria
Peoples Party (ANPP), Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, from Edo State
and the National Chairman, Peoples Salvation Party (PSP),
Alhaji Wada Nas, from Kaduna State.
Also on the list are the two factional leaders of the Alliance
for Democracy (AD), Chief Bisi Akande and Senator Mojisoluwa
Akinfenwa. Both from Osun State. Others are the National Chairman
of the ANPP, Chief Don Etiebet, from Akwa Ibom State; the
National Vice-Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
South-West, Commodore Olabode George, from Lagos State; the
PDP National Secretary, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, from Abia
State and the Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe,
from Lagos State also of the PDP.
Aminu Bello Masari
Alhaji Aminu Bello Masari is on his second term in the House
of Representatives. He defeated Faruk Lawan and Bugaje to
become the Speaker of the House last year. Masari, however,
this time around could not deliver the chairmanship seat of
his Malumfashi Constituency to his party the PDP. He lost
it to the son of the former president of Court of Appeal,
Alhaji Abdukadir Mamman Nasir of the ANPP.
Augustus Aikhomu
Chairman, ANPP Board of Trustees, and former military Vice-President,
Admiral Augustus Aikhomu lost his Esan Central seat to the
PDP. He refused to accept the loss when he protested: “There
is no doubt that my party won in my local government. That
I can say with all authority. But the commission has announced
what their masters in the PDP want them to announce. I leave
them to their consciences.”
Wada Nas
As the PSP national chairman, boastful Wada Nas was expected
to deliver his Funtua Local Government in Kaduna State. If
nothing else to show the hard stuff he is made of as a national
party chairman. But Nas failed as he was roundly defeated
by the PDP candidate. He could not bring his “heavy
weight” to bear, even on his local council.
Don Etiebet
The same fate befell Chief Don Etiebet, national chairman
of the ANPP. He could not deliver his Ikot Ekpene chairmanship
seat to his party. Like Aikhomu and expectedly, he blamed
the rigging tactics of the PDP for his failure.
Bisi Akande
Chief Bisi Akande is the immediate past governor of Osun State
and a factional leader of the AD. This notwithstanding, Akande
failed to win for his party, his Ila-Orangun constituency.
The election was won by the rival PDP, the party that defeated
him as governor in April 19, 2003 elections.
Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa
Just like his rival, Akande, the other factional leader of
the AD, Senator Mojisoluwa Akinfenwa also lost his Ayedaade
constituency in Osun State. The seat was won again by the
PDP who swept the local government polls in the state.
Bode George
Tried hard as he did, Commodore Olabode George, national vice
chairman, PDP South-West, failed to deliver his Lagos Island
constituency. Despite his self-acclaimed political clout,
he was made to taste a bitter defeat again as he did in last
year’s general elections. George has always wanted to
impress the Presidency on his relevance in Lagos politics.
Unfortunately, the more he tried, the worst defeat he suffered.
That has been his lot in his turbulent political career.
George would, however, cleverly attribute his poor performance
to the boycott of the election by his party. The party announced
the boycott less than 48 hours to the election. It blamed
Governor Bola Tinubu’s resolve to hold elections in
the newly created local governments.
Tinubu saw this as a lazy man’s excuse and an admission
by the PDP that it is afraid of contest against AD in the
state. Expectedly, the AD swept the polls in the state in
spite of stiff opposition from the likes of George.
Adeseye Ogunlewe
Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, Minister of Works shares a similar
fate with George. They are both from Lagos State and have
been very critical of Tinubu’s administration. Ogunlewe
who won a senate seat on the platform of AD before crossing
over to the PDP lost his Ikorodu constituency to the AD.
Vincent Ogbulafor
Prince Vincent Ogbulafor is the National Secretary of the
ruling PDP. However, this did not win for him his Umuahia
South constituency in Abia State. He lost it to Mr. Ndukwe
Adindu of the United Nigeria Peoples Party (UNPP).
Gbadebo Ayinde
Mr. Gbadebo Ayinde represents Ede-South Local Government Area
of Osun State in the House of Representatives. Although relatively
unknown on the nation’s political scene yet, his party
in his local government was visibly angry at him for the loss
it suffered at the polls. He could not, however, secure it
for his party, PDP, in the last council elections. The party
believed the loss was a reflection of the lukewarm attitude
of the legislator to the fortunes of the PDP. And for this
reason, his party in the area summoned him to explain the
loss. Ayinde dismissed the allegation as baseless and unfounded
as he never partook in anti-party moves.
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