The politics of Melaye’s recall

The recall of the senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Dino Melaye, by the constituents failed. YINKA OLADOYINBO, in this report examines the issues and politics involved in the controversial exercise.

For the first time in the history of the present democratic experience, Nigerians were made to religiously follow the provisions of the 1999 constitution as it affects the recall of a senator of the federal republic. Many people wanted to know what would appoints the senator representing Kogi West senatorial district, Dino Melaye, at the end of the exercise that was allegedly initiated by constituents from the senatorial district.

Section 69 of the 1999 Constitution makes provisions for the process for the recall of a senator elected to represent a senatorial district in the red chambers of the National Assembly. This section was, in May 2017, invoked by the people across the seven local government areas that make up Kogi West senatorial district, saying they were tired of the manner of representation offered by Melaye and that he should, therefore, return home to enable them elect a fresh hand into the seat.

However, after two weeks of rigorous collation of signatures for the recall, the people on June 19, 2017 announced that they had secured more than enough signatures required to commence the recall of the senator.  The returning officer for the recall process, Malam Ademu Yusuf, while announcing the result from the seven local government areas, said the collation was done in Kabba, the headquarters of the senatorial district, and that of 360,098 total registered voters in all the seven local government areas, 188,588 signed for the recall of Senator Melaye.

He said out of 35,331 registered voters in Yagba East, 18,374 had signed while 20,029 out of 35,966 registered voters in Yagba West signed the document.

“In Mopa-Amuro, out of 18,356 registered voters, 9,186 signed; in Kabba-Bunu, out of 60,522 registered voters, 28,277 signed. In Kogi, out of 46,810 registered voters, 27,703 signed. In Lokoja, out of 116,296 registered voters, 63,736 signed and in Ijumu, out of 46,819 registered voters, 24,283 signed,” he said.

“Constitutionally, the requirement for the recall is 50.1 per cent of the registered voters and we already have 52.1 per cent,” he said.

A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) from Kogi West, Pius Kolawole, who coordinated the collation, while addressing the people from the zones at the APC state secretariat, in Lokoja, said the recall exercise was not about the APC family only. He said voters across political parties in the district were unanimous. In the decision to recall the embattled senator, adding that the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, had no hand in the exercise.

Kolawole, who is the Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, said, “Governor Yahaya Bello is our leader and our father; but let me tell you that he has no hand in the recall of Senator Dino Melaye. We asked the state government not to intervene in the matter because it is purely the electorate from the district who decided to recall him based on cogent reasons”.

This view has, however, been vehemently rejected by Melaye, who has consistently blamed the governor and his  Chief of Staff (COS) for his travails. The recall exercise suffered a temporary setback following the decision of the senator to challenge it both at the lower and appellate courts. But the Court of Appeal gave the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the green light to continue with the recall following which date was set for the verification of the signatures of those that signed the petition.

• Drama as constituents shun Melaye’s recall, stay away from polling units

Addressing a stakeholders’ meeting prior to the exercise, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Professor James Apam, pledged that the organisation would do a thorough job without fear, favour and bias. An indication that the exercise would fail however, started emanating during the week when stakeholders across party and ethnic lines came out boldly to charge the people of the district not to come out for the recall. The Okun Development Association (ODA), Okun Development Initiative (ODI), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Kola Ologbodiyan and many other individuals from the western senatorial district openly campaigned against the recall and charged the people to shun the exercise.

The recall brought out many political intrigues and enabled people to show their sympathy for Melaye. Many people that were hitherto his enemies and who hated  his way of life suddenly became his defenders and supporters. It became a case of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.

The day eventually came for the verification and the people of Kogi West spoke with one voice, unequivocally, they rejected the recall and confirmed Melaye as their senator. From Koton-Karfe in Kogi Local Government to Egbe in Yagba West Local Government, INEC ad-hoc staff came to the verification centres as early as 8 a.m and many of them slept throughout as they had no one to attend to, as the voters were nowhere to be found. A few that came in some of the units said they only came to ensure that their names were not included in the list.

However, there were dramas in some of the verification centres as many people questioned how their names got on the lists when actually they never supported the recall. One of the cases was an emotional and pathetic one that made a father to weep again over his dead daughter. The man, Mr Thomas, had gone to the centre located around Lokoja Club but was surprised and embittered with what he saw. The name of his daughter that died about two years ago appeared as one of the petitioners. The man broke down in tears and rained curses on those behind the act.

He didn’t stop at that; he went to his social media page and wrote “I had a bad experience today, the evil men behind Dino’s recall opened up my old wounds today. My late daughter, Miss Thomas Faith,  that died on July 18 2016. at the FMC Lokoja, her name was among the petitioners, her name is in number 729 on that evil list, her voters card is still with me, how do (sic) they got the VIN number? Is it her ghost that came to sign without the voter’s card? Whosoever did this will see hell”.

Another man in the same centre almost caused crisis as he vehemently complained that his wife never signed any petition but her name was listed as one of those that wanted Melaye to be recalled. The drama was an unending one as youths in many centres across the seven local government areas mobilised and stayed metres away from the verification centres waiting to see who would come over and verify and support the controversial recall.

