Oni, Fayemi and Fayose The inglorious end of the 41-month reign of Mr. Segun Oni as governor of Ekiti State on October 15, 2010 and the dramatic manner the first PDP- led government in the state was sacked on October 16, 2006 have raised posers regarding the future of PDP in Ekiti, writes Assistant Editor OLAYINKA OYEBODE.
The Segun Oni-led Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in Ekiti State came to an inglorious end at noon, October 15, after almost 41 months of controversial rule, through a unanimous ruling of the Court of Appeal, sitting in Ilorin, Kwara State.
The court ruling that ended Oni’s reign came exactly four years after the first PDP-led government in the state was ousted via an impeachment that went awry.
For the PDP, the fear of the month of October could then be the beginning of wisdom, for while the Mr Ayodele Fayose-led government came to power on May 29, 2003, it was sacked on October 16, 2006. The Oni administration also came in on May 29, 2007 and got booted out by the October 15, 2010 ruling of the appeal court.
From day one, it was certain that Oni rode on the back of a fraudulent tiger, which eventually consumed his government. The ousted governor had come third in the PDP primaries, which was won by Mr. Yinka Akerele, a one time aide of former Minister of Works, Adeseye Ogunlewe.
But a curious twist was introduced to the primaries by the national leadership of the party and Oni was named the PDP candidate for the April 14, 2007 governorship election. This led to a gale of protests by some party loyalists, but the PDP treated it as another family affairs and succeeded in suppressing the dissenting voices within the state chapter of the party.
The party’s explanation was that it reserved the right to determine the order in which its candidates would emerge, adding that emerging number one at the primaries was no guarantee for recognition by the party.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had also declared him winner of the April 14, 2007 governorship election in Ekiti State, which was contrary to the expectation of a large percentage of the Ekitis.
Dissatisfied with the outcome of the results, the Action Congress (AC) candidate in the election, Dr Kayode Fayemi, headed for the election petitions tribunal, and prayed the Justice Buka Bwala –led panel to upturn the decision.
The tribunal’s ruling of August 28, 2008 dismissed the petition as lacking in substantial ground to upturn the election of Oni. On the other hand, however, the tribunal reviewed the result as announced by INEC. Consequently, the 177,780 votes earlier credited to Oni was reduced to 135,400, while Fayemi’s earlier 108,305 votes became 74,306.
Fayemi rejected the ruling of the tribunal and headed for the Appeal tribunal., where he sought the cancellation of results of election in some wards, and urged the court to declare him the winner of the April 14, 2007 election.
The Appeal tribunal , sitting in Ilorin, on February 17, 2009 annulled Oni’s election after canceling results in 64 wards in 10 of the 16 local government areas of the state and ordered a rerun of the election within three months. With the cancellation of the votes and configuration of what the Court said was the valid votes, Fayemi had an edge with 11,945 votes.
The rerun which held on April 5, 2009 was fought with some desperation as the PDP needed to secure sufficient number of votes to erase the gap. Thus, the battle for the rerun only succeeded in erecting another dubious result, which the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner for the state, Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo, initially objected to, only to turn around to uphold it.
That again, led to another round of legal battle which also ended at the appeal court, Ilorin penultimate Friday where the case was finally settled in Fayemi’s favour.
Many believe that the administration, in view of the baggage it carried, was programmed to fail from the onset. The administration, many believe, recorded three wrong steps for every one right step it took.
The government had blamed the media, opposition parties and some Ekiti elite for its littany of woes.
Before the government eventually expired on October 15, it had to contend with difficult situations, created by a combination of factors, including its low ratings among workers, lack of credibility and ill conceived policies, that led to policy summersault in many instances. Many attest to the fact that the panicky responses to many of the challenges further depleted the regime’s tiny claim to popularity.
The first major faulty step it took was the decision to allow the immediate past House of Assembly to approve the list of its commissioners. It did that in order to preempt the current House where it has an equal number with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) from vetting the list. Many people had kicked against it, but the government had its way.
The fear was that the equal number of AC and PDP members in the House would prove a bit difficult in passing the commissioners list. Other difficult situations the administration confronted include the battle for the speakership of the State House of Assembly, removal of the first speaker of the House and the race for his replacement, as well as the location and relocation of a new university in the state, which piched the people of Ikere- Ekiti against the government.
