Democracy and the
rule of law received another kick in the groin on Friday, January 13,
with the kangaroo process orchestrated by Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu and his
18 lawmakers of the Oyo State House of Assembly, resulting in the
purported impeachment of Governor Rashidi Ladoja, and the swearing in
with immediate effect of Ladoja's former Deputy, Adebayo Alao-Akala.
The incident raises both legal and moral issues. It is a direct product
of the flawed nature of our democracy and the full-blown spread of the
dictatorship of the Presidency. It is an open triumph of gangsterism
and a legitimation of the godfather syndrome in Nigerian politics. It
is a sad development made possible by the refusal to place principles
and ideas at the centre of the governance process. It is the latest
addition to the long and growing list of sommersaults by the ruling
party, the PDP.
A 'rain-beaten' Ladoja is now threatening to
show up in his office on Monday, January 16, to continue with his work
as a duly elected Governor of Oyo state. His argument is that since a
court of law has declared the panel which investigated the allegations
against him illegal, then the purported impeachment cannot stand.
Within the purview of Section 188 of the constitution dealing with
impeachment, it is further clear that Ladoja's alleged removal is
illegal. He was not given a chance to defend himself: he had only two
hours (!) and he received the notice at almost 5 p.m on the particular
day. His impeachment was carried out by 18 members out of the total of
32 members, whereas the Constitution prescribes that only a two-thirds
majority of all members of the House can remove a Governor from office.
The undue haste with which the entire exercise was conducted points to
a miscarriage of justice.
Ladoja's removal was also pre-meditated. He is
a victim of Lamidi Adedibu's politics. Adedibu, the strongman of Ibadan
politics as he calls himself, had informed the public weeks ago, that
Ladoja's time was up and that he would be removed as Governor. He also
reportedly told whoever cared to listen the exact time when this would
be done: after Sallah holidays. President Olusegun Obasanjo had also 24
hours before the kangaroo process in Ibadan, advised that Ladoja should
resign or be removed in 24 hours. Once the President so directed, the
machinery of Ladoja's removal was fast-tracked and within 24 hours
truly, he was out on the streets. His security aides were immediately
withdrawn. His Deputy was sworn in to replace him. Ladoja's hope is
that the Courts will not allow this to stand. He has been quoted as
saying the "judiciary is the last hope of the common man."
He also added that "the law is the law." It is
interesting to see how members of the ruling cabal suddenly start
quoting the law when they are in distress. The only problem that Ladoja
faces is that the politics of Oyo state, and his removal has been taken
beyond the law. Ladoja has powerful enemies, within his own party, the
PDP, and in the Presidency. I believe that when he says he will show up
in his office on Monday, he is genuinely bluffing. Nigeria is a country
where anything can happen, where phrases such as "due process, justice
and human rights" mean close to nothing. "We will crush any dissident",
Alao-Akala has been quoted as saying. The Police have also made it
clear that they will not allow any one to disturb the peace. Ladoja's
impeachment smacks of moral turpitude, but the powerful forces that
have removed him will not hesitate to crush him completely. A man
should know when he has been beaten. What has removed Ladoja from
office in Oyo state, is not just Adedibu and his "amala-eating" troops
but federal might. President Obasanjo could have saved him, but he
refused to do so.
In retrospect, those allegations were dug up to
justify an outcome that had already been presented before the public.
Before the crisis started, Ladoja's right to fair hearing had been
foreclosed. When President Obasanjo visited Ibadan on the eve of his
removal, that was clearly a signal to the troops to complete the
assignment. Before then, the Chairman of the PDP, Ahmadu Ali had
described Ibadan as "a military garrison and Adedibu as the Commander".
He recommended that Ladoja should go and take directives from Adedibu
or get out of Government House.
Ladoja should wake up. His statements since the
coup against him (that is the right word: a coup not impeachment),
portray him as rather na•ve. Even if he goes to court and a court
of law reinstates him, what is the guarantee that the coup plotters
will respect the court ruling? He must know that the PDP, the party to
which he belongs does not respect the courts of the land. The President
himself has refused on more than one occasion to act on court rulings.
