The run-up to last weekend’s governorship election in Osun State is a sad reminder of what a constitutional democracy should not be. It’s a reminder of a past that we should be running away from if we must be taken seriously by the rest of the democratic societies.
Killing, maiming, violence of any sort, and threat to life should have no place in any electoral process.
When the then President Goodluck Jonathan told us that his ambition was not worth anyone’s life, some at the time thought it was mere sloganeering and that it would be business as usual.
So, while the leading opposition party was poised for war, Jonathan merely kept to his vow of no bloodshed and no state-sponsored electoral violence.
The takeaway from that principled stand by President Jonathan was that, even though he had all the apparatus of state to match the opposition violence with violence, he simply stuck to his decision to ensure that the 2015 election was bloodless. He congratulated the victor, President Muhammadu Buhari, even before the official announcement of election results by INEC.
The decision by Jonathan to relinquish power without a fight did not only come as a surprise to Buhari’s APC, but also ensured that all the plots of the APC to make the country ungovernable as threatened by Buhari, did not materialise.
Today, we live with the consequences of arming non-state actors just for political reasons. This act by the APC has been widely speculated to be one of the reasons behind the rise of insecurity across the country.
Sadly, some of those actors behind this unfortunate act of putting selfish interest and politics above national interests and security are today dismissing their indiscretion in 2015 as mere politicking.
It’s not as though these politicians do not realise that their conduct was an act of sabotage against the nation; however, because they know that they cannot be brought to justice or be made accountable for their actions, they simply do not care.
Our politics is replete with violence, politically motivated murders without consequences. Politicians issue open threats to life and violence, and those threats are carried out to the letter without consequences.
All those who openly encouraged violence in elections are rewarded with juicy appointments afterwards, and those killed die in vain just because they chose to obey the call to exercise their franchise during elections.
Every electoral cycle is plagued with deaths and violence, yet nobody has ever been made to face trial. Sometimes, the lives of an entire ethnic nationality resident in an area are put in harm’s way just for political reasons.
Now, with less than six months to the next general elections in 2027, the political terrain is already heating up, and if what we experienced during the run-up to last Saturday’s Osun governorship elections is anything to go by, then there is indeed serious cause to worry.
Will that day Jonathan longed for ever become a permanent feature of our electoral process, when our elections can be done peacefully and when the political class and the people respect the will of the people as expressed at the polls? Will that day when the will of the people is not subverted and electoral offenders have their day in court come? When will our politicians begin to bring their children and family members to political rallies and participate in electoral violence?
What is the population of the children of the political class who have died from electoral violence compared to those of the poor masses?
It’s against this backdrop that we totally condemn the disgraceful outburst of a supposed distinguished Senator, Francis Fadahunsi, whose distasteful public conduct has attracted umbrage and rightly so.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) senator is accused of calling on his supporters to kill any Accord Party members they see.
Fadahunsi said in the video: ‘If you see them, kill them.’
The video was shared by Afrobeat singer David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido.
According to the translation shared by Davido, …Fadahunsi said, “From now on, whenever you see Accord members, kill them. I authorise you to kill them. They have wives and children too.
“This is a federal government election. On election day, even if they come with voter cards, we won’t allow them to vote.”
In another portion of the remarks, according to the translation, the senator said, “What kind of life is that? If we hear anything about Accord in Ilesa here, record me and go and tell them.
“When we tell them, the cap they are putting on is a bad one, yellow one.
“So, we have come to tell you now, from now till the election day, if we see them, kill them o.”
Strangely, the senator was also later quoted to have said that he was only speaking figuratively and that what he meant was that Accord Party members should be killed with votes.
How shameless and nonsensical can anyone be? He must be taking Nigerians for fools.
Fadahunsi has given us insight into his world of politics. It’s this brand of politics that is responsible for the violence and killings that occur during our elections. If, as he claims, he was speaking figuratively, how can he explain the killing he ordered before the election? Did he also mean that Accord Party members sighted before Saturday’s ballot should be killed with votes even before the actual voting day of Saturday?
For a man of 74 years and a serving senator to speak this way, one shudders to imagine what the average party thugs of the parties would be doing.
We are aware that Fadahunsi had been invited by the police for explanation, but we make bold to say nothing tangible will come out of this.
The so-called distinguished senator knows this too well. He knows that he would get out of this without even a reprimand, let alone prosecution, so he will do something worse the next time.
This senator should be held to account for the lives wasted before and during the election, should there be any, because he may have been expressing the same sentiment privately before that public outburst at a party gathering. Imagine what could have happened if Fadahunsi were on the ballot or the sitting governor?
Every decent politician must eschew violence and promote peaceful elections. That is how it obtains elsewhere. Why is ours different?
The democratic world should act on this and declare a travel ban on this senator. This is necessary because we know that Fadahunsi would go scot-free.
This conduct coming from a man like Fadahunsi is reprehensible, shameful, and condemnable.
