On Ekiti Election and Fayose’s victory,By Michael Jegede

I congratulate the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ayo Fayose, on his landslide victory in the governorship election of Ekiti State, which held on Saturday, June 21, 2014. I wish him the very best in office as he takes over the mantle of leadership in the state come October 16, 2014. I equally congratulate the entire people of Ekiti State because I believe it is simply victory for democracy. I commend them (the electorate) for coming out en masse to vote for a man of their choice. Also, I must not fail to applaud INEC for its neutrality and dispassionate posture in the conduct of the election, coupled with the adequate preparation it made for the exercise, which led to the prompt release of results. I urge losers in the election to accept the defeat in good faith and join hands with the winner to move the state forward. Let us work with the belief that power belongs to God and He gives it to whoever pleases Him. All available information indicate that the election was peaceful, transparent, free and fair, and as such, I do not think anybody or party has any good reason to complain. Even if you have complaints, please follow all the necessary lawful steps to seek redress, rather than resorting to violence or creating a chaotic situation in the state.
Honestly, I must say that I am not a fan or supporter of Fayose. He comes across to me as a rugged, ‘jagbo-like’ kind of politician. I really don’t like his style, even though he is believed to have recorded tremendous achievements in his first time as governor. On the other hand, I see the incumbent and outgoing Governor, Kayode Fayemi of APC as a decorous and gentleman politician, who applies every sense of decorum in his utterances and comports himself decently with great dignity. In fact, If I was entitled to vote in the Ekiti election, I would have voted for Fayemi. The man Fayemi cannot be said to be a bad governor because he did his best in the development of Ekiti State in the last four years. However, his undoing from what I gathered may not be unconnected to his not-too smooth relationship with workers and civil servants generally in the state. And this should be a big lesson for our leaders. No matter the kind of people-oriented programmes and policies you may think you are putting in place, if you toy with the welfare of the workers, particularly in the area of payment of salaries and other allowances due to them, you can be rest assured that you are apparently digging your grave.
A similar scenario had played out in my state, Kogi State, in 2003 when Prince Abubakar Audu, the then Governor on the platform of ANPP was gallantly defeated by Alhaji Ibrahim Idris of PDP who spent almost nine years in office with nothing much to show for it. Audu did not lose that election because he didn’t perform. As a matter of fact, his four years in office between 1999 and 2003 saw more development in term of physical structures than Ibro’s nine years. What happened to Fayemi today was exactly what happened to Audu. Despite incumbency power at his disposal and the meaningful infrastructural development he recorded, he (Audu) was removed in office by protest votes from workers in the state who saw hell in his hands as governor. The civil servants in the state clearly paid him back with the much disdain, scorn and punishment he meted out to them by always refusing to pay them their salaries as at when due. So, it is important that our leaders and politicians learn from this and always hold civil servants in high esteem and treat them well accordingly, no matter what you are doing in other areas to advance the cause of the people. Don’t forget that they (workers/civil servants) form the fulcrum of the masses.
Ekiti people have, indeed, spoken!
Michael Jegede, a journalist and public affairs analyst wrote from Abuja