The LG Polls And Matters Arising

By Kenneth Jude

Modalities for the next local government elections have been put in place by Akwa Ibom State Independent Electoral Commission (AKISIEC), with the much anticipated polls fixed for October 31, 2020.

Already, politicians, stakeholders, power brokers and their ilk are scheming to ensure the pendulum of victory swings their way when results are announced. This, understandably, has led to the ruffling of some feathers in some local government areas as some top politicians are bent on imposing their preferred candidates on the people.

Cases have been made to the effect that some powerful politicians are all out to either install their candidates against the will of the masses or, with scant disregard, distort the zoning culture of their local government just to ensure that their man wins the next election come what may.

But it all seems it may not be business as usual for eggheads who pose as godfathers. From the look of things, vis-à-vis developments in most of the 31 LGAs in the state, indications are emerging that godfathers and their allied partners may face stiff resistance if they insist on deciding who should be chairman and who should not, regardless of the wishes of the people.

For once, there is a strong case for women to mount seats in their LGAs as council bosses. In fact, unconfirmed reports suggest that about 10 women may become chairmen in their respective local government areas. Pushing for this paradigm shift is said to be the first lady of the state, Dr. Martha Udom Emmanuel.

The governor’s wife, it is understood, is desirous of seeing women play more than nominal roles in politics. And in line with the 35 per cent Affirmative Action, women want to be more active politically. They want to take up sensitive leadership positions with strong arguments that at elections, they are the ones who stand in the sun and rain in large numbers to cast their votes.

So women are seriously, more than ever before, clamouring for a place in the political calculus of the state so that they can contribute their quota to the development of their communities and the state in general. How they will achieve this objective, however, remains a matter of conjecture given the high wire politics going on in different LGAs with moneybags and power brokers flexing muscles with no care in the world.

But from whichever perspective one wants to look at the argument of having women emerge as chairmen in the next election, one thing that is clear is that the women will certainly not have the trophy they so desire on a platter of gold. It won’t be a walk in the park for the womenfolk. They’ll have to get into the mix of it all, seek for votes, campaign intensely and hope that, out of the better deal they have, a tiptop blueprint, not out of pity for being a woman, it’ll earn them the votes and trust of the electorate.

That is why it is important that those who wield enormous influence, those who have the ears of their people allow the process to be free, fair and devoid of violence, rancour and other inimical actions that may cast a dark shadow on the polls. It is vital that we get it right, even if for once, at the grassroots level in order to promote peace, confidence and engender mutual coexistence in the country’s democratic experiment.

Election time often comes with a lot of horse trading, sometimes betrayal from unexpected quarters, alignments and realignments, but we must be careful not to allow our interest put our fledgling democracy under threat. It is already dangling precariously on a cliff hanger; hence all hands must be on deck to right the wrongs of the past, while bringing a new and ennobling narrative to how elections are conducted here.

Those who are aspiring to be chairmen or councillors should not see public office as their own once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to accumulate unholy wealth. While one isn’t stepping into power to embrace poverty, what is of utmost importance is that the people and development must come first. It must be top on the priority table of anyone aspiring for one office or the other.

Aspirants to different offices must be those with proven track record of discipline who have been found to be worthy in character and conduct, and not an opportunity to settle loyalists whose character and antecedents are nothing to be proud of. It is high time leaders emerged from the votes of the people and not a situation where two or more people sit in a bar and choose, say a chairman for a particular LGA, with the people not factored in, hence leaving them to accept the one imposed on them willy-nilly.

Again, it is unwise that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chose to sell their nomination forms at such exorbitant and scary rate. While one may argue that there are other political parties on which platform one could stand for election other than the PDP, but the point that should be raised is the viability of other political parties. Now, apart from the All Progressives Congress (APC), which other political party can stand the might of the PDP here? At any rate and without prejudice to other political parties, most of them have proved to be platforms for making money. At every election, they get settled by the more serious political party, and into the thin air they disappear, leaving their longsuffering  supporters in the lurch.

So, if we must tell ourselves the truth without pandering to weak sentiments, only the PDP has the financial muscle, power and spread to make a strong claim to any position in the state. APC that should give them a run for their money are said to have withdrawn from the election. So, if the APC, the party at the centre that should stand up to the PDP have chickened out, or so it seems, it therefore means that once again, it will be a cakewalk for the ruling PDP in the state at the polls.

It would account to a degree the reason why the party perked its nomination forms at high rates ostensibly to reduce the number of aspirants. It may have been done with the intention of sieving the jokers from serious contenders. But is that the way to go? Not quite, because anybody who coughs out such amount to purchase a form will do all they can to ensure they recoup their money as soon as they enter office. During the time of recovering their money, it means development will be on break until they are done and are satisfied that they have fully recovered their money.

At any rate, this is not good for us as a people. The PDP will have to, going forward, ensure that its nomination forms do not scare aspirants with better ideas to develop their people and communities. The political space should not only be the exclusive preserve of moneybags and strong men who decide who gets what, how and when. We need those who have the interest of their people at heart to aspire, ascend leadership positions so that with their passion and knowledge, there could be a paradigm shift in the way those in power approach leadership.

So, as we get set for the local government polls, political gladiators should tread with caution and not forcefully push their will down the throats of the people. Let us allow those who are most qualified, loved by many and wanted by the people to emerge via votes and not selection by few powerful men.

Election, for the umpteenth time, is not war. All may be fair in warfare as we say, but not in a simple democratic process that will produce those who will lead us. The season of daggers, brawns and slings flying around should become history as we head to the October polls. We must eschew violence in its entirety so that at the end of it all, we can stand tall and be proud that we had an election where no life was lost, no one got wounded and no ballot box was snatched.

Are we ready to make a difference? We’ll know on October 31.