Others include the controversy over the composition of the state’s Independent Electoral Commission, the conduct of the local government election of December 2008, and the controversy that trailed the rerun election of April 5, 2009, which produced the ido-Osi saga.
But like the proverbial cat with nine lives, the administration struggled through the difficult terrains. It, however , succumbed to the icy hands of justice, when the court sacked Oni and declared Dr Kayode Fayemi of the ACN the authentic winner of the April 14, 2007 election. The jubilations that heralded the judicial pronouncement bore eloquent testimony to the people’s disapproval for the Oni-led PDP administration.
Prior to the coming of Oni, the Ayo Fayose administration had also ended on a disgraceful note after the former governor fled the state at the peak of his controversial impeachment on October 16, 2006. Interestingly, Fayose’s impeachment was masterminded from within and outside the state. It was actualised by the PDP dominated House.
Fayose had defeated the then incumbent and Alliance for Democracy (AD) candidate for the 2003 election, Chief Niyi Adebayo, to assume office as the second democratically elected governor of the state. Adebayo who was seeking a re-election,had, in line with the position of the AD and Afenifere leaders, decided against challenging the alleged rigging of the election.
In spite of that, the Fayose administration hounded the opposition and ruled with iron hand. But it was a populist government, which succeeded in putting in place some infrastructure in the state. Interestingly, part of the infrastructure development projects such as the poultry farm turned out to be Fayose’s Achilles hills.
The probe of the contract and the money laundering related offences for which the erstwhile governor, was charged led to the impeachment move against him.
But, owing to poor coordination of the impeachment move by the PDP-led Assembly, a gale of confusion set in. At first, the House claimed it had impeached both the governor and the deputy, Mrs. Abiodun Olujinmi. That was contrary to the script the lawmakers were asked to act. Mrs. Olujinmi insisted she remained the governor of the state in the absence of the governor. She succeeded in getting some police protection to underscore her supposed new office and status.
The Assembly, in sacking her along with her boss, also announced its Speaker, Mr. Friday Aderemi, as Acting Governor of the state. Aderemi held a thanksgiving service at his country home in recognition of his elevation. Everything turned out awry as the emergence of two claimants to the governorship seat became embarrassing to the federal government as well as the people of Ekiti State.
Shortly before his impeachment, Fayose had fled the state. He reportedly fled in the booth of a car and thereafter went into exile in order to evade prosecution by EFCC.
The Federal Government clampdown on the state and declared a state of emergency which sacked the democratic governance in the state. Major-general Tunji Olurin was appointed the sole administrator. It was the sole administration who was in power till the conduct of the April 14, 2007 election.
A frontline leader of the ACN in Ekiti State, and former governor of the old Ondo State, Evangelist Bamidele Olumilua, attributed the plight of the PDP in the state to the fact that they were not popular with the people of the state. He said the Ekiti, being an enlightened group of people cannot be deceived by any gimmick, adding that all that PDP had achieved in the state , were done fraudulently. “And anything built on lie, as you know, cannot last,” he said.
The Director of Communication of the PDP in state , Mr. Jackson Adebayo, however said that contrary to the belief that the party is jinxed in Ekiti, PDP remains the darling of the Ekiti people. He said the party is only a victim of the system.
Adebayo who argued that the Ekiti people will still vote for PDP in the coming election , said it is the system that is against the party. He said the Oni government was a victim of conspiracy, hatred and intolerance. He said that it was unjust for the court to have nullified the votes credited to the party in Ido Osi Local Government which , he said had remained the stronghold of the PDP since 1999.
Many however, believe that the loss of the governorship seat to the ACN might have marked the end of the PDP in the state, having earlier lost one of the three senatorial seats (Ekiti Central) to AC through judicial intervention.
Some observers, however, believe that PDP is the architect of its misfortune. They argue that the curent crisis in the party, which has led to the removal of no fewer than three state governors elected on its platform, is a direct consequence of the desperation that characterised the 2003 and 2007 elections.
As noted by ex-governor Olumilua, PDP had sown wind in Ekiti and is reaping wild wind.
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