By Debo Alabi

Yagba Federal Constituency in the western Kogi senatorial zone, consists of three local councils, namely Mopamuro, Yagba East and Yagba West. In 1999, at the outset of the Fourth Republic political dispensation in Nigeria, each of the three local government areas fielded aspirants for the seat. The Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), the dominant political association at the time, guaranteed success for its flagbearers. In the run-up to the 1999 polls, all eyes were on the PDP primaries. Shola Ojo, (Mopamuro); Tolorunjuwon Joseph Faniyi (Yagba East), Engr Sunday Karimi and Mrs Margret Orebiyi, (Yagba West) were the frontrunning aspirants. Orebiyi would later step down for Karimi. Despite the superior strength of Yagba West, which consists of 14 electoral wards, four more than Mopamuro and Yagba East with 10 electoral wards apiece, the PDP ticket was eventually decided in favour of Ojo (Mopamuro).

Ojo’s emegence was more of a consensus in an arrangement superintended by party elders under the leadership of the respected patriarch and one of the founding fathers of PDP in Nigeria, the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi. Aspirants from the two other local government areas were prevailed upon by the elders to await their turns in subsequent electoral cycles. Meanwhile, Yagba West fielded a candidate for the 1999 election in the late legal icon, Chief Tunji Arosanyin who was the flagbearer of the defunct All Peoples Party (APP). Ojo, also an attorney, hitherto domiciled in Kano, the formidable hub of commerce in northern Nigeria, went on to win the general election of that year.

Ojo served in the “Green Chamber” from 1999 to 2003. At that time, PDP’s internal, mutual understanding based on the rotation principle expressly asserted that each LGA would serve just one term, after which the position would rotate to another. Contestants for the 2003 PDP ticket included Karimi, Faniyi, Mrs Funmi Abiodun, a lawyer; the Port Harcourt based quantity surveyor and expert in the Marine sector, Bode Olorunsola and J.K Odeyemi, an engineer. The primary election was headed for a runoff between Faniyi and Karimi, but, again, the elders in their wisdom settled for a simple majority. Faniyi picked PDP ticket and he went on to defeat his opponent in the reconfigured APP, which had then become the All Nigeria People’s Party, (ANPP), Mrs Justina Abanida. Abanida, a one time Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General. Abanida, a lawyer, hails from Egbe, Yagba West Council.

For Karimi, the waiting game continued even when the seat berthed in Yagba West. Karimi lost PDP’s ticket to a fellow Yagba West opponent, Samuel Bamidele Aro.. Aro, a successful oil marketer, won the 2007 election into the House of Representatives, which took place on April 21, 2007. He defeated Bolaji Oluwafemi of the defunct Action Congress (AC) and served in the lower parliament until 2011.

The extant rotational arrangement forbade Mopamuro and Yagba East from fielding candidates for the 2007 election. In fairness to the past occupants of the seat, performance was not a yardstick for continuity. Based on the extant zoning template of the PDP, the baton was expected to be passed back to Mopamuro in 2011. However, at the conclusion of his first term in 2011, Aro, the incumbent declared his intention for a second term. Backed by the Kogi State governor at the time, Ibrahim Idris and machinery of the ruling party at the state level, Aro defeated his lone challenger for the PDP ticket, Chief Folorunsho Daniyan, (from Mopamuro). However, the outcome of 2011 primary election that threw up Aro did not sit well with the factional PDP who beckoned on Karimi to step forward in another political party.

Karimi’s name was a last-minute inclusion in the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In what turned out a historic protest vote, Karimi defeated PDP’s Aro in the general election held on April 9th, 2011. The strength of the PDP had been further decimated in the aftermath of the controversies that trailed its primaries. Daniyan left PDP and flew the flag of the ANPP. He came third in the general election. For the first time, in 2011, Mopamuro, Yagba West and Yagba East all fielded candidates for the House of Representatives.

The 2011 episode effectively marked the fatal end to one term and rotation of the seat in Yagba Federal Constituency.

Highlights

Karimi got the mandate of Yagba people to represent them in 2011 when he did not aspire for it from the start to the race and when it was supposed to be the turn of Mopamuro. He was not even on the list of aspirants jostling for the much-sought ticket of the PDP in that year’s primaries. He also became the first Yagba man to be reelected, thereby setting the precedence for continuity.

As the sitting Rep, Karimi (Yagba West) returned to his old party (PDP) and sought re-election in 2015. He picked the PDP ticket ahead of Kano based business tycoon, Leke Abejide (Yagba East) and successful civil engineer, Dele Obiniyi (Yagba East).

