Democratic Abnormalities In Politics Have Gradually Become Normalized

 

It’s a pity that democratic abnormalities in politics have gradually become normalized. I’m still surprised that some people see another person contesting against their preferred candidate as a political crime. Even though JB may have more potential to defeat Hon. Shittu in the election, that does not deprive Hon. Shittu of his constitutional right to contest and represent his constituency. Obviously, JB has gained more political popularity because of his current status and the goodwill he has built among the people. However, the gentleman also has every right to contest as many times as possible as a legislator, as long as the people still want his service.

The Ikorodu political structure is not doing justice to the principles of democratic politics. Imagine two aspirants contesting in the same party primary election, yet party leaders openly endorsed one candidate against the other before the process even began. What kind of result should people expect from such a primary election? To be honest and unbiased, if yesterday’s election had been conducted based on credibility and fairness, JB might still have emerged victorious because of his popularity and the work he has done to win the hearts of many people. But the election conducted was nothing but a joke and not something worthy of praise. I personally drove round most of the locations where the election was conducted. There were no INEC officials present; party members themselves were fully in charge of the process. In fact, once they noticed you intended to vote for Hon. Shittu, they would chase you away openly and intimidate voters.

Most polling booth agents refused to append their signatures because of the irregularities observed, yet results were still recorded and announced. At Agbala Ward E3, for example, the votes recorded for JB at the polling point were not up to 300, but the final result announced suddenly reflected over 3,000 votes. Similar situations reportedly occurred across several polling units. This automatically describes the kind of democratic process being practiced in Ikorodu politics today. I have seen some people suggesting that the next step should be going to court. However, if I had the opportunity to advise Hon. Shittu, I would say going to court may not make much sense when the same political structure and leaders already see him as an outsider within the party. What Ikorodu APC truly needs now is a sincere review of its electoral process in order to protect the future of internal democracy and restore confidence among party members and the people.