By Andy Ezeani
The exit of the military from political administration of Nigeria in 1999 and the attendant restoration of democratic order was expected to engender the ethos of civil contention of ideas and liberal disposition in the political space. These, after all, are the hallmark of democracy, the antithesis of the command structure of the military that had gone.
Interestingly,
the threat is coming from individuals who have benefitted abundantly from the
bounties of democracy. State governors! Interestingly too, none of them has any
known record of ever being part of the military.
Unless effective resistance is launched against the brazenness and
despotic tendencies in a number of state governors, they may yet topple the
very foundation of the very democracy that made them. Not even the military
showed such intolerance to opposition as some of these democratically elected
tyrants are presently manifesting.
For quite a number of the state governors, there is no distinction between their personal life and the state. The state purse is their purse. Their political choice must be that of the whole state. Every state property is theirs. The title deed of any such property can therefore, be swapped any time. Even the refrigerators and air conditioners at the State house are theirs as well, and can be carted away at will. State governors in Nigeria, have, progressively become the state, very much like Louis XIV.
This
aberrant situation has not just started. However, it is getting increasingly
out of control.
President
Muhammadu Buhari’s late noon caustic attack on the governors last week, for
swallowing the local governments and impoverishing the populace through
appropriating local government allocations, is very interesting. While what
roused him from slumber may not yet be known, it baffles that the President has
only woken up at the twilight of his tenure, to realize a problem that has been
with him all through his tenure. Of course, the problem predated his election.
But then, it is not only local government resources and autonomy
that the governors have swallowed. They have since swallowed the political
parties as well. They actually try at various instances, to swallow the
presidency too. Of course, they are the states themselves.
The lot of the political parties in the hands of the governors is
instructive here. In October 2021 for instance, the Peoples democratic Party
(PDP) succeeded after scorching internal manoeuvres to hold its
national convention at which it elected a new national executive.
The
party had been buffeted by crisis since it lost power at the centre in 2015, so
the eventual successful holding of that convention was celebrated by the party.
Of course, the governors made it happen. Their ways were not always democratic,
but who cares?
In an unpublished article I wrote at the end of that convention,
which article I must say, is remarkably prescient, I had written;
“The
PDP national convention that held in the last two days of October (2021)
offered the party faithful something to cheer. It was difficult to miss the
smiles, the high spirit and the relief at the end of the two-day event. It
definitely went well. A people who have lived for long in the shadows of doubt
and recrimination among themselves had, for once emerged from such a gathering
without overflowing rancour.
For all the high spirit and cheers, however, it was not very
difficult to note a certain sense of foreboding among the fold. The success of
the party convention had a lot to do with the governors of the party taking
firm control of matters and smoothening certain rough edges…
But that which counted for the governors and the party may yet be
the root of problems down the line. Already, some party members have voiced out
their apprehension: the governors cannot be the determinants of all party
issues.
This is a seed that may yet germinate into a
big problem. Can the governors agree to merely sort out the problems of the
party and thereafter step back and become loyal partymen, with the elected
party officers calling the shot? Is it possible that the governors will allow
some other strong forces outside their cartel to come in to call the shots?
That
seems very unlikely. Indeed, it is not in the habit of Nigerian politicians to
do so. There are interesting possibilities. The notion, for instance, that the
new party chairman, Iyorchia Ayu who the governors anointed and delivered, will
end up as Atiku’s main man is one among the interesting prospects that may yet
unfold. Time will tell.” That was written in October 2021. The rest is not yet
history.
It is not different in APC, or for that matter, in any other party
with governor(s).
With
the 2023 elections around the corner, many state governors are putting their
anti-democratic credentials on show at a higher level, along the line posing
serious threat to the foundation of democracy. This needs to be nipped in the
bud before thy ruin an entire system.
As it is playing out at the moment, many state governors,
especially the ones that are completing their two terms, do not want any
contest in their states. They simply want their hand-picked candidates in their
parties to be coronated on election day and assume office as governors and
congressmen. How are the governors going after this ignoble, undemocratic plot?
They presently make it almost impossible for other political parties and
contestants to find space to stand for campaign.
The
governors ban governorship candidates from other parties from using public
halls, public spaces, school premises, stadia etc for their campaigns. In two
of the states, the state government sternly warned hotels and event centres
never to allow any other party to hire and use their facilities for campaign.
The sanction for violation by a hotel or event centre include pulling down of
such structure, no matter how magnificent. And the governors will do it.
The governors have proceeded also to impose unreasonable price on
campaign bill boards and public advertisements. In many instances, using state
signage agencies, they totally reject payment for advert spaces in prime
locations. One of the governors went as far as prohibiting town unions and
villages from allowing opposition parties and candidates to use town halls and
village square for campaign.
Simply put, governors elected democratically by the people are out
to stifle political contest. They only want their handpicked candidates to be
seen and heard.
They
are so unsure of themselves, in spite of everything, so they fear opposition.
Colluding in many instances with the police, the governors impose restriction
for public gathering without permit, a permit that is never given when needed.
But the tyrants involved in this anti-democracy chicanery are
deluding themselves. They must leave office in the next five months,
thereafter, that which thy feared most will still confront them.
*Ezeani is a commentator on public issues (andrikez@yahoo.co.uk)
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