A-different-perspective-on-the-surprising-bayelsa-state-election-outcome
September 7, 2020 | News
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON THE SURPRISING BAYELSA STATE ELECTION OUTCOME
It is still difficult to believe that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, David Lyon, has emerged winner of the just concluded governorship election held recently in Bayelsa State, which is known to be the seat of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Power House. Lyon, who won in six of the State’s eight Local Government Areas, defeated his closest rival, Senator Douye Diri of the PDP. What is more surprising is the fact that, Lyon’s victory marks the first time the PDP would lose a governorship election in Bayelsa State since the nation returned to democracy in 1999.
Let us be reminded that Bayelsa is the home State of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, which is like Ogun State because these two States have produced the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Though, Ogun State, which had produced Olusegun Obasanjo as President, is not known as the most powerful seat of PDP Power House because it was hardly won by the PDP. As expected, many reasons are being adduced and attributed to why the APC won the gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State. Some are of the opinion that it is due to the undermining of Jonathan’s tribe of Ogbia and Nembe people, who are not considered Ijaws by tribe. They say the election was a show of power between the Ijaws, the Nembe and Ogbia people. And according to linguistics specialists, they say the Ogbia and Nembe languages are not the same with the Ijaw language that we all know. Some others, like the outgoing Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, are of the opinion that the leadership of the APC is strategically using former President, Goodluck Jonathan, to take over the State by force.
Whatever the reasons adduced, it is not satisfactory, or justify how the APC could have won Bayelsa State because there are little or no traces of APC foothold in the State. Apart from APC members that have been appointed as the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva and Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Local Content Development Board - a subsidiary of the NNPC, there is really nothing much about the APC in the State. Could this, and the weight of the Ogbia strong man and Nembe tribesmen, be the reason for the historic upturn of the political leadership in Bayelsa State to have happened? I seriously doubt it!
In my own candid opinion, our electoral system is greatly flawed and corrupt like any other sector of Nigeria. INEC officials are still being compromised in elections in Nigeria. WE ALL KNOW THAT IN NIGERIA, ELECTIONS ARE NOT WON ON MERIT AND POPULARITY. In Nigeria also, election tribunal matters are not won on the grounds of merit. The Nigerian Judiciary is heavily compromised on election matters because the politicians, are known to allegedly use misappropriated public money to buy court judgements in their favour. These Politicians are known to use their States’ money to buy election results.
Few days ago, I had an argument with a friend over the phone. And he argued on the fact that court judgments on election matters can be won with a sound lawyer. That this is the reliable way one can only win cases in election matters in the country. But I disagreed with him. By establishing the fact that in Nigeria, “anything can happen,” irrespective of having a good lawyer and having a good case. High profile political cases are hardly won on merit in Nigeria. This is because the entire system is rotten. No integrity any more. It is the amount of money that these politicians wield, that controls and determines the direction of most election tribunal outcomes.
These days, nobody cares how they make their money. I call Nigerian money bags, “emergency billionaires.” We can say that no Nigerian billionaire of this era has earned his/her wealth through sheer hard work. Check very well, the sources of these Nigerian billionaires are often connected to monies stolen/misappropriated from Government coffers through their fronts in Government. They use them as cover up. And at the end of the day, they deprive the Nigerian people who are honest income earners, from enjoying the provisions of basic amenities here and there. Today, big dollar-based contracts for sensitive projects in the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), a subsidiary of the NNPC, are awarded/allocated to big contractors who can pay the ‘bribe price’ along the network of those to approve such contracts. It is the highest bidder that gets such contracts at the end of the day. Same way, it is the ‘highest bidder’ that wins elections at all levels in Nigeria. And this is as long as you belong to the two major Nigerian parties, without even campaigning.
A friend in the US recently told me that if he could save some money, that he would contest as a Governor in Delta State. And I told him he is joking because the entire electoral system, especially in Delta State, is heavily compromised. Both the voters, INEC officials and those contesting elections are all involved. That is the same thing we see all across the country. who does not know that the just concluded Bayelsa State election was fraught with a lot of election irregularities? Does the APC win any governorship election that is worth celebrating? It is business as usual. Both parties, the PDP and the APC; rigged in the said election. But it all depends of which party rigged more than the other to be able to purchase victory. To win elections in Nigeria; is it about the credibility of the candidates involved, or about the party’s manifestos? Or is it about who has more money to buy victory at the polls, and able to buy judgements in their favour if the matter goes to court? We all know the answer to this question.
