By Godwin Etakibuebu
Every election, at the end of the exercise; and that is by the time the votes are counted to separate winners from losers, produces two candidates – one, a winning candidate and the other a losing candidate.
Characteristically therefore, while one is celebrating, the other will be groaning. Losing has no relations in whatever form or formant while winning has all types of relatives; from first to seventh cousins, and even including distant cousins, there are brothers and sisters and chains of many other personae dramatis within the kingdom of the winning personality. That is just life and its realities.
There are different types of victories as there are in losses. It implies therefore that as stages and types of both differ so also the moods of celebrating or groaning in both come differently. How events of both are displayed are however important and crucial of notification, because both have consequences beyond the immediate engulfing euphoria.
It is on the fact of this reality that we should return to evaluate the successes and failures of the recently concluded presidential elections vis-à-vis the mood of celebration and groaning of both winners and losers in the election. In doing this we shall be concentrating only on two political parties and their flag bearers. These are the All Progressives Congress with its flag bearer; President Muhammadu Buhari and the People Democratic Party and its flag bearer; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
This exercise is without prejudice to the declaration of the election’s Umpire [Independent National Electoral Commission] in announcing the winner [APC/Buhari] and the loser [PDP/Abubakar], which initiated the mood of celebration in the winner’s camp and the groans cum pains in the loser’s domain.
Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress polled total number of 15,191,847 votes throughout Nigeria while Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party polled total of 11,262,978 votes across the country. This shows that President Buhari of the APC led with the difference of 3,928,869 ahead of his main rival; former Vice President Abubakar, to pick the much coveted trophy.
Buhari polled not less than 25% in 19 States, which are: Osun, Ekiti, Kwara, Nasarawa, Kogi, Gombe, Yobe, Niger, Jigawa, Kaduna, Bauchi, Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Katsina [Buhari’s home State], Borno, Zamfara, Kebbi and Sokoto.
Atiku polled not less than 25% of 17 States plus the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and these are: Ondo, Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Adamawa (Atiku’s home State), Oyo, Anambra, Edo, Plateau, Benue, Imo, Taraba, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, Delta and Bayelsa.
With total votes of almost Four Millions [3,928,869] gathered by the APC and its candidate; President Muhammadu Buhari, over the PDP and its candidate; former Vice President Atiku Abubakar [as authenticated by INEC – the constitutional Umpire of Nigerian electoral process], there is no doubt about the clear difference between the winner and the loser.
Thank God that Nigeria is not America where Electoral College votes of Minority will jettison and torpedoe the Majority of votes in deciding who becomes President. In Nigeria, the majority votes, properly distributed to capture “not less than 25% at each of at least two-thirds of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)”, is the rule. This is the convincing straight lead that the APC and its candidate is running away with and this has to be respected, at least for now, until so otherwise decided by a competent Presidential Election Tribunal as “properly and legally constituted”, and the Supreme Court, if the matter gets there.
We need to take a very serious look also at the issue at stake. The election, which has come and gone [at least for now and until a competent court/tribunal decides otherwise] was all about the Nigerian State. It is all about who presides over the affairs of Nigeria, legally and constitutionally, for the next Four Years until another election for the same position comes up again.
What we are saying therefore is that the reason for the election is Nigeria. Unless there is a Nigeria, there can never be any electoral political contest for who becomes the President of Nigeria. It is tenable therefore to take recognition; and accepting the fact of such recognition that the Nigerian State [Nation] is bigger and larger than every individual Nigerian and this is inclusive of whoever that is emerging at any given time as President to rule over the country. We must accept this fact more as the rule rather than exemption.
Permit me to escalate this conversation beyond the office of the President; which must be seen as subjective, in size and scope, to the larger octopus-like territorially amphibious Nigeria, into and including the Political Parties, which are vehicle of voyages for those nominated to run for the office of the President. It is important to discuss the “Vehicle of carriage” here because of the “illusions of dominance” the political parties most times assumes.
With all sense of responsibility, l want to submit that once a presidential candidate, so nominated by a political party to contest for the office of the president, is elected by the Nigerian electorate into the office [President], he [the elected] stands tall and over the political party that nominated him in all affairs of Nigerians.
The message being sent here is telling the Nigerian Political Party that produced Muhammadu Buhari as Nigerian President can no longer take a dominant role in affairs of Nigeria because Nigerians now have their President to contend with and in this case Muhammadu Buhari is the de-facto and de-jury [again, until proves otherwise by the courts] leader of the country.
As President Buhari steps forward into the stage, the political party that produces him [as a candidate for the concluded election] must step backward from the stage. This is how it ought to be and so must it be. Expectedly ipso facto, the APC; the vehicle of voyage for the President, must not be seen as doing anything that could be translated into bringing confusion into the land because the buck stops on the President’s table.
It is on the strength of this presentation that events of the past few days should be of great concern to most Nigerians. The angle the music and momentum of celebration of victory in this election; as being displayed by both the APC and functionaries of the federal government, if not properly checked, through a deliberately and consciously created machinery of sanity, could jeopardise the victory won.
Next week, this column will continue analyzing recent happening which is why the caption – 2019 Presidential Election: Tragedy of Victory – is chosen for this essay. It will be worth of your endurance to wait for it.
Godwin Etakibuebu, a veteran Journalist, wrote from Lagos.
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