Reign Of Madness In Ekiti and Plateau
By Reuben Abati

Law and order has broken down almost irretrievably for now in Ekiti and Plateau states. I shall start with the former. In the past week, the politics of Ekiti state has moved from the theatre of comedy to tragedy and has now become a theatre of the absurd. The comedy began at the point when it was announced that the Ekiti state House of assembly had resolved, 24 out of the 26 lawmakers to impeach the Governor, Dr. Ayodele Fayose. The initial reaction across the country was that Governor Fayose had it coming. With his problems with the EFCC, the hounding of his aides and associates and his betrayal by a former contractor who chose to sing like a canary before EFCC interrogators, the public was fed with gross details about the affairs of Ekiti state.

The opposition in Ekiti, particularly the large crowd of Ekiti elites who look down on Fayose for his lack of LL. B, Ph.D, Professorship etc. etc.... in a state where if you were to drop a stone from a height, it would land on the head of someone with a double university degree, broke into peals of laughter that resounded from the hills of Ekiti all the way to Abuja. The team of Gubernatorial aspirants in Ekiti who had been wondering how to get rid of Fayose, who to their dismay, seems to have mastered the art of populism and mass psychology, supported those peals with mouth-wide cackles.

They proceeded to organise anti-Fayose rallies on the streets of Ekiti. The media outlined the "sins" of Fayose as defined by the EFCC and the Ekiti legislators. The story sold newspaper copies as circulation figures rose. At that moment it seemed like the end of the road for Fayose. There were insinuations about how it was time to teach him a lesson about his excesses. His enemies and critics could not contain their laughter. They began to dream up strategies for pushing him out of Government House. Previous exertions by the Governor about how he is effectively in charge of the state, and how he could win elections in the state many times over suddenly became comical.

You mean Fayose is not in control of his own House of Assembly? The truth is that he was treated by the same lawmakers whom he once sponsored on a trip abroad and even proposed to send their wives(!) as if he was an alien that had to be banished; indeed no one thought of him as a nemesis arising from the failings of the people of Ekiti themselves. In comedies, there are underlying lessons that must be realised and learnt, upon the cloak of thought, long after the dentitions must have been closed. But before this comedy could be resolved, tragedy set in, and again Fayose was the protagonist. The embattled Governor threw himself into a fit of paroxysms. Fayose must have been looking forward to the elections of 2007 as an occasion for teaching his opponents a lesson or two about power.

But for him, the battle of 2007 arrived seven months earlier and the issue was his survival as Governor of the state. A politician who knows the value of the media and information, Fayose took his battle to the open field and insisted on his innocence, calling on the Living God, insisting that he is a victim in the hands of his enemies. On World Teachers Day, he went to the stadium in Ado Ekiti and addressed teachers imploring them not to allow agents of darkness to remove their Governor. Two teachers were given the gift of cars. All the teachers in the stadium wore the same attire as the Governor. Someone said Fayosse had lost weight. Another observed that he looked unhappy and went on to deplore the do-or-die nature of Nigerian politics. I was struck by the tragic undertones. Here was Fayose who had been one of the most visible Governors representing the Peoples' Democratic Party, but his own party could not save him. Party elders pretended that they were trying to reconcile him and the legislature, but they could not. Here was Fayose whose state was visited twice by President Obasanjo and who was openly commended by the President after an inspection of state projects, but the same Fayose was being hounded by the EFCC which is under the President's control. I recall that at the time in question, the President's letter praising Fayose for his efforts was published in the papers!

Again, here was Fayose who had served the PDP once as Chairman of a panel that was asked to look for a Presidential candidate, but the same party was now shopping for a replacement for him. In his critical hour, it would appear that Fayose was abandoned by those who had wined and dined with him, upon whose support he had previously depended. He is facing his loneliest moment still, and for him it cannot be funny at all. At height of his travails, there were insinuations that his Deputy, Mrs Biodun Olujinmi, was not on his side, but the Madam placed newspaper advertorials pledging her support and loyalty. They have appeared side by side since then. All tragic heroes learn bitter lessons about human nature and circumstances, which they alone can appreciate. In the last two weeks, Fayose must have covered the entire spectrum of the emotional scale: from anger to anxiety to fear, but he has one more line to cross: that of anagnorisis: the point at which he understands the full import of what is happening to him, and gains full awareness of the consequences. Those who may be tempted to laugh at his travails must be prepared to learn their own lessons. ..

