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The result of Ekiti State governorship election is still a talking point in the polity for obvious reasons. And it is likely to remain so until the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) records another successful outing without any blemish in a similar poll coming up in Osun State on August 9. For most political analysts, the victory of Ekiti State Governor-elect, Ayodele Fayose, at the just concluded election was a rude shock. But the beauty of it all is that the election has been generally adjudged to be peaceful, free and fair.
The result of the poll as announced by the Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Professor Isaac, showed that Fayose of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scored a total of 203,090 votes to defeat incumbent Governor Kayode Fayemi of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who recorded120,433 votes. The candidate of the Labour Party, Opeyemi Bamidele, came a distant third with 18, 135 votes.
On the overall, Fayose’s victory cuts across all the 16 Local Government Areas of the state, scoring about 57.9 per cent of the total vote cast. In Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, he got 41, 169 votes to beat Fayemi who had 13, 927 votes. In Oye Local Government where Fayemi hails from, PDP’s candidate got 11, 200, while his APC counterpart polled 10, 176 votes. The same level of success was recorded by the PDP in other local governments, which is a clear indication that he is the most popular of all the candidates. How Fayose achieved the landslide victory against the incumbent governor still remains largely a puzzle to many Nigerians.
Factors that worked in favour of Fayose
One major factor that worked in favour of Fayose in this election is what has been described among the elite circle as Amala politics. As a grassroots politician, he likes to wine and dine with the ordinary people. He appreciates the enormous power of the people; he knows their mindset and how to appeal to their sentiment. As such, since he was removed from office as governor of the state in 2006 under the regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in controversial circumstance, he has not for once lost touch with his people. Fayemi, in contrast, chose to remain on his high horse, believing that his performance in the last three and eight months in office will do the magic for him at the time of the election. But he got it all wrong. He failed to understand the peculiarity of the Ekiti people and how much they detest arrogance of power.
Findings by our correspondent who monitored the election showed that there was a huge disconnection between Fayemi and the people. A middle-aged woman who boarded the same vehicle to Ado-Ekiti with this reporter on the eve of the election described Fayose as a humane leader who identifies with his people. Her words: Fayose is a man of the people, any time, any day. You need to be in Ado-Ekiti during his campaign rally to really appreciate his humility. While we were anxiously waiting to see him in one of the vehicles in his long convoy, I was surprised to see him from far behind walking among the crowd of his supporters. That is the kind of leader we need. You have to be with the people to know their problem. Fayemi is full of arrogance. He lives in his own world. He thinks he is the only one who is most educated.”
Fayose himself said this much while addressing a press conference shortly after the announcement of the results of the election. Fielding questions from Journalists, he attributed his victory to the grassroots support. He said: “I want to recall that my removal in 2006 remains a mystery to the common man on the street. They never left me for one day. They believe me. I go to visit them in their bedrooms. When the poor ones among them are doing marriage for their sons or daughters, I will carry cow and give them. I will go to their wedding. I will do things that a leader won’t ordinarily do. So, for me, I am a grassroots man. Because of the way I operate with them, they call me Senior Advocate of the Masses. I want to continue that trend; I want to identify with them continuously because I owe them so much. If you do good to these common people, they will always remain loyal to you. I want to be with them always so that I can be leader in Ekiti. I want to be Awolowo here in Ekiti.”
On the other hand, the crisis of confidence between Fayemi and the state civil servants, especially the controversy arising from mandatory Teachers Development Need Assessment (TDNA) also contributed to the defeat of APC in this election. Although as a last minute reconciliatory measure, he approved 27.5 teachers allowance and abolished the TDNA test, the decision came rather too late. So, it was easy for Fayose to cash in on the face-off to win the minds of the electorate.
There was also an alleged complaint that the administration was giving out contracts to ‘foreigners’ at the expense of the state indigenes. Many of the people who spoke with our correspondent expressed confidence that money will flow into circulation when the tenure of Fayose commences. They based their optimism on his antecedent of sharing out contracts to local contractors when he was in the saddle. Not surprisingly, hardly had INEC concluded the result of the election before the streets of Ado-Ekiti erupted in wild jubilation with the shout of PDP, power. Market women, Okada riders, artisans and the likes trooped out in their number chanting victory songs. A owner of a business centre who could not hide his joy when the result of the polling booth near his shop located at Oke-esa was the announced in favour of PDP simply resorted: “Yes, this is now tiwan tiwa (people’s) government.” What the outcome of this election implies is that electoral victory in this part of the country is no longer going to be determined by the platform but the antecedent of each candidate. Certainly, with the overwhelming victory Fayose recorded in all the local governments, he would have possibly won with the same level of success, if he had come on a different platform other than the PDP.
People’s expectations
On October 16, the new Governor-elect will take another oath of office to preside over the administration of the state for four years. As they say, ‘to whom much is given, much is expected.’ Fayose certainly has a big challenge ahead of him in this second coming.
Like the usual euphoria that always heralds every new administration, expectations are high that Ekiti State indigenes would be carried along in the scheme of things as the governor pursues his developmental agenda. Part of the grouse the people had against the incumbent governor Fayemi is his policy of exclusion. To avoid the same pitfall, Fayose must put the people at the centre of development. He must ensure that basic trust and confidence that exists between him and the people is maintained without necessarily jeopardizing the overall interest of the state and its future. Already, he has promised in his acceptance address to give the people their fair share of the deal. “Ekiti people must be given contract by at least 40 percent. When I was the governor, all chairs in primary and secondary schools were done here in Ekiti. The two succeeding administrations after me did not do that. How would you give a contract of N2 million to somebody from Lagos? The man will simply become lord and master here. We will accredit all the carpenters and share out the contract. For my four years, I want to empower the people; I want to make them strong to be able to feed themselves,” he said.
Fayemi’s example
Ekiti State governorship election has obviously set a new standard of conduct for politicians who see election as a do-or-die affair. Both the incumbent and the Governor-elect have done the needful. While Fayemi has demonstrated a rare spirit of sportsmanship by accepting the result of the election and promised a smooth handover, Fayose has no less shown the same level of magnanimity by declaring a no victor ,no vanquished disposition.
Apparently, all this wouldn’t have been possible if either of the parties had issues with the results of the election. So far, this is the freest and fairest election conducted by the INEC in the recent time. The onus, therefore, lies on the umpire to ensure that future elections do not fall below the standard achieved in this current exercise. Expectedly, all eyes are now on Osun State governorship election coming up in August
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