By Wole Soyinka
 |
|
Governor of Ekiti
State, Ayo Fayose
|
The
“Advertorial” – full front page of Punch
“Feb 23, 2015 - sponsored by Mr. Ayo Fayose (aka “No Apology”)
deserves to succeed in its aim of putting an end to all dispute surrounding the
Ekiti elections of June 21, 2014.
After all, its entire page is dedicated to a
press statement from the US Department of State, which purportedly endorses the
results of that election, congratulates the electoral organization, the
winner/loser duo, not forgetting the security forces – all for their laudable
contributions.
The
release could not be more timely, what with the governor’s own exhortations on
the virtues of credibility, avoidance of violence, and its special appeal to
“ALL THOSE WHO HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE”.
It
is that last item in the advertisement to which I am especially drawn, in view
of an audio recording that has now become the latest marvel of democratic
exposes, internationally. For those who have nothing to hide, disrobing lies
and forgeries and reinforcing truth is regarded as part and parcel of the
obligations we owe democracy.
The
audio could well be one of such forgeries. We are daily inundated with
allegations, evasions, distortions, image plundering and image laundering, all
under the permissive canopy of electoral proceeding.
Once in a while however,
we encounter exposure of an exceptional dimension that appears to strike at the
very root of Democracy, questions the validity of an entire electoral system
and even erodes confidence in the integrity of the state. Such an event need
not be regarded as a repudiation of the formal mechanics put in place by an
electioneering agency such as INEC, but nonetheless extends the scope of its
responsibilities, including its projection of looming hazards of future
electoral exercises.
This
is why, in the absence of a Constitutional Court or its equivalent, one is left
with no other course than to call on INEC to also take formal charge of the
recorded incident of this alleged conspiracy to pervert the course of
Democracy.
For
those ‘who have nothing to hide’, it is a call that deserves unstinting
support. They should not hesitate to assist in calling on the same US expertise
to assist us in exposing a forgery.
We are speaking here of a development that
implicates not only products, beneficiaries or would-be constitutional guardians
of the electoral process – that is, an elected governor, a governorship
aspirant, but also state agencies – the military, two serving ministers – that
is, members of the Executive arm of government, one of them in charge of the
nation’s defence portfolio – and others.
In addition to the logical
role of the police, the nation’s electoral commission should undertake an
independent investigation and make its findings known to the nation. Is this
perhaps something INEC can undertake while the nation waits out its suspended
electoral sentence? It only requires repudiation – or validation – of the
findings of an already advanced forensic enquiry.
So
also should the two anti-corruption agencies – the EFCC and the ICPC – since
material corruption is also implicit in the present instance. At
the fount of all electoral manipulation is the grim facilitator – Money!
Here, for instance, is a lesson drawn from the travails of a former
Inspector-General of Police in recent history.
That
scandal happened to coincide with a barely concluded electoral exercise,
considered by some as a strong contestant for one of the most blatantly
manipulated election in the nation’s history. A number of bulging
accounts had been traced to that Inspector-General.
During private discussions,
I exhorted the then Chairman of EFCC to go beyond the sensational monetary
finds and track each of them painstakingly back to source. “If you
succeed in that”, I urged Nuhu Ribadu, “you would have done more than merely
expose institutional police corruption, you would have done inestimable service
to the cause of Democracy. The I-G,” I insisted, “was a mere bag holder for
electoral manipulators inhabiting the most rarefied levels of
governance!”
I therefore pleaded with him not to stop at the prosecution
and conviction of the sacrificial face – in effect, a scapegoat, albeit most
willing - of that operation. This was equally my prayer to the Nigerian Bar
Association during an Abuja lecture at the time.
Anyone
who disputes a robust connection between material and political corruption
should reflect on the mild slap on the wrist that the I-G received for charges
of misappropriation of such staggering dimensions. Now it is the turn of
the Army as facilitators for the alleged political crime. Allied to this
elite criminal corps – again, as alleged - was a former Chairman of the Senate
Appropriation Committee turned governorship candidate.
The
evidence resides in the recording of a conspiracy against free and fair
elections, later reinforced by a televised interview with the whistleblower - a
military intelligence officer. That recording has been heard by millions all
over the world – governments, Human Rights Organizations, election
monitoring groups, business individuals, even those merely seeking real-life
variants on improbable Nollywood fare. The alleged crime is in global domain.
Let
no one attempt to facilitate the rampaging course of Impunity by brushing this
aside as just another electoral malpractice – no, in my layman estimation, this
approaches criminal subversion and treason.
The accusation is blatant and
the demand for rigorous investigation must remain unrelenting. The accounts of
the inculpated General and others should be subjected to the same scrutiny as
those of the earlier cited Inspector-General of police. And so on, and so
clamorous! Those who have nothing to fear can sleep easy.
If
the formal agencies fail, then citizens must learn to assert their right of
access to Truth. As is the practice in other societies, a Citizens Trial can be
instituted, experts co-opted, and both accusers and accused invited to testify.
Even the venue does not have to be internal, since witnesses may require
protection.
Democracy
does not begin or end with the ballot box, nor is it confined to national
boundaries. There is no assertion anywhere yet of a “Case Proven”, no rush to
judgment, simply a craving - as urged in the said governor’s advertorial - to
let “facts Speak for themselves!”
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