By Eric Elezuo
It is no longer news, going by the way events are unfolding, that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration is doing everything within its power to turn the country into a one-party state. Much as the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is silent on the nation’s party system, it is a known fact that the country strives, and has been striving on multi-party convention.
However, events in the last couple of days, or dating to the advent if the Tinubu, has revealed a trend that showed there is a tendency being hatched by the present to convert the country to a one-party state, loyal to the party at the centre, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
It is important to note that this unholy trend is not a function of the ballot papers or boxes or electoral propriety, but inordinate manipulations, using the instrumentality of the courts, judiciary, coercion and outright intimidation.
It is a fact that since independence, Nigeria has maintained a multiparty system except in 1992 when the President Ibrahim Babangida Military Government, through a conference, allowed a two-party system, leading to the 1993 inconclusive elections, touted to have been won by Chief MKO Abiola. The two parties were the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Party (NRC). But with the return of democracy in 1999, the country has maintained a multiparty system, albeit conventionally.
But over the years, much as multiple parties are registered, only two are always the frontline parties, with clear exceptions of 1979 and 2023 when the regional inclination reared its head again as it was in the 1963 and 1966 elections.
In the 1960s, there were the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) and the Action Group (AG) among others.
In 1979, there were the National Party zof Nigeria (NPN), the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the Great Nigeria Peoples Party (GNPP) and the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP).
And then in 2023, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Labour Party (LP) slugged it out.
However, in the six months that President Tinubu ascended the throne, the pokitical positions are making dramatic switches to the APC via court rulings, giving a cross sections of Nigerian the effontery to believe there is a hidden agenda to welcome a new Nigeria where political positions both elected and appointed are ‘allocated’ to Tinubu’s APC.
A few instances have emerged to raise eyebrows as regards the direction and shape Nigeria political landscape is taking. Among the instances are the following:
SACK OF ALL ELECTED PDP PLATEAU LAWMAKERS
Earlier in September, the Speaker of Plateau State House of Assembly, Moses Sule was sacked by the state election petitions tribunal.
The election petition tribunal sitting in Jos, sacked the lawmaker, who was elected on the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) platform in the last election.
He was sacked alongside Danjuma Azi, a member representing Jos North West constituency in the assembly. The tribunal declared the former majority leader of the house, Hon. Naanlong Daniel and Hon. Mark Na’ah, all of the APC as winners of the March 18 elections.
In November, no fewer than four National Assembly members elected on the platform of the PDP including the Senate Minority Leader, Simon Mwadkwon, were sacked by the Appeal Court on the grounds that the PDP had no valid structure in the state. They were replaced with failed APC candidates including the former governor, Simon Lalong, who is now the Minister of Labour and Productivity, sparking unrest in the state.
SACK OF ZAMFARA GOVERNOR
On Thursday, the Court of Appeal sitting Abuja sacked Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara and declared the March 18 governorship election in the state as inconclusive.
Zamfara is currently governed by Mr Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party who defeated the then-incumbent governor, Bello Matawalle, of the APC. Matawalle is now the Minister of State for Defence in the Tinubu administration.
The election tribunal in Zamfara had earlier ruled in favour of Mr Lawal but its ruling has now been overturned by the appeal court.
Mr Lawal is however, expected to remain in office until the matter is finally decided by the Supreme Court.
SACK OF KANO STATE GOVERNOR
On Friday, the Court of Appeal in Abuja upheld the ruling of the Election Petitions Tribunal sacking Governor Abba Yusuf of Kano State.
In its judgment, the Appeal Court agreed with the judgment of the tribunal, ruling that the fielding of Abba Yusuf was in breach of the Electoral Law as he was not qualified to contest that Election
The verdict comes nearly two months after the Kano Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, on September 20, sacked Yusuf, declaring the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Nasiru Gawuna, as the winner of the March 18 election.
Yusuf, who contested on the platform of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after the poll in March.
The tribunal deducted 165,663 votes from Yusuf’s total as invalid votes, stating that the affected ballot papers were not stamped or signed and therefore declared invalid.
The ruling came about six months after the APC candidate conceded defeat to Yusuf in the wake of INEC’s presentation of the certificate of return to the NNPP candidate.
Observers and stakeholders see the judgment as a means of restoring Kano as an APC stronghold as well as returning its Chairman, and former governor, Abdullahi Ganduje as a force to reckon with in Kano politics in preparation for the 2027 election onslaught.
KOGI AND IMO GUBER ELECTIONS
The candidates of the APC, Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, and Usman Ododo of Kogi State, were both declared winners of the November 11, 2023 governorship elections in the states, by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) amid widely reported irregularities.
DailyPost reported that “lapses were recorded in the elections. There were controversies surrounding the data provided on the IReV. Allegations of pre-written results were rife. Worse still, INEC affirmed the controversial results despite alleged evidence of overvoting, disruption of the voting process and clear instances of security agencies aiding the snatching of ballot boxes.”
These were better showcased in Kogi State.
According to YIAGA Africa, one of the accredited observers for the elections, there were proliferation of the pre-filled result sheet in Polling Unit 020 in Eika/Ohizenyi, Okehi Local Government Area of the state.
The same development was witnessed in PU 004 in Eni Ward of Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area. Yet INEC discountenanced the alarm, and went ahead to release results, and declare the APC candidate winner.
Some observers and Kogi political stakeholders have dismissed everything that happened to the handiwork of the incumbent Governor, Yahaya Bello. The governor hasninturn thank President Tinubu for the enabling environment to hold and win the election.
In Imo State, a Daily Post investigation reveals that videos were in circulation where security personnel were accused of allegedly helping the government in power disrupt the voting process, and make away with electoral materials.
The paper wrote: “One such incident happened at the Umuchoko Umuohiagu Junction Polling Unit in Ward 11 of Ngor Okpala LGA, where thugs allegedly working for the All Progressives Congress (APC) carted away ballot boxes and other election materials.
“This reportedly happened after the votes were counted and PDP led with 65 votes against APC’s 35 votes and LP’s 17 votes.
Following the alleged gross manipulation and rigging of the polls, some political parties and their candidates, rejected the results.
While Nigerians have expressed disappointment in INEC and their conduct of elections, it is still unclear whose agenda the electoral body is propagating; theirs or the government of the state?
“This government is just positioning itself for the final battle in 2027, and don’t care if they turned this nation into a one-party state. However, it is too early to begin such grandstanding when the elections are still over three years away,” a political analyst told The Boss
But countering the position, an APC stalwart in Lagos State, hinted that there is no better time to do what the party is doing at the present.
“This is the appropriate time to plant only APC members across the country, thanks to the court cases. You know it will be difficult to turn incumbents to party members after the court cases. Using the judiciary to achieve this aim makes everything absolutely foolproof. The party will come after whatever remnants are left in other parties at the conclusion of court cases,” the chieftain, who craved anonymity, said.
The country has only witnessed six months of Tinubu’s administration, and a lot is still left to be desired in the three and half years.
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