The PDP Chairman also once publicly asked a court of law to mind its
own business. Obviously, the likes of Chris Uba and Adedibu are above
the laws of the land. The Chief Justice of Nigeria has had cause to
protest that this government is violating the rule of law. What hope
then is Ladoja talking about? Our tragedy is that hope is becoming a
scarce commodity in our land, there is great disillusionment, in part
because of the shenanigans of our political leaders.
Ladoja by now must also have learnt one or two
lessons about human nature. Alao-Akala his former Deputy, now the
beneficiary of his misfortune has been so triumphant. He has dissolved
the cabinet, and has held a meeting with senior civil servants. He told
them: "I called you to a meeting to inform you of the dissolution of
the cabinet and the need to take charge of the ministries in acting
capacity. My immediate challenge is to bring back the peace to the
state, to make for the smooth running of my administration. I will
continue where my predecessor stopped. I will lay emphasis on the
transformation of the party and will not meddle in the affairs of the
state House of Assembly. I believe they will resolve all their
differences politically as time goes on."
Now, these are not the words of a man who
thinks that Ladoja, his former boss is on leave and would soon return.
He sounds like someone who will do everything that is humanly possible
to keep the seat that he has suddenly found. To be sure, his first
assignment in office was his trip to the den of Adedibu where he
prostrated and thanked the Godfather for making him a Governor. Without
a doubt, Akala has no intentions to disobey the "garrison commander".
He will be a good boy. He will do as he is told. That this is the state
of Nigerian democracy is tragic. But this is what President Olusegun
Obasanjo and the PDP elite want. And Adedibu wants something else. He
says: "Ladoja is too greedy. He was collecting N65 million as security
vote every month. You know that governors don't account for security
vote. He was to give me N15 million of that every month. He reneged.
Later it was reduced to N10 million, yet he did not give me".
To this Ladoja has responded: "we did not reach
any agreement about sharing money. When he asked me about his own
share, I asked him under which account should I put it....The
understanding of both of us of what governance is supposed to be
differs. The difference is that I see governance as service while he
sees it as business." He sees it as thuggery too. Listen to Ladoja once
more: "...after we had our quarrel in 1994 and we wanted to make up in
2002, he came to see me and said Rasheed what do you want and I said I
want to be governor and he said then let us work together. I said
without him, we had been winning elections, so what is it that you can
do that I cannot do and he said three things. One, he asked me, do you
know how to abuse people? And I said no. Then he asked, can you take
away your clothes in the public and fight? I said no. Thirdly, he asked
can you tell lies against somebody and swear on the Quran and again
call witnesses and I said impossible. Then he said those are the things
we always used in politics."
This then is the picture of amala politics as
championed by Adedibu. This is the man who is President Obasanjo's
friend. When Alao-Akala settles down in office, would he now share his
security vote with Adedibu? Would the President consider that right? If
there is any gain in what has happened in Anambra and Oyo states, it is
the exposure of the failures of the Nigerian political culture. We have
in power a rent-collecting elite. Thuggery and revenue sharing are the
main substance of Nigerian politics. The Presidency is too powerful,
too morally selective. Illiterates and egotists are the drivers of the
governance process. Our leaders do not operate at the level of ideas
but ego and personal ambitions. We are not yet in a democracy, but a
kind of military rule. Ladoja may sound sanctimonious but he is also
part of that prebendal class. He is whining only because he has lost
out. The seeming helplessness of the people of Oyo state is disturbing;
the total discounting of their power and voice and the manipulation of
the political system in the state by one man whose word is law is
condemnable.
By now, however, life for Ladoja must be very
lonely. He failed to build a strong political base for himself. He
misunderstood the nature of Nigerian politics. He is politically
illiterate. But let Alao-Akala who has taken his place develop a sense
of history. Was he not the same Alao-Akala who was recently
rough-handled and undressed at a PDP event in Abuja by Adedibu's
supporters? Let him therefore not deceive himself that he is the
Governor of Oyo state. The real Governor lives in Molete. He is the
commander of the Ibadan garrison, Lamidi Ariyibi Adedibu: a symbol of
Nigeria's political backwardness. The likes of Adedibu continue to
thrive because they are "useful" agents of a dictatorship that the
Obasanjo government has imposed on Nigeria. But how many more blows can
this democracy receive?
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