Karimi went on to win the parliamentary election held on March 28, 2015. He defeated Ganiyu Salaudeen of the Accord Party (AP/Yagba East), Kayode Adegbayo (APC/Yagba East), and Joseph Blessing of the Labour Party (LP/Mopamuro). Note again that all three LGAs fielded candidates in 2015.

Subsequently, Karimi’s record was equalled by Leke Abejide (Yagba East), now on his second term. His back-to-back victory in the 2019 and 2023 elections were achieved under the platform of lesser known African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Instructively, to further butress the point that rotation may have become a thing of the past, Abejide’s victories in both elections were far from a walkover, not for him, not for Yagba East. With the exception of Yagba West, the 2019 edition was keenly contested by aspirants from Mopamuro and Yagba East. A total of 15 candidates registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to contest in the 2019 election. ADC candidate, Abejide won the election, defeating APC’s Henry Abimbola (Mopamuro), PDP’s Fabola James (Yagba East), SDP’s Oluwafemi Iselaiye (Yagba East) and 12 other candidates from Mopamuro and Yagba East. The list of candidates and their parties for the 2019 polls are as follows: Adebayo Kenneth (PPC); Oluropo Odofin Augustine (MPN); Jonathan Ayokunle Olushola (ACCORD): Balogun Blessing Olumayowa (APM); Somidire Comfort (ACPN); Atteh Oladimeji (PPN); Yusuf Mary Oluwatoyin (DA); Isah Saidu (LP); Omowaiye Ete A. (UPP); Omole David Bolorundoro (UPC) and Abdurafiu Ismail (PT).

The all-commers scenario was again replayed in 2023 when Abejide (ADC/Yagba East) ran against Folorunsho Olafemi (APC/Mopamuro), Joseph Faniyi (PDP/Yagba East).and Jeremiah Oladokun (APGA/Yagba East). The list incuded Alonge Victor Oluwabusayo (Accord), Adekunle Komolafe (NNPP), Bamigboye Sunday (ADP), Musa Lasisi (Action Alliance), Jethro Olusegun Solomon (SDP) and Obiniyi Bamidele (YPP).

Rotation Can Only Be By Negotiation, Not Entitlement Claim

Ahead of the 2027 election, a notable Yagba political figure who preferred anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the debate on the continuity of rotation representation told our reporter that based on the foregoing, if at all there would be further adherence to rotation, “it can only be by negotiation, not by entitlement claim”.

He said: “The rotational arrangement for the HOR election in Yagbaland has been a straightforward and adaptable practice since inception. This arrangement was designed to give each local government in the federal constituency a fair opportunity. The Yagba federal constituency comprises three local government areas: Yagba West, Yagba East, and Mopamuro. Historically, Mopamuro was the first local government to benefit from this arrangement in 1999 with Hon. Sola Ojo, followed by Yagba East with Hon. T.J. Faniyi in 2003. In 2007, Hon. Sam Aro benefited from the rotation, and in 2011, it was Yagba West’s turn again with Hon. Sunday Karimi, who served two terms. This two-term pattern continued with Hon. Leke Abejide from Yagba East in 2019, who is currently serving his second term. Ideally, after Hon. Leke Abejide’s second term, Mopamuro local government should be the next to benefit from the rotation and to spend their two terms. However, Mopamuro’s inconsistent adherence to the rotation has been a significant constraint.

In the last two elections, Mopamuro fielded candidates against Hon. Leke Abejide, which was unfortunate as their action demonstrated their disregard for the rotation. Mr Tuesday Abimbola and Engr Folorunsho Olafemi contested twice with Leke Abejide. If they had won, it would have also conflicted the entire process. As an experienced political figure in Yagba federal constituency, I cautioned Mopamuro aspirants to respect the rotation and not contest against Yagba East candidates. Unfortunately, my warnings were ignored, and Mopamuro’s actions have put them at a disadvantage. If Mopamuro had respected the rotation and not contested against Yagba East in the last two elections, it would have been incumbent on Yagba East not to run against them. However, since Mopamuro did contest, Yagba East’s potential third term would alter the rotation cycle, making Yagba West eligible to contest after Yagba East.

It will take a proper consultation and a United front from Mopamuro to sustain their alliance with the rotation which they had kicked against”.

As it were, from the viewpoints of public affairs analysts and political pundits, Mopamuro has held the seat one-term of four years since 1999, Yagba West had 3 terms of 12 years and Yagba East two terms of eight years. From the foregoing, Mopamuro’s agitation to have the 2027 HOR seat is not out of order. The point has also been made for the entrenchment of fairness and equity as well as the sustenance of unity within the region. One can not also rule out the fact that, with the exception of 2003 election, Mopamuro has consistently fielded candidates against candidates from Yagba West and Yagba East.

