By Wole Soyinka
The “Advertorial” – full front page of a
newspaper “ Feb 23, 2015 – sponsored by Mr. Ayo Fayose (aka “No
Apology”) deserves to succeed in its aim of putting an end to all
dispute surrounding the Ekiti elections of June 21, 2014. After all, its
entire page is dedicated to a Press Statement from the US Department of
State, which purportedly endorses the results of that election,
congratulates the electoral organization, the winner/loser duo, not
forgetting the security forces – all for their laudable contributions.
The release could not be timelier, what
with the governor’s own exhortations on the virtues of credibility,
avoidance of violence, and its special appeal to “ALL THOSE WHO HAVE
NOTHING TO HIDE”.
It is that last item in the
advertisement to which I am especially drawn, in view of an audio
recording that has now become the latest marvel of democratic exposes,
internationally. For those who have nothing to hide, disrobing lies and
forgeries and reinforcing truth is regarded as part and parcel of the
obligations we owe democracy.
The audio could well be one of such
forgeries. We are daily inundated with allegations, evasions,
distortions, image plundering and image laundering, all under the
permissive canopy of electoral proceeding. Once in a while however, we
encounter exposure of an exceptional dimension that appears to strike at
the very root of Democracy, questions the validity of an entire
electoral system and even erodes confidence in the integrity of the
state. Such an event need not be regarded as a repudiation of the formal
mechanics put in place by an electioneering agency such as INEC, but
nonetheless extends the scope of its responsibilities, including its
projection of looming hazards of future electoral exercises.
This is why, in the absence of a
Constitutional Court or its equivalent, one is left with no other course
than to call on INEC to also take formal charge of the recorded
incident of this alleged conspiracy to pervert the course of Democracy.
For those ‘who have nothing to hide’, it is a call that deserves
unstinting support. They should not hesitate to assist in calling on the
same US expertise to assist us in exposing a forgery. We are speaking
here of a development that implicates not only products, beneficiaries
or would-be constitutional guardians of the electoral process – that is,
an elected governor, a governorship aspirant, but also state agencies –
the military, two serving ministers – that is, members of the Executive
arm of government, one of them in charge of the nation’s defence
portfolio – and others.
In addition to the logical role of the
police, the nation’s electoral commission should undertake an
independent investigation and make its findings known to the nation. Is
this perhaps something INEC can undertake while the nation waits out its
suspended electoral sentence? It only requires repudiation – or
validation – of the findings of an already advanced forensic enquiry.
So also should the two anti-corruption
agencies – the EFCC and the ICPC – since material corruption is also
implicit in the present instance. At the fount of all electoral
manipulation is the grim facilitator – Money! Here, for instance, is a
lesson drawn from the travails of a former Inspector-General of Police
in recent history.
That scandal happened to coincide with a
barely concluded electoral exercise, considered by some as a strong
contestant for one of the most blatantly manipulated election in the
nation’s history. A number of bulging accounts had been traced to that
Inspector-General. During private discussions, I exhorted the then
Director of EFCC to go beyond the sensational monetary finds and track
each of them painstakingly back to source. “If you succeed in that”, I
urged Nuhu Ribadu, “you would have done more than merely expose
institutional police corruption, you would have done inestimable service
to the cause of Democracy. The I-G,” I insisted, “was a mere bag holder
for electoral manipulators inhabiting the most rarefied levels of
governance!” I therefore pleaded with him not to stop at the
prosecution and conviction of the sacrificial face – in effect, a
scapegoat, albeit most willing – of that operation. This was equally my
prayer to the Nigerian Bar Association during an Abuja lecture at the
time.
Anyone who disputes a robust connection
between material and political corruption should reflect on the mild
slap on the wrist that the I-G received for charges of misappropriation
of such staggering dimensions. Now it is the turn of the Army as
facilitators for the alleged political crime. Allied to this elite
criminal corps – again, as alleged – was a former Chairman of the Senate
Appropriation Committee turned governorship candidate. The evidence
resides in the recording of a conspiracy against free and fair
elections, later reinforced by a televised interview with the
whistleblower – a military intelligence officer. That recording has been
heard by millions all over the world – governments, Human Rights
Organizations, election monitoring groups, business individuals, even
those merely seeking real-life variants on improbable Nollywood fare.
The alleged crime is in global domain.
Let no one attempt to facilitate the
rampaging course of Impunity by brushing this aside as just another
electoral malpractice – no, in my layman estimation, this approaches
criminal subversion and treason. The accusation is blatant and the
demand for rigorous investigation must remain unrelenting. The accounts
of the inculpated General and others should be subjected to the same
scrutiny as those of the earlier cited Inspector-General of police. And
so on, and so clamorous! Those who have nothing to fear can sleep easy.
If the formal agencies fail, then
citizens must learn to assert their right of access to Truth. As is the
practice in other societies, a Citizens Trial can be instituted, experts
co-opted, and both accusers and accused invited to testify. Even the
venue does not have to be internal, since witnesses may require
protection. Democracy does not begin or end with the ballot box, nor is
it confined to national boundaries. There is no assertion anywhere yet
of a “Case Proven”, no rush to judgment, simply a craving – as urged in
the said governor’s advertorial – to let “facts Speak for themselves!”
- This Piece was written by Wole Soyinka/Thisday
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