But the more important development in the Ekiti saga is the descent into absurdity. The theatre of the absurd is defined by its illogicality and meaninglessness. Ekiti before our very eyes has become a state where anything is possible. Fayose's opponents in the legislature and outside of it want him removed by all means, but they are not prepared to follow the laws of the land or any such thing called due process.. He has been asked to resign. The man has refused. The legislature served an impeachment notice and the state Chief Judge proceeded, in line with the Constitution to set up a panel to investigate the allegations and establish whether there is a prima facie case against the Governor.

Almost immediately, the House of Assembly rejected the panel set up by the CJ claiming that the members are Fayose's loyalists. That panel sat, it was ignored by the anti-Fayose group and it came up with the verdict that the Governor is without sin. The legislators disagreed, and they responded by staging a coup against the judiciary, by purporting to suspend the state Chief Judge. They even went ahead and appointed their own Acting Chief Judge, and a new panel. That new panel has started sitting in open defiance of the law and all known rules of decency. The Chief Justice of the Federation and many lawyers have risen in protest against this brazen violation of the Constitution; the only ones who are supporting the absurdity are those who have a partisan stake in the matter.

But the bigger absurdity is that across the country, it is assumed that what is going on in Ekiti is normal in Nigerian democracy. When you talk about illegality, your attention is drawn to Anambra and Oyo state before now, and the fact that this is politics not law. One fellow in fact argued that he does not know why the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Modibbo Alfa Belgore is commenting on the matter in Ekiti. He was sure that not even the Supreme Court is in a position to protect the rule of law. He argued that we are running a gun-point democracy. If you stay in the line of fire, you'd be dead before you can get a chance to insist on your rights. And can dead men argue about rights? But what no one can deny, it seems, is that the situation in Ekiti has grown to the level of pure madness and anarchy. The Deputy Governor apparently has abandoned her boss, having sent her lawyer to appear before an illegal panel... there is information that the lawmakers are not acting out of any commitment to the common good but that they are playing out a script handed over to them by the EFCC which featured prominently before the new panel, with some witnesses in its custody.. In Ekiti, there is real breakdown at all levels of government: the Executive is in the dock, the legislature is staging a coup against the other arms of government, the judiciary is divided and breaking the law, the people are confused and anxious...Anarchy is the appropriate word.

The madness in Ekiti is matched only by the current absurdity in Plateau state, where eight lawmakers, acting under the influence of the EFCC are threatening to impeach the Governor, Joshua Dariye. When the Nigerian Constitution talks about 2/3rds majority of the legislature for the purpose of impeachment, it does not envisage a House made up of eight members but the full complement of the House in session. But nobody seems to be worried about this. It is strange that there are people in Plateau state who are also determined to remove the governor by illegal means if possible. But Dariye seems to have an advantage over Fayose, There are able-bodied youths in the state who are prepared to defend their Governor's mandate and they attempted to do so two days ago; unfortunately three of them were gunned down! Whoever wants to remove Dariye apparently has no respect for human lives. We run a gun-point democracy where the right to differ and the insistence on it is an open invitation to murder.

I don't want to be misunderstood. I am realistic enough to know that those who want to remove Fayose and Dariye will do so even if the Heavens fall. Nigerian democracy has produced a crop of buccaneers who have no regard for law and order. They are driven only by their goals, and even when there is merit to their position, their lack of decorum and decency destroys their arguments in the long run. The length of their conduct is the desire to win the argument with animal instincts and tactics. An animal in the wild is unconcerned about propriety. One form of illegality is used to eliminate another form of illegality as if we are in the wilderness. So, don't be surprised if you wake up one morning and in Ekiti one group is saying that Fayose is Governor and another group is saying that he is not, and another panel has to be set up to establish which party is right, or if in Plateau and Ekiti, the entire state goes under the knife, with every butcher carving away at the flesh and soul of the state.

