THE ongoing macabre dance among political actors in Lagos State over the conduct of a local council poll is not funny. Neither should their theatrics come as a surprise, because of the win-at-all cost mentality among the political class.There is no state, where a similar election has been held and the outcome reflected the true disposition of the electorate. The voters have always been short-changed by the ruling elite, who are mere pretenders when it comes to democratic values and culture. One wonders the kind of lessons we will continue to learn in the quest to build enduring institutions and promoting good governance and probity.The process of thwarting the wish of the people by the few renegades among the political elite does not start an election day. It is always a phased project, beginning with the voter register, conduct of party primaries, inducement of all categories of personnel with direct influence on the election at pre-and post election periods. And going from our experience, such tendencies are not peculiar to a political party. It cuts across but the intensity of anger by aggrieved individuals and their parties are dependent on which side of the divide they belong.Politics in the country today is not about ideology. It is not about a particular set of politicians belonging to any of those established political lineage that did the country proud in the past. Many only engage in dropping the names of those highly revered leaders of blessed memories for the primary purpose of feathering their individual nests. They lack the intellectual capacity and managerial skill of our progenitors whose legacies are being destroyed by the present capricious, parasitic predators and moth in our midst. Their antecedents do not conform to the time-tested saying that leadership is synonymous with self-less service and dedication to the cause of humanity, which should constitute a veritable determining factor at election time.The dress rehearsal for the rancourous Lagos council poll peaked when the political parties began to choose their chairmanship and councillorship candidates. Many had expected a fair intra-party race, but a number of contestants, their supporters and party elders, as well as community leaders had cried blue murder when it became apparent that some elements had, indeed, resolved not to allow a level-playing turf. The degree of injustice, coupled with the attendant anger and frustration in many quarters over the situation was underscored by the open support for aggrieved contestants by some traditional rulers.And because the election eventually held under such a controversial climate, the outcome could not have been insulated from the current hoopla.But there is one snag that should be of concern to all and sundry. The myriad and nature of complaints arising from the election are a drawback to the political development of the country. All the major parties that fielded candidates have listed ballot stuffing, illegal thumb printing, use of thugs, partisan electoral officials, snatching of ballot boxes and deliberate starving of opponents stronghold of ballot papers as a way of disenfranchising the electorate are some of the allegations. All these factors stigmatised the Nigerian political system. So, the Lagos election, if the views of the key participants and monitors are anything to go by, proves we have leanrt nothing and forgotten nothing. The views of a top official of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), who was among the independent election monitors at lastSaturday's poll, best summarises what transpired during the election: 'We observed the polls and saw what happened in some of the polling units. Our summation is that he who pays the piper will always dictate the tune.'His thoughts should be clear to those who love this country and have consistently offered a benchmark for it to obliterate its ugly past in evolving democracy. It is shameful that we cannot conduct a simple council election that should be free and fair in view of the strategic place of the third level of government in national development. Our inability to get it right at local council means the majority of the population that still reside in the rural areas would be perpetually neglected and marginalised in the distribution and management of state resources, as Lagos presents a more strategic platform to showcase all democratic niceties being the gateway to Nigeria.Why must Nigerian leaders prefer to do the last thing first instead of the other way round' The game plan by them is always to inflict deliberate conflicts on the psyche of the people with the intention to wear them out. For instance, before the Lagos poll, there was an orchestrated campaign in certain quarters that those brazenly cheated at the preparatory stages to the poll, should seek legitimate means to seek redress. Such sermon, to me, is against the grains of natural justice since some individuals, because of their position in the system, had deliberately thwarted the course of justice. And in any case, who set up the election tribunals that aggrieved contestants are being asked to go' Remember what CLO official said on the Lagos election! Too, the things that have been emanating from most tribunals are capable of eroding public confidence in the judiciary. However, all the aggrieved camps in the opposition and ruling party in the Lagos poll must employ lawful and non-violence means to pursue their case. The matter should be pursued to a logical conclusion because of the looming image of Lagos on the socio-economic and political development of the country.The observatory role of the Independent National electoral Commission (INEC) during the election is a welcome development. It should make public its findings on the election. This is necessary in view of the claims and counter-claims by the opposition parties like the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Accord Party (AP) that the was another travesty of justice by the ruling the Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN) which claimed to have won fair and neat in all the 20 local government areas and 37 local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).It is also important that the Commission expedited action on the second phase of weeding the rest of those parties that constitute sea weeds. Those parties like the Justice Party [JP] had no reason being in existence since one of their leaders in the state reportedly said they only fielded candidates in the election for mere participation. In other words, they would have remained mere spectators, but for the INEC rules, which led to the recent de-registration of six parties in last April general elections for not fielding candidates at all.Oderemi, 08023501874 (sms only)
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