One of the youths in Kabba, headquarters of Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area, who identified himself as Segun Bolade, said in Yoruba language “A n duro de iyalaya eni to ma wa so wipe oun fe yo Dino, omo wa ni, awa la dibo fun, ara ita o le dictate fun wa” meaning “We are waiting for the grandmother of anybody that will come and verify and recall Dino. He is our son,” we voted for him and an outsider cannot dictate for us”.

However, as much as the state government tried to wash its hands off the recall, many people in the senatorial district believed it was masterminded by government. Many officials of government and leaders of the APC that are loyal to Bello were conspicuously on the ground to mobilise people for the exercise. Unfortunately, the people refused to come out and Melaye still stands as the senator representing Kogi West in the National Assembly.

The result of the verification was announced at about 1.50 a.m on Sunday and the verification officer, Professor Ukertori Moti, declared the recall a failure as only a paltry 5.34 per cent of the petitioners came out for verification as the remaining 94.66 stayed away.

When the people woke up on Sunday and discovered that Melaye had survived. He recalled process, they went into jubilation and expressed delight that democracy was really in action. Many of them concluded that the result was a tip of the iceberg and a pointer to what would happen to Bello and whoever he supports during the next general election.

An elated deputy governorship candidate of the APC in the 2015 election, James Faleke, could not hide his joy over Melaye’s victory when he said “Even in detention, Dino Melaye defeated them.

A clear sign that Yahaha Bello is very unpopular in Kogi State”. The lawmaker believed that Bello was the reason why the people rejected the recall.

Faleke said, “The ultimate loser in the failed recall exercise is the All Progressives Congress (APC). Until those who worked so hard to win election for the party in Kogi are given due recognition, Governor Yahaya Bello will continue to struggle politically without results.”

Mocking the governor, Faleke added, “The recall project has failed. The people won. The outcome today is not just about Dino but the open rejection of the Yahaha Bello-led state government.

Faleke was not alone in his delightful mood over the failure of the recall project. A former acting governor of the state, Clarence Olafemi, was also full of joy when the result was announced.

Olafemi said, “It is my joy and happiness to state categorically that truth has at last caught up with all falsehood.

At the beginning of this crises, I did warn all parties that it is cheaper to look for peace than to fight war, and appealed to all parties to embrace peace and allow wisdom to reign supreme; but rather than abate the crisis became highly politicised particularly by the Governor boys whom I call kindergarten politicians”.

The main opposition party in the state, the PDP, on its part, said it was baffled that Bello wasted a whopping N5 billion on the failed recall, saying such money could have paid two months salary of workers in the state.

Reacting to the result of the exercise, the PDP through Achadu Dickson, Director, Research and Documentation, called for the thorough investigation of the claim by some of the electorate who turned out for the exercise that their signatures were forged.

“Those who were involved in the petition submitted to INEC for the recall of Senator Dino Melaye must be arrested and tried for forgery, ” the PDP said. The party said the huge human and financial resources deployed to the ‘Dino Melaye must go’ agenda would have made meaningful impact on the lives of the downtrodden people of Kogi State, especially the workers that are being owed several months salary.

The party declared that the open rejection of the recall agenda by the people of Kogi State was a clear signal that APC and Governor Yahaya Bello had been rejected in the state.

The national publicity secretary of the PDP, who is also from Kogi West senatorial district, Kola Ologbodiyan, also added his voice to the rejection of the recall by the people. He said the governor and his team were warned not to venture into it as it would be a colossal failure.

He said, “Governor Yahaya Bello and his men were warned. Don’t use the standard you see around Lugard House to measure the people of Kogi West. They refused to listen and kept boasting that they are in charge. Lessons have been learnt on both sides but certainly the biggest of such lessons were learnt on the GYB side. It is now clear to the GYBites that there is no individual power, no matter your position, that can ever be greater than the will of the people.

“ I thank Kogi Westerners who spit on the face of arrogance of power and told GYBites that there is more to life than bandying cash. I commend our leaders, who, setting aside personal rancour, worked in our collective desire to reject neocolonialism. I also thank all lovers of Okun, at home and abroad, who encouraged us to resist an attempt to disgrace our race. I commend Kogi workers for showcasing a tip of what they have in stock for this administration, come 2019

“We hope GYB will accept the lessons from this recall validation exercise and finally lock up the vault of this wasteful venture.  May Allah grant him the courage and wisdom to do the needful”.

But the governor seems to be unperturbed by the whole exercise, saying he is not from the western senatorial district and therefore could not have been party to the recall. He also said the result of the recall had no connection with his political life and would not affect his fortune.

The Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Petra Onyegbule said, “ The governor is not in any way connected to the exercise. That it is going to affect the governor’s political future is a very myopic thinking”. The recall exercise has come and gone and Melaye was able to survive the onslaught, like a cat with nine lives, observers are waiting to know how he will survive the many other battles he is facing.