Twice in 2019 and 2023, the ruling APC conceded its tickets to Mopamuro. Both chances were lost more to internal divisions within the local government. Power is not given; it is taken. The bottomline is that 2027 election doesn’t look like one to be determined by entitlement. Rotation is achievable only by negotiation. Rotation is not a law. Mopamuro must work hard for it, speak with one voice, and present a formidable candidate, as a prerequisite for negotiation.

Effective Representation As a Factor

While the idea of rotation may seem appealing, the performance of the sitting member and the capacity to drive meaningful development and growth are key factors in effective representation, which should not be overlooked going into the 2027 election. Rotation may seem like a fair and equitable approach, but the electorate is also aware it can lead to a lack of continuity and consistency in representation. This also can result in a lack of accountability, as representatives may not feel compelled to deliver on their promises. Furthermore, rotation can lead to a focus on short-term gains rather than long-term development. Again, anyone thinking of running against an incumbent must make a careful examination of whether it can be done.

In the modern-day election pattern in Nigeria, incumbents win elections about 85 percent. An entrenched incumbent is even harder to beat than a more recently elected one. Here are some factors to consider before going into the decision of whether a challenge could be successful. The first step is to consider the overall political environment and the general mood of the electorate. Generally, there are two things that should worry incumbents.

One is whether the electorate perceives that things are on the right track. The other is whether the electorate thinks the incumbent care about them. For any sitting representative who receives favourable ratings from his people—based on these two factors—it will require an out-of
-this-world strategy for any successful challenge to happen.

● Debo Alabi, a public affairs analyst and native of Yagba, writes from Lekki, Lagos

By Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa, SAN.

By the Grace of God, I am one year older today. I was born on this day many years ago in St. Philomena’s Hospital, Benin City to Late Hon. Justice Joseph Oghogho Idahosa and late Mrs.Josphine Idahosa.

“I am grateful to God for His mercies and benevolence in my life. I have luckily navigated many dangerous moments in life by the Grace of Almighty God and the prayers of my families and friends. They include police shooting incident at ibadan as a young lawyer, nearly drowning in a big river, receiving middle voltage electricity shock as a child and a host of other mines that are daily encountered in life. I thank God for my ancestry. I thank my late parents for my education and upbringing. I am lucky to have an an extremely good wife and very wonderful children. I thank my brothers, sisters and extended family members for who they are. Very supportive people. I have wonderful friends all over Nigeria and beyond.

I have been lucky to be trusted by by different levels of the Nigerian society to serve in one capacity or the other. By the authority of others, I have served as Sanitary Prefect in Edo College, Benin City, Public relations officer of the Law Students Association, Uniben, Public relations officer of the students’ union, Uniben, branch secretary of Benin branch of NBA, Edo State Secretary of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), and thrice elected to the House Representatives, where I served Ovia Federal Constituency, Edo State and Nigeria to the best of my ability and energy. My sojourn in the House is known to many and they are the only persons who can write my testimonial.

I am grateful to Nigeria, Edo people and in particular, the wonderful constituents of Ovia Federal Constituency ( living and dead) for the opportunities given to me to serve them amongst so many ably qualified persons.

I enjoyed the good old Nigeria and hope that it can be recreated for the benefit of the majority of our country men and women. We had patriotic and well meaning leaders who were committed to good governance. They were industrious and nationalistic within the limits of available resources, knowledge, science and energy of that time. It has been tough for our country men and women in the last ten years or so.

But, the Tinubu regime seems to be willing to make big economic decisions in the hope of repositioning our national economy to serve all of us. Some of these decisions have been hurtful in many ways to the majority of our people as they were not incrementally implemented. But, these decisions would only be appreciated, if the dividends intended, begin to trickle down soon. This would mean more fiscal and monetary policy discipline on the part of government itself. There must be a cut on the cost of governance. There is too much of Holly wood life style on the part of public officials. The essence of governance is to serve the people, not to show off with public funds held in trust for the public. They are not personal funds and must be spent prudently for the good of all.

