By Ologun Ayodeji
I followed the Osun State governorship election in
the first and the second ballot and I remember vividly the circumstances that
brought about the twist to the election and how the state has come to where it
is by the verdict of the Supreme Court as handed down by a split judgement of
five to two judges.
Osun state has so much bled and it is only hoped
that the veins can be either stopped from bleeding or the veins will get cut
and the state bleeds to death. May posterity forbid the latter!
With the pronouncement of " the election is
hereby declared inconclusive' came a protracted legal battle in which the
tribunal awarded victory to Demola Adeleke of the People's Democratic Party and
the appellant as well as the supreme court holds that Gboyega Oyetola of the
All progressives Congress is the winner.
Whether or not the pronouncement of the courts is in
tandem with the wishes of the people or a reflection of how they voted will be
dependent on what bend anyone decides to take either sentimentally or
emotionally so. After the decision of the supreme court, only the court of the
conscience still subsides and it holds no place in law to make anyone Governor
or otherwise.
The democratic critique of judicial review by
constitutional courts has prompted its defenders to counter that courts have
democratic qualities as good as, and in certain respects even stronger than,
conventional democratic politics.
These goes to say either by implication or intention
that the court supersedes the votes of the people and it is one place where the
votes of a few can invalidate the votes of thousands or millions.
Constitutional courts operate as exemplars of
democratic deliberation. In particular, they give expression to the public
reasons underlying democracy and ensure democratic practice does not subvert
its ideals. They also hold that rights-based litigation offers a form of
democratic participation, providing a voice to those who might have been
excluded from electoral democracy.
The Judges operate in a similar way to elected
representatives, who are best conceived as trustees rather than as
delegates.
Courts do possess certain limited democratic
qualities. However, they are not intrinsic features of courts themselves. They
arise from their being dependent upon rather than independent from the
conventional democratic process.
The courts has often undermined democracy,
particularly when it involves a strike down power and a claim to judicial
supremacy, a position associated—albeit contentiously—with the Nigerian Supreme
Court. So powerful is the court that even God can't change their verdict!
Democracy, understood as a procedure involving
regular elections for competing parties, universal suffrage based on one person
one vote, and majority rule, is held to provide a mechanism whereby all
citizens can see they are treated as equals by virtue of having an equal say in
making the collective decisions and rules that shape their common institutions
and social interactions, albeit indirectly through their electorally authorised
and accountable representatives in the legislature.
As such, this system meets the constitutional norms
of fairness and impartiality by offering an instrument for ensuring public
institutions and arrangements are committed to the equal advancement of the
interests of those subject to them. It does so by treating the views individuals
have about their own and their society's interests with equal concern and
respect and constraining the pursuit of collective policies by the need for
governments and the administration to take those views into account.
Democratic Patriots contend that courts cannot
achieve this task as legitimately or effectively because the legal process
lacks those features of the democratic process that allow citizens to define
and protect their rights on an equal basis. Consequently, courts cannot show
their judgments about the rights and rules governing our public lives avoid
bias and respect the reasonable disagreements we have about them. This hasn't
changed and may not likely change!
To avoid sounding Academicals, again on Osun, the
supreme court has given a verdict and everyone have to abide with it.
Judicial review is justified as a counter-weight to
potentially myopic, prejudiced, careless and occasionally tyrannous majorities
and the democratically elected politicians who feel obliged to respond to their
demands. Courts are said to avoid such problems through being isolated from the
electoral process and independent from government interference. How independent
the courts were on this regard and how it came about invalidating a process of
election and the failure of a judge to be present in court in a matter that
bothers on a process is what it will take a while to resolve.
Now that the kittens have come home to roost and the
bookmakers now have a reference, it should be noted that the only way to forget
the process is for the governor to make the ends worth it. Never again should
it be said that the people suffers because of what they did or did not do.
Let it not be said that no impact is felt by the
people in the perhaps the first four years of Gboyega Oyetola as the governor
of Osun state. It is time to make the people forget their agony and the reason
so much number moved against the choice of the APC in the election.
Although not much will be expected to change since
it is the same party and a continuation of a government by a former chief of
staff, let the people breathe a new lease of life.
Let half salary not be remembered. Let poverty be
banished. Let hunger take a flight. Let the schools now be schools and not some
Quranic centres where same uniform is adorned. Let the government corridor now
be opened to all well-meaning people of the state and not some cronies who sees
there as their ancestral family compound. Let the state media now speak as a
media house and not some Church bell who announces nothing else than the time
to worship THE GOD.
Let governance take root and not some dancing spree.
Let it not be about the fortunate state boys who are untouchable but about the
state men who has developmental idea to offer.
Let it not be about the beards but about the content
of character.
Let it not be about mere compensation in appointment
but about service delivery and competence.
Let it not be heard again that the state of Osun is
'raufed' and 'afusaed'
May the spirit of the springs be a guiding light as
the covenant of the Lord reigns supreme!
Ayodeji Ologun is a political analyst, a public
speaker and a broadcast Journalist. He can be reached via emmanologun@gmail.com
