EKITI : E-11 AND THE EKITI PUBLIC BEFORE THE ZERO HOUR

    EKITI : E-11 AND THE EKITI  PUBLIC BEFORE THE ZERO HOUR

                  Kareem Adio

 On  16 October Ekiti State Governor-elect Dr Peter Ayodele Fayose will be formally inaugurated into office. Surprisingly, that was the same date he was removed from office in 2006 through  what some people describe as an “ inconclusive impeachment process” that led to a state of emergency being declared in Ekiti state.

But now the E-11, a group of  prominent Ekiti sons with powerful connections are against this, through a suit filed against Fayose’s eligibility to contest the June 21^st Gubernatorial election in the state . Expectedly, this seems to pitching the group against the masses in the state, who see their own hope for prosperity in him.
 Most Ekiti people want a genuine form of democracy that will allow them to choose their own leaders, though by no means all are willing to face tear gas to get it. That is why  the common people- the  99.9% who are generally regarded as docile in other climes, are resolutely  defending Fayose’s victory. They want it, not only for abstract reasons of being treated like citizens . They want it for practical reasons too: to get in a government more attuned to their concerns. Many are dissatisfied with the current state of affairs in their state in which social mobility is too low, elitist style of governance that too obvious and social provisions inadequate . They see this, rightly, as the result of a collusion between Lagos business tycoons and Ekiti APC government, who both see cheap doormen and a safe place to park their money as more important than social justice through low tertiary school fees, inclusive governance and contract pork barrel sharing. The idea of Fayose in power gladdens their hearts while, on the other hand, getting Fayose to power scares those elite who run Ekiti almost as much as it does the APC.
In fairness, Governor Kayode Fayemi is a great statesman. Encouragingly, he  has stuck closely to the terms of the handover to  Fayose and to the stipulations of the Basic moral order. Even the deal he has offered on the need to set up a committee for  smooth transfer of power  promises to be a model , allowing people to make political reference to it some days.  Then suddenly crisis came up.
 The problem is, the elite in Ekiti- the E-11, members of the 0.09% who had no hand in making the deal that gave Fayose victory at the polls, now want more.
 The E-11 approached the court to quash Fayose’s victory, citing constitutional provisions that he was not eligible to contest the election that gave him victory at the polls. And governor Fayemi himself deviated a little bit from his gentlemanly posture, claiming that the APC would retrieve Ekiti back from Fayose and the PDP. This gave a hint of some connivance between his party and the E-11. The perception this created led to the unfortunate attacks on Ekiti courts and the trial judge by the mob who overran the court and disrupted proceedings. Though unfortunate as the action was, the people who did this might not be all thugs, but the owners of  Fayose’ electoral  mandate.  They had probably been given wrong signals as a result of the perceived collusion between the E-11 and the APC , and so had ignorantly gone there to distrupt proceedings. 
The police security on ground couldn’t contain the mob, and the state Commissioner of Police CP Taiwo Lakanu had to personally gone there to help, using riot police to disperse the crowd..
 Now having failed to secured enough ground to ensure that the will of the people is subverted as a result of the spontaneous actions of the larger Ekiti space, the E-11 decided to consider its options. The E-11 and the APC  will be hoping against hope that the protests wiil simply peter out and that practical Ekiti people will tire of the inconvenience and damage that will happen the social and  economic space.  Just as likely, though, fairly large numbers of protesters will likely hold on for days, obliging government to contemplate even tougher measures to disperse them. Too much violence — or too little success for the E-11 — and  Fayose may call time on his tenure.
  Nevertheless,  Ekiti is in open revolt to injustice any time.  That is already being tested in Ado-Ekiti, in the far west, scene of several gruesome political attacks in 1983.
 Unaccountably, E-11 seem to have chosen precisely this moment to press the case for against Fayose return to power, prefering an acting governor model to Fayose, saying that would be good for Ekiti. Lovers of democracy and admirers of Gov Fayemi are looking at events in Ekiti and shaking their heads in disbelief. But the people have revolted against that move. Even Ekiti traditional rulers were obliged to declare the E-11’s words unacceptable.
What  if the court rules against Fayose’ inauguration later this month, on 14 October ? There are three plausible outcomes. First, Governor Fayemi surely must leave office, but the APC still retains power through the speaker, as an acting governor and Ekiti returns to an uneasy status quo ante in which the limits of the formula are glaringly apparent. Second, more likely, protesters win large concessions on democracy, with a clear ordering of  the hurricane of violence that might lead to a lot of destruction of lives and properties, and may also affect some members of the E-11. Third is that Federal government calls a halt to the whole saga through the declaration of a state of emergency, with legal battles proceedings still continuing. The chances of that are remote.  But all parties must tread cautiously.