Truth be told, Nigeria is not yet ready for true democracy. The two major parties and their politicians are crooks. The few good politicians are undermined, hence there is no true democracy. If political candidates are actually voted for, and they win appropriately, then they would be accountable to those who elected them in the first place? but because they have always ‘bought their way to be in public offices’ – they do not see the need, or owe anyone, the accountability required of their offices. In Nigeria, politicians do not care. And the elites are very ignorant are quickly excited about what they hope to gain from these actors in Government.
In my view, the election in Bayelsa State was a mere collaboration of few powerful persons, and in which one group overshadowed/overpowered the other. The votes are allegedly cooked up to be announced as usual. In this case, the “big men” conspired to declare results in favour of the APC, with the compromising tendencies of the INEC officials who are always ready to declare nonsense. Until the Nigerian people restrain themselves and shun “MONEY POLITICS” and ask/demand for genuine development, we will continue in this circle of fraudulent elections.
Two young men visited me a few days ago, and said they like the Chinese because they are really helping Nigeria in the construction of basic infrastructural projects. And I laughed and told them that the Chinese are nothing but ‘corporate crooks’, who collaborate/cooperate with Nigerian politicians to share public funds, hence they use their Chinese companies for big construction projects. Not to mention how our Nigerian business men collaborate with them to bring in fake goods. Or the fact that these Chinese people are taking advantage of our lose Government and systems to migrate into Nigeria to milk us dry, which they also use as a way of reducing their overpopulation. That is why they see Africa, including Nigeria, as their new abode for neocolonialism. I also told the two young men that I do not blame the Chinese for the atrocities they commit in Nigeria and the rest of Africa because it is our people that encourage and allow the Chines to produce fake drugs for us, and commit these other atrocities. Nigerian politicians and elites have no conscience at all.
Succinctly, the just concluded Bayelsa State governorship election is another sham as usual. And they are already celebrating and deceiving themselves and the ignorant people, that they have won an election. What a shame!
Zik Gbemre.
November 21, 2019
Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes
It is still difficult to believe that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa State, David Lyon, has emerged winner of the just concluded governorship election held recently in Bayelsa State, which is known to be the seat of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Power House. Lyon, who won in six of the State’s eight Local Government Areas, defeated his closest rival, Senator Douye Diri of the PDP. What is more surprising is the fact that, Lyon’s victory marks the first time the PDP would lose a governorship election in Bayelsa State since the nation returned to democracy in 1999.
Let us be reminded that Bayelsa is the home State of former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, which is like Ogun State because these two States have produced the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Though, Ogun State, which had produced Olusegun Obasanjo as President, is not known as the most powerful seat of PDP Power House because it was hardly won by the PDP. As expected, many reasons are being adduced and attributed to why the APC won the gubernatorial election in Bayelsa State. Some are of the opinion that it is due to the undermining of Jonathan’s tribe of Ogbia and Nembe people, who are not considered Ijaws by tribe. They say the election was a show of power between the Ijaws, the Nembe and Ogbia people. And according to linguistics specialists, they say the Ogbia and Nembe languages are not the same with the Ijaw language that we all know. Some others, like the outgoing Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, are of the opinion that the leadership of the APC is strategically using former President, Goodluck Jonathan, to take over the State by force.
Whatever the reasons adduced, it is not satisfactory, or justify how the APC could have won Bayelsa State because there are little or no traces of APC foothold in the State. Apart from APC members that have been appointed as the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva and Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Local Content Development Board - a subsidiary of the NNPC, there is really nothing much about the APC in the State. Could this, and the weight of the Ogbia strong man and Nembe tribesmen, be the reason for the historic upturn of the political leadership in Bayelsa State to have happened? I seriously doubt it!
In my own candid opinion, our electoral system is greatly flawed and corrupt like any other sector of Nigeria. INEC officials are still being compromised in elections in Nigeria. WE ALL KNOW THAT IN NIGERIA, ELECTIONS ARE NOT WON ON MERIT AND POPULARITY. In Nigeria also, election tribunal matters are not won on the grounds of merit. The Nigerian Judiciary is heavily compromised on election matters because the politicians, are known to allegedly use misappropriated public money to buy court judgements in their favour. These Politicians are known to use their States’ money to buy election results.