So, what do we think? One, politicians must learn to respect the rule of law. Two, even when a man is generally believed to be a criminal, guilty beyond redemption, he should still be granted a right to fair hearing. There are allegations against Fayose and Dariye, fine, but those allegations must be proven before any form of conviction. Three, the tragedy in Ekiti and Plateau is that of the ruling Peoples' Democratic Party. This is a party that has been torn into pieces by internal strife. Four, what is happening in Ekiti and Plateau again confirms the underdeveloped nature of Nigerian politics. What we have on our hands is jungle democracy, where the animal with the sharpest fangs can hold the entire kingdom to ransom, where the lower animals are not necessarily better, with every animal seeking to rationalise his or her choice by pointing to the failings of others, and thus, creating such cacophony out of which decent men can make no sense other than to wonder and sigh.

Five: the Nigerian judiciary is showing up very badly in the crises. When lawyers and judges break the law, the drift towards anarchy is complete. Six: the Nigerian people have every reason to be anxious. Our people have a saying: when a drum beats too loudly, it will end up in tatters, its skin will tear into pieces. The drum of Nigerian politics is beating a bit too discordantly; the drum of democracy is sounding like it is torn at the edges. All the warring personalities are birds of passage: who for example will check the legislature in Ekiti and Plateau? Who will stop the judex from getting compromised by partisan politics? In the Ekiti case, however, only two persons can afford to laugh heartily: Adebisi Omoyeni, former Deputy to Fayose, who jumped before the train derailed, and Niyi Adebayo, Fayose's predecessor in office who must be saying to whoever cares to listen: "serves them right, good for them."

Robot  # 1 | 14.10.2006 23:23

But the bigger absurdity is that across the country, it is assumed that wh...Read the full article.

WaleAkin  # 2 | 15.10.2006 02:04

Nigeria is such a very funny place where its citizens dont follow the rule of law, it has become a norm for everyone to break the laws and not face the music! Ayo Fayose has indeed messed up big time and his name written in the black books of our history, i find it so hard to believe when folks like him drag the name of God in the mud, hear him last night speaking to a group of Okada riders in Ado Ekiti "The hosts of heaven met overnight on the case of Ekiti. In my sleep, they assured me that the battle is their own and not mine. They assured me that God would not leave me at my hour of need, only that I should tell my people not to be afraid", i could not help but laugh at this monkey statement!! What hour of need? You stole money, you are being investigated, evidences abound, prime witnesses came out to testify and here you are (A la Chief Zebrudaya) ranting nonsense. I hope this will teach the remaining Governors a big lesson about good governance. I knew something was not right with this bloke when his younger Sister, Mrs Queen Soworiolu gave an exclusive interview to Tell Magazine in 2005, now he has no Government house again, he has no immediate family again, all the pecks of Governance gone, i hope he wont develop high blood pressure in custody in the next 6 months? Let him rot in jail, who's next pls!! Cheers, Wale

nallanah  # 3 | 15.10.2006 07:43

Wale, I agree with you 100%. The next on the list is James Ibori (DELTA), Lucky Igbinedion (EDO), & Peter Odili (RIVERS). In no particular order. I am concerned however, about this "Rule of Law" being touted everywhere. I consider myself as pretty mild mannered, but I think perhaps the time has come to "throw the baby out with the bath water". People Power, get rid of this immunity clause. Let everyone who has a case to answer face the music!!! We need to clean up the Country, the stench is getting overpowering! Some of these politicians take the populace for fools. Imagine Ibori spending N200 Million Naira to purchase PRADO Jeeps for members of the Delta State legislature last week. Could that money not be used for other things? Was that really a priority at this point; ....and what about the "HONOURABLE MEMBERS" could they not have spoken with one voice and told him where to park his PRADO Jeeps??? One sometimes looks at all these things, and then wonder if perhaps there is'nt something fundaMENTALly wrong with us as a people!! The conduct of our "leaders" goes against all accepted tenets of civilised behaviour. Morally bankrupt, theiving scallywags, murderers,liars, rapists...ETC!!.....in short, you could class them a penny short of jungle animals! The truth of the matter is, if they insist on behaving like animals, then do we really have a choice than to treat them as such??? ...My people have a saying.."SICKNESS STRONG, SICKNESS STRONG,...NA BECAUSE E NEVER SEE MERECINE WEY STRONG PASS AM"!!