The fight against corruption must be made real. It must be carried out with a sense of equality before the law. As long as many remain untouchable by the law, the fight would remain cosmetic and negatively affect the quality of lives of all of us as funds made to develop our country would continue to vanish into thin air

The increased funding of the component states of Nigeria by Tinubu’s administration is good news indeed. It means that the governors can truly do extraordinary things for residents of the various states, as part of the renewed hope project. They have to noticeably decrease the ratio of infant and maternal mortality. They must work to provide more functional health care centers in urban and rural areas, pay real attention to education from primary to post secondary levels. Significantly, they must give new impetus to tecnical education. It is the way to go in the new world order. The state governments must commit to massive provision of infrastructure in key areas of the economy. They must take a good look at the need to generate more electricity in their states to boost economic development. They must venture into rail transportation. It is the easiest way to move people around in large numbers. It can be done. Lagos state is already leading the way. Others can do the same. It is a matter of exhibiting the requisite political will to do it.

State governments know the importance of security in their respective states. It is not enough to openly support the police with funds, it is equally important to set up covert informal intelligence networks across the states to provide information for the use of formal security apparatus in carrying their out functions.

Nigeria can be great again. It has the raw population, man power, presence in diaspora, sufficient elites in various spheres of life to drive the renaissance.

God bless Nigeria and best wishes to all of us.

Dr. Ehiogie West-Idahosa, SAN

By Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja,
Executive Director,
Nigerian Law Society (NLS)

“We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of *dignity and discipline* .We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence”
-Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream”,August 28, 1963.

The leadership (National Officers) and administrative staff (Executive Director, and ICT and Secretary) of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) have conducted themselves with utmost “dignity and discipline”.

The NLS “dignity and discipline” in the face of unrelenting attacks and illegal provocation by the Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is something that students of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) are supposed to use as a case study of exemplary leadership and team work.

From the date December 2023, when a Federal High Court in Abuja gave a favourable judgment in favour of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) ordering the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) to register the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) in compliance with Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999 (as altered), it has been one attack after another.

The Registrar-General of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and who was supposed to apply legally approved methods, refused and resorted to extra-judicial methods such as publishing DEFAMATORY comments against the NLS on both social media and traditional newspapers.

In accordance with it’s principled “dignity and discipline”, the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) refused to respond in kind by engagingin a social media war. Instead, it submitted it’s complaints to the courts of law which were already handling the appeal filed by the same CAC and the NBA.

When these social media methods did not achieve the desired results, the Registrar-General of the CAC, then resorted to writing petitions against the NLS to law enforcement agencies such as the Department of State Security Services (DSS), Police and even the Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) requesting them to shut down the website and other operations of the NLS. NITDA is on record as refusing by telling the Registrar-General of the CAC that only a court of law can give an Order to that effect.

With their characteristic “dignity and discipline” the Executive Director of the NLS personally went to the DSS and Nigerian Police to respond by Submission of both written and oral evidence, to all these petitions by the Registrar-General of CAC.

Even though some members of the National Officers of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) also have connections within the Nigerian Police and other law enforcement agencies, and could have “unleashed” such law enforcement agencies upon the Registrar-General of the CAC, the NLS resisted the temptation of returning “fire-for-fire”. Instead they chose the path of “dignity and discipline” by reporting all these harassment to the courts of law and the National Human Rights Commission by a visit to the Executive Secretary.

They also paid a visit to the Hon. Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to formally notify him of the illegal actions of the Registrar-General of the CAC.

All these foregoing, points to the maturity of the National officers of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS). This maturity cannot be attributed to only one person alone namely Mela Nunge, SAN, who currently serves as the President of the NLS. It is a result of the collective maturity displayed by all the National Officers of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS) who came on board sometime in July 2024.

It is not as if everything is smooth sailing or there are no challenges within the Nigerian Law Society (NLS), however they have managed to manage their egos and internal revolts internally without bringing it into the public domain.

To the contrary, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) is recently embroiled in an internal revolt at it’s Rivers State branches that has now spilled into the public domain.

The crux of the matter is that the eight Chairpersons of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) branches wrote a letter to disassociate themselves from the decision of the headquarters of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) whom they accused of not caring them along as Local Organising Committee (LOC) in the forthcoming NBA national conference due to hold in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

In opposition to the letter written by the said 8 Chairpersons of the NBA in Rivers State, another group of lawyers have written a disclaimer that the said 8 Chairpersons of the NBA branches of Rivers State do not represent the views of the majority of lawyers in Rivers State.

This recent crisis speaks volumes, it shows that the leadership style of the NBA is bereft of democratic ideals and lacks both the “dignity and discipline” and amicable dispute resolution methods that are the now the characteristic trademarks of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS).

Roll over NBA, welcome the Nigerian Law Society (NLS).

Perhaps it is time that the national officers, EXCO members of the headquarters of the NBA and all it’s chairpersons from the 218 NBA branches should attend a seminar on leadership style to be delivered by the national officers of the Nigerian Law Society (NLS)!!!!