Few days ago, I had an argument with a friend over the phone. And he argued on the fact that court judgments on election matters can be won with a sound lawyer. That this is the reliable way one can only win cases in election matters in the country. But I disagreed with him. By establishing the fact that in Nigeria, “anything can happen,” irrespective of having a good lawyer and having a good case. High profile political cases are hardly won on merit in Nigeria. This is because the entire system is rotten. No integrity any more. It is the amount of money that these politicians wield, that controls and determines the direction of most election tribunal outcomes.
These days, nobody cares how they make their money. I call Nigerian money bags, “emergency billionaires.” We can say that no Nigerian billionaire of this era has earned his/her wealth through sheer hard work. Check very well, the sources of these Nigerian billionaires are often connected to monies stolen/misappropriated from Government coffers through their fronts in Government. They use them as cover up. And at the end of the day, they deprive the Nigerian people who are honest income earners, from enjoying the provisions of basic amenities here and there. Today, big dollar-based contracts for sensitive projects in the National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), a subsidiary of the NNPC, are awarded/allocated to big contractors who can pay the ‘bribe price’ along the network of those to approve such contracts. It is the highest bidder that gets such contracts at the end of the day. Same way, it is the ‘highest bidder’ that wins elections at all levels in Nigeria. And this is as long as you belong to the two major Nigerian parties, without even campaigning.
A friend in the US recently told me that if he could save some money, that he would contest as a Governor in Delta State. And I told him he is joking because the entire electoral system, especially in Delta State, is heavily compromised. Both the voters, INEC officials and those contesting elections are all involved. That is the same thing we see all across the country. who does not know that the just concluded Bayelsa State election was fraught with a lot of election irregularities? Does the APC win any governorship election that is worth celebrating? It is business as usual. Both parties, the PDP and the APC; rigged in the said election. But it all depends of which party rigged more than the other to be able to purchase victory. To win elections in Nigeria; is it about the credibility of the candidates involved, or about the party’s manifestos? Or is it about who has more money to buy victory at the polls, and able to buy judgements in their favour if the matter goes to court? We all know the answer to this question.
Truth be told, Nigeria is not yet ready for true democracy. The two major parties and their politicians are crooks. The few good politicians are undermined, hence there is no true democracy. If political candidates are actually voted for, and they win appropriately, then they would be accountable to those who elected them in the first place? but because they have always ‘bought their way to be in public offices’ – they do not see the need, or owe anyone, the accountability required of their offices. In Nigeria, politicians do not care. And the elites are very ignorant are quickly excited about what they hope to gain from these actors in Government.
In my view, the election in Bayelsa State was a mere collaboration of few powerful persons, and in which one group overshadowed/overpowered the other. The votes are allegedly cooked up to be announced as usual. In this case, the “big men” conspired to declare results in favour of the APC, with the compromising tendencies of the INEC officials who are always ready to declare nonsense. Until the Nigerian people restrain themselves and shun “MONEY POLITICS” and ask/demand for genuine development, we will continue in this circle of fraudulent elections.
Two young men visited me a few days ago, and said they like the Chinese because they are really helping Nigeria in the construction of basic infrastructural projects. And I laughed and told them that the Chinese are nothing but ‘corporate crooks’, who collaborate/cooperate with Nigerian politicians to share public funds, hence they use their Chinese companies for big construction projects. Not to mention how our Nigerian business men collaborate with them to bring in fake goods. Or the fact that these Chinese people are taking advantage of our lose Government and systems to migrate into Nigeria to milk us dry, which they also use as a way of reducing their overpopulation. That is why they see Africa, including Nigeria, as their new abode for neocolonialism. I also told the two young men that I do not blame the Chinese for the atrocities they commit in Nigeria and the rest of Africa because it is our people that encourage and allow the Chines to produce fake drugs for us, and commit these other atrocities. Nigerian politicians and elites have no conscience at all.
Succinctly, the just concluded Bayelsa State governorship election is another sham as usual. And they are already celebrating and deceiving themselves and the ignorant people, that they have won an election. What a shame!
Zik Gbemre.
November 21, 2019
Mobilize Others to Fight for Individual Causes As If Those Were Our Causes