Kalakuta  # 4 | 15.10.2006 09:19

Would have love the impeachment to be done according to the rule of law, however, the judiciary, seems to be as corrupt as the thieving governor which makes this impossible.

segun  # 5 | 15.10.2006 09:41

I hope all these nonsense happening will be cleared by the next elections (vis a vis legislature , judiciary, executives) they have been nothing but an embarassment...

tonsoyo  # 6 | 15.10.2006 10:00

As much as the rule of law is desirable, I believe it is only useful where the law is allowed to rule. The impeachment process was still okay at the point when the Lawmakers caused the CJ to appoint a panel, and all other activities up to that point are mere political manouvers and power play that happen world over. Everything became totally bizarre when the defacto suspended CJ threw all sense of decorum, decency and professionalism to the winds, rubbed illegality in the face of Ekiti people, by not only appointing people with questionable background and integrity, people that apparently lacked the qualifications to sit in such panel, but worst of all they are all known cronies and friends of the governor under investigation into the panel. The panel arrogated the power and procedure to be used to themselves in defiance of section 188(7) of the constitution, the CJ himself defied section 128 & 129 of the constitution when he refused the invitation of the lawmakers to the assembly. At this point the rule of law went on vacation, the constitution came under constructive suspension in Ekiti state, by the acts of the same man who is suppose the chief custodian of laws in the state, the rule became the rule of force and the survival of the most powerful. In as much as I do not support any kind of illegality I also believe that those who come to equity must come with clean hands. He must not be seeing to be crying and seek refuge from the same constitution he has blatantly and flagrantly abused. Section(292) of the constitution, gave more powers to the house of assembly than the Judicial Council, whereas a resolution of the House supported by two-third majority does not give the Governor any choice than to act, but in case of the Judicial Council the word is "recommend" and that is the key here, if you seek further clarification of section 292(a) from section 127(1) one will understand that the Governor "shall" remove when it is a resolution of the House of asssembly. Since the governor in this instance is the one under investigation and he is not expected to act, equity will view has done that which ought to be done the suspension and even a removal of the CJ will stand in a court of equity. I do not care what a controversial and opinionist CJN have to say, is it not the same CJN who told us just weeks after he became the CJN that a military president in the person of IBB is the best to happen to Nigeria?, is he not the same CJN that was openly accused by his predecessor of trying to stampede him out of office? They have murdered sleep, they shall sleep no more.

Auspicious  # 7 | 15.10.2006 10:54

"...it was announced that the Ekiti state House of assembly had resolved, 24 out of the 26 lawmakers to impeach the Governor, Dr. Ayodele Fayose". Reuben Abati, Chairman of the Editorial Board of The Guardian Newspapers, is a "Dr" with a PhD degree. Ayodele Fayose is a graduate of Ibadan Polytechnic and all he has yet is a Higher National Diploma (HND). Ayo Fayose is NO "Dr"!!!! Auspicious.

