Ganduje’s open threat to democracy, by Sarafa Ibrahim

Nigeria’s democracy has entered into a troubling phase, facing an uncertain future. And the source of the problem is in the disturbing posture of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Ganduje, which suggested that poll may no longer be the path to power any longer in Nigeria as democracy, everywhere, is known for.

“In this (South) geopolitical zone, we must deliver 100 percent in favour of APC. Therefore, Ondo State, you must be the forefront of the two other states–Oyo and Osun– we will capture them, but I will not reveal our secret. We are strategising. Everything must be 100 per cent behind President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Ganduje was quoted to have said at a stakeholders’ meeting of the party in Akure on Sunday.

But it is just not the Southwest that Ganduje has in mind for conquest. In August this year, Ganduje provided a stark overview of what the future of Nigeria’s democracy will look like by indicating that the APC will take Edo state, which will be followed by Anambra next year because “we (APC) have introduced a new scheme” and then go on to seal it by “encroaching into that (South-East) zone to ensure that we capture most of the states. And if we get what we want, we will capture all the states.”

By capture, Ganduje was simply telling Nigerians that ballots may no longer be the means to decide leadership. This will mean that Nigeria is on its way to a one-party state, which many have feared is the ultimate goal of Ganduje and his party. It is frightening, right? But the truth, which is in plain view is that Ganduje doesn’t seem to agree that the choice of leadership in a democracy solely rests with the people.

Ganduje, of course, may pretend that is not the case but unfolding events have clearly shown where he is headed and it is not something good. Democracy, anywhere it is adopted as a form of government, is anchored on the people exercising the power to choose who administers their affairs through the ballots. What, in fact, makes democracy appealing more to the people is that it gives them much say on who leads them.

However, this is what Ganduje has been pointedly hinting will be gone, yet no one seems to care. In all of these, Ganduje hide under the re-election bid of President Bola Tinubu to fly his anti-democratic tendency, but that did not tell the whole story. This is why it is worrying to note that, Ganduje who should be at the forefront of promoting the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria, is actually trying to pull the plug and set Nigeria on the path of authoritarianism.

Democracy can only work when the people have a choice. That is what Ganduje is trying to take away from Nigeria with his subtle but open attempt to take everything, not by the ballots but forcefully. In Osun, for instance, the people endured horrible experiences under the APC for several years, with public infrastructures in a deplorable state just as the welfare of workers and pensioners suffered great neglect.

It was the option of an alternative that democracy offers that provided succour to the people in 2022, bringing about a government that eases their pains and set the course for better living conditions. In less than two years in office, Governor Ademola Adeleke, who emerged through the will of the people, has turned things around for the better, offering a refreshing experience on governance to people who have suffered misrule for a very long time.

Take, for instance, the welfare of the people. Before Governor Adeleke came to power, the welfare of active workers and pensioners was treated with levity, exerting an unimaginable amount of pain on those segments of the society. It was so bad that the promotion given to workers in 2019 by the APC administration didn’t go beyond the paper it was typed as no financial benefits followed it. It took the coming of Governor Adeleke for the long wait of the workers to end, as he implemented the financial implications of the promotions even though he didn’t initiate it.

The same thing with the payment of half salary owed to workers and pensioners by the APC administration. Governor Adeleke has so far paid six out of the thirty months of inherited wage debt to active workers and some categories of pensioners while retirees yet to receive their bonds have gotten as much as fifteen months of the owed half salary. It is important to note that Governor Adeleke has also paid up five months of cooperative deductions from workers’ salaries owed by the previous administration.

For pensioners, it was a lot more rosy as Governor Adeleke has shown serious commitment to their welfare. As against the experience of the past when pensioners were forced to pour into the streets in protest to demand their due entitlements, Governor Adeleke focused significant resources on offsetting the huge liabilities inherited. In less than two years, the Adeleke administration has released over N15 billion as bond to pensioners in the state, outpacing the combined two administrations of the APC which could only expend about N11 billion as bond to pensioners in twelve years.

This is in addition to enrolling the entire pensioners in the state on healthcare coverage, ensuring that senior citizens can get treatment at no cost to them. It is worth emphasising that Osun is the first state in the whole of Nigeria to provide health coverage for retirees, taking responsibility for the healthcare of those who had given the best of their lives to the service of the state.

In terms of infrastructural development, Governor Adeleke is doing a very good job. In October last year, Governor Adeleke unveiled an ambitious infrastructure plan, which will significantly expand the infrastructure of the state and upscale economic activities. So far, the infrastructure plan has yielded the construction of bridges in Osogbo and Ile-Ife while dual carriage roads are happening simultaneously in different parts of the state. As we speak, road construction is happening in each of the local governments of Osun just as the rehabilitation of public schools and primary healthcare centres is being undertaken to expand access.

These and more are the things happening in Osun which Ganduje seeks to halt by capturing it, which implies rigging. Undoubtedly, for most Osun people, it is utterly disgusting for them to see how much Ganduje hold them in contempt, fiercely contesting their rights to choose who leads them. It gets more appalling when it is considered that this is the same Ganduje that was unable to win his home state of Kano for the APC in the presidential and governorship polls.

As I reflected on the implications of Ganduje’s capture comment, I fear that he may be unwittingly letting out the plan of his party to derail this democracy. If what it needs for a party to have a state is to capture it, and not the thumbs of the people, then we can forget about democracy. It is only in military regimes that capture, which entails a forceful takeover of power, is prevalent.

That is the unfortunate scenario that Ganduje is trying to bring back. Terrifying, right? This is more reason why all people of conscience must rise against Ganduje’s newfound approach to power because watching him get away with it will do no one any good, not even the APC. Osun is making steady progress and doesn’t need Ganduje’s capture to return to the ugly past when pains and anguish were the experience of the people.

● Sarafa Ibrahim is a Special Assistant to the Osun State Governor on Print Media and writes from Osogbo.