Justice for democracy in Nasarawa State

By DanJUMA AKWATI
Posted: Thursday, July 7, 2011

After the initial baptism of brigandage visited upon it by the CPC supporters in Lafia, the Nasarawa State Election Petitions Tribunal has since commenced sitting and even passed its verdict on a number of petitions amidst tight security. The CPC's brazen attempt to intimidate the tribunal members by deploying its violent supporters to the venue has become a deplorable tendency of the party in Nasarawa state which has been similarly unleashed on the presidential entourage, traditional rulers and the generality of people. These unfortunate incidents have been attributed to disturbing disconnect between the CPC and its supporters on one hand and the basic tenets of democratic practice on the other as a result of which the party's leaders and supporters alike place more premium on vandalism than votes.
While the CPC supporters have been associated with such unjustified violent incidents in several parts of the country following the decisive defeat the party suffered in various elections, in Nasarawa state it is evident that this barbaric strategy is in fact a ploy to defend a dubious election victory from being upturned. This contention is based on the fact that contrary to normal reactions to election victory where the victor quickly puts the political animosity of electioneering campaigns behind it and focuses on delivering dividends of democracy as it promised, in Nasarawa state Governor, Alhaji Tanko Almakura and CPC supporters continue to exhibit lack of confidence and absence of an articulate agenda to govern. Ever since the inauguration of the new administration, it has been unrelenting campaigns of calumny and violence against the majority of PDP leaders and supporters in the state, including the acts of brigandage intended to
scuttle the processes of the election tribunal.
Political analysts across the country have been intrigued by this bizarre twist to supposed election victory but the diagnosis was not difficult to arrive at. In the first place, the isolated CPC victory in the governorship election of Nasarawa state has all the characteristics of a fluke or a misnomer, considering that even in Katsina, the home state of its iconic leader, General Buhari, the party suffered overwhelming defeat and ended up only with a handful of elected representatives across the country. In Nasarawa state, the party recorded only a tenuous victory of less than 4,000 votes over the incumbent PDP Governor, Alhaji Aliyu Akwe Doma who was targeted for political witch hunting over his bold support for President Goodluck Jonathan's presidential bid by northern mandarins. The election itself witnessed organized brigandage and intimidation designed to conjure the popularity of CPC in a state with a long-standing PDP entrenchment.
The fact of PDP being the entrenched majority party in Nasarawa state could however not be distorted by organized election violence and malpractices, and this was eloquently underscored by the results of other elections where the PDP vindicated its majority status. Significantly, the CPC presidential candidate, General Buhari was roundly trounced by the PDP's Goodluck Jonathan in the election, just as the PDP performed better than the CPC in the senatorial election held same day with the governorship. But the clincher for the PDP was the state assembly elections which it won with a landslide of 20 seats, leaving the CPC with a paltry 4 seats. Taken together, these election outcomes render the CPC's governorship election victory suspect in fact and indeed as it sticks out like the proverbial sore thumb against the credible trend.
Against this background, it was predictable, if not a compelling necessity, for the PDP to take its case before the Election Petitions Tribunal for the dispassionate judicial review of the materials especially the governorship election, among others, unconvincingly awarded to the CPC. By the same token, with hindsight, the CPC's premeditated display of violent intimidating tactics at the tribunal venue on the first day was also an expected reaction borne out of palpable fear of a looming upset of its tenuous "razor edge" victory in the governorship election. It also explains why Governor Tanko Almakura cannot get his act together more than a month after being sworn in as he is said to be disillusioned not just by his narrow lead but by the awesome PDP majority in the state legislature that renders him very vulnerable to its PDP's impeachment hammer.
The Nasarawa State Election Tribunal has however courageously shrugged off the initial intimidating tactics of CPC supporters and started considering the petitions before it, including the governorship petition. By now it must be aware of the enormity of its responsibility and the gravity of its implications for restoration of the sanctity of the mandate of the electorate and ultimately the sustenance of the credibility of the nation's democratic dispensation. The common people in Nasarawa state will certainly draw inspiration from the availability of a judicial recourse for the rule of law to uphold democracy than to be caged by jungle justice.
AKWATI writes from Akwanga