MrOneNaija  # 8 | 15.10.2006 12:42

The malaise being felt by citizens is simply unbearable. Centrifugal forces of destruction and tyrannical imposition are on the prowl and something must be urgently done to stop them once and for all, before it is too late. Marooned in a desert of despair and despondency occasioned by the frightening failures of a visionless despot and his rogue regime, the average Nigerian must by now have reached that point whereby mere words of caution ring hollow and injunctions about a supposed better tomorrow appear forlorn and meaningless. The tentativeness of an ineffectual opposition; the hypocrisy as well as sectarian mind-set of much of the national media and civil society organisations coupled with a cowardly populace, all these have contributed in no small measure to the sustenance of the murderous tyranny of the mad buffoon called Obasanjo who derives pleasure in inflicting hardship on hapless Nigerians by the unleashing of violent and sadistic forces on them. The time for compromise or sitting on the fence is over. If Nigerians do genuinely want a "better tomorrow", they must immediately envisage concrete scenarios for taking out the source of their continued suffering. I concur with the Abia state governor, Orji Kalu and Ishaku Ibrahim that the various state executives should constitute a bulwark against the rampaging, undemocratic impulses of the sadistic madman of Nigerian politics, Baba Aremu. The governors should shed their timorous posture for a more purposeful and robust stand against the militaristic onslaught on Nigerian democracy by the lewd and vacuous Aso Rock kleptocrat and his fellow rogues in the likes of Adedibu, El-Rufai, Bode George, Nuhu Ribadu, Chris Uba, Mantu, Ahmadu Ali and Anenih. As I did mention in my commentary entitled "Driving Nuhu Ribadu Out of Town", the good people of Nigeria should use "every means at their disposal" in the fight against the renewed military occupation of our socio-political spaces. In Plateau, the youths rallied to chase Ribadu and his thugs out of town. If the National Assembly will not do its job by impeaching Obasanjo or at the very least, by calling him to order, then, a popular uprising, be it nation-wide or at the level of the various states or cities, should have as objective the popular cum democratic termination of the cruel tyranny of Nigeria's Caligula a.k.a. Matthew Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo. The example by the Plateau youths should serve as a welcome warning to bandits in the Obasanjo/Mantu mould. Obasanjo and his confederates should realize that the unpardonable killing of innocent civilians in the pursuit of their evil designs is being documented and they must be called upon to account for their crimes and atrocities after May 29, 2007. The governor of Bayelsa State has been presumably removed for various alleged offences. As we write this, Ladoja is in the cold and may freeze in it with all the cases in court. There is no indication that he will regain his gubernatorial seat. One thing that runs through their removal is a thread of sadism, thuggery and criminality against the constitution. And a pattern seems to have been established: the EFCC will creep on legislators like a thief in the night, open their cupboards; show them the skeletons they have stored away and use them as cat's paw. There is now the comic aspect: legislators are carted away to Lagos or Abuja where impeachment notices are drawn. The EFCC drives them back either in the dead of the night or early in the morning. The legislators convene or reconvene and in a matter of minutes, conclude an otherwise serious matter. The duration of the process is abbreviated and pronto: the quarry is out of office! And by the day, the government and its EFCC agents are getting bolder and bolder. The new attitude has just been demonstrated by the transactions in Plateau State. Quorum of 24 of state legislators has now been reduced to seven or so with the remaining 17 or so prevented from being present per force. As you listen to the radio, turn on the TV or open the pages of newspapers and magazines, you are assailed with the gangsteristic exploits of government security agents doing things outside the constitutional provisions. The National Assembly has not been known to deprecate the activities of the haters of constitutional methods. I suspect some National Assembly members do not want to court the anger of EFCC because they are potential victims of blackmail themselves. Sadly, people are abandoning their friends to save their skin. The truth is: These enforcers will come for you when they have dealt with your peers. We are all stakeholders in the fortune of this country and we must rally against arbitrary use of power and assault on the constitution. -Animasaun, Sunday Vanguard, 15 Oct., 2006

Abraxas  # 9 | 15.10.2006 12:45

Hi, folks! QUOTE OF THE DAY: We run a gun-point democracy where the right to differ and the insistence on it is an open invitation to murder. -- Dr. Reuben ABATI. Muchas gracias Don Juan Carlos ABRAXAS (III)

edoji  # 10 | 15.10.2006 12:46

In a Land of Lawlessness, It Is Illegal To Be Law-abiding! He That Makes Peaceful Change Impossible Makes Violent Change Inevitable! Joshua Dariye and Ayo Fayose deserves whatever that happens to them. It is a marvel that their respective Houses of Assembly would close their eyes to the rampant corruption and massive looting that occurs in their respective states. A glance at their individual charge sheet would make you weep for Nigeria, they deserve to be impeached By Any Means Neccessary! Furthermore, A State Chief Judge that aligns himself with a thief does not deserve to remain in that office. He has betrayed his oath of office, no amount of legalese would come to his aid. As for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court - A friend of former dictators - He should keep his wise counsel to himself. Nigeria is in a state of war, and when a country is in a state of war, there is a state of emergency and the rule of law is temporary suspended. I pray that the debacle in Plateau and Ekiti be over soon and done with so that attention would be turned to Abia and Zamfara states. Thier indigenes are impatient for their own liberation.

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