Giving it up for Bankole
Conceding defeat in an election is a
rare thing in our politics, especially when the loser is an incumbent
candidate. It, therefore, came as a pleasant surprise to many observers
when the speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole,
openly acknowledged his failure to get a return ticket to the House as
a reflection of the wishes of his people. Shortly after, Segun Williams
of the Action Congress of Nigeria, was declared the winner of the
Abeokuta South Federal Constituency seat in Ogun State. Mr Bankole
congratulated his opponent and said the ability of the people to elect
the leader of their choice is “a good omen in our national quest to
entrench democracy in our nation.” This prompted one publication to
describe the Speaker’s action as “unprecedented and the unthinkable.”
In more stable democracies, Mr
Bankole’s acceptance of the people’s verdict would not have earned so
much space in the news nor would it have been the subject of an
editorial. But in a country where it is almost impossible for those who
hold power to accept they are no longer popular, the Speaker’s action
has drawn significant attention.
We appreciate Mr Bankole’s courage in a
country where so-called elder statesmen, including one from his state,
have engaged in a battle over who laughs the most at losing opponents.
We praise him for not claiming victory, even though it was a close
race, in a country where candidates who clearly lost elections insist
they won.
Also, we commend the Speaker for not
unnecessarily causing tension in the already volatile Ogun State. We
acknowledge that his peers elsewhere would have acted differently under
the circumstances. Take for instance the governor of Kwara State,
Bukola Saraki, who went on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter
to announce victory for the PDP in three senatorial districts and five
federal constituencies of the state barely five hours after voting was
completed, and while citizen reports were showing an early lead for the
ACN. Of course, Mr Saraki’s arrogance angered many observers. By the
time he realised the folly of claiming victory when no official
announcements had been made and pulled down the posts, the damage had
been done. Protests have since erupted in his state with the opposition
claiming the parliamentary election was rigged.
After hurrying to announce himself
victor, it is hard to think that Mr Saraki would have accepted defeat
like Mr Bankole had he not been declared senator-elect by the electoral
body.
It is characteristic of our
politicians, whether in opposition or ruling parties, to imagine
themselves victorious in elections and force their self-awarded
victories on the rest of us, thereby causing chaos. But there seems to
be a break from this culture as Mr Bankole and others have shown.
Following in the Speaker’s steps, PDP’s
Iyiola Omisore, who chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriation, on
Monday conceded defeat to Babajide Omoworare of the ACN. Almost
plagiarising Mr Bankole’s words, the serving senator said, “The result
of the National Assembly elections should be regarded as the wish of
the electorate which we politicians must respect to safeguard the
nation’s growing democracy. In a true democracy, you don’t expect to be
winning every time.” It is also very interesting that Mr Omisore sees
the conduct of last Saturday’s poll “as a clear signal that our
democracy has come to stay and that our politicians are improving.”
Messrs Bankole and Omisore’s examples should be encouraged by
everyone who wants to see democracy grow in our country. This is not to
say those who have valid arguments that their mandates were stolen
should accept defeat and move on. By all means legal, they should
pursue their cases to logical conclusions. The act of seeking and
getting justice is indeed an integral part of the democratic process.
What we abhor is the culture of ‘do or die’ that plagued our politics
in the past. As Mr Omisore counselled, “Politics is a game of win and
lose. If you win, you take it; if you lost too, you should accept it in
good faith. That is how we can nurture our democracy into full
maturity.”
