We’re innocent, we’re naïve, we thought it was harmless, we did not know that it will be our waterloo as it was intended to prevent the already escalated skirmishes and pandemonium that ravaged almost all the northern states in the country. It was when the results of the gubernatorial elections were to be announced it dawned on us that the curfew imposed on the state by his Excellency Governor Shema penultimate week was nothing but a veritable strategy to rig the elections. We had earlier on complained to INEC on the need to relax the curfew in order to have a free and fair election but our concerns did not reach fruition.
It was a fine Tuesday morning we woke up to finish what we had started about two weeks ago via the Federal seats and the presidential elections. The exercise progressed calmly and without any interruptions in Katsina metropolis as all the election officials and materials were already on ground even before the arrival voters to the polling booths albeit the voters turn out was quite low when compared with the previous elections but it was just enough to have the elections won and lost.
I went to my polling unit for verification and it took me less than an hour to sort out everything, I then decided to return home and take a nap since the pooling unit is just a stone throw from my house. When I came back at about 1.00pm voting was already in progress, I joined the queue and my turn to vote came at about 1.45pm. The whole exercise came to calm close by about 4.40pm with the announcement of the result as 345 for the CPC 7 for the PDP and ACN had 2 votes.
I was astounded to hear from a friend that elections could not take place in some local government areas as election materials were not brought to the centers. I was not disturbed by the piece of news; I thought it was one of those INEC’s logistics problems that could be sorted out soon. It was much later I realized it was a deliberate action not to send election materials to some areas to give way for manipulation.
In Danmusa local government area for example, elections did not take place at all because cases of ballot box stuffing, pilferage and snatching were reported and investigation was carried out by no less than the National Commissioner who was in Katsina to monitor the elections. He caught about 30 people red handed and were immediately handed over to the police for prosecution. But that did not help matters as the result sheets for that local government were brought to INEC office and were dully announced as having conducted an election there. In other areas cases of votes soliciting and purchase during voting were rampant and all these dovetailed throughout the local government areas of the state but INEC turned a blind eye. In some cases result sheets were completed and brought to INEC office surreptitiously without necessarily conducting any election.
The results for all the 34 local government areas were brought to the state INEC office and the compilation and computation of the result sheets were concluded at about 7.00pm but for reasons best known to the Resident Electoral commissioner the announcement was deferred to 9.00pm and many of us who were within INEC premises were asked to go home as the curfew has begun, we had no option than to move to our houses. The result was announced where Shema garnered about a million plus votes and Masari got a little above five hundred thousand votes. That is the import of the curfew a friend whispered to me. It is instructive to mention that Buhari’s votes during the presidential elections in Katsina surpassed Shema’s by a little above a hundred thousand votes, what an irony. It is apparent that the result of the governorship election had already been determined even before the polls.
That singular declaration by INEC has dashed the hopes of the people of Katsina and by implication is a betrayal of confidence reposed on Prof. Jega who clearly told the whole world that every vote will count and that he would ensure credible free and fair elections this time around. Our votes did not really count as Jega prophesied and that even reminds me with nostalgia the blasphemous Obasanjo when he opined that even Jesus (AS) could not have organized a free and fair election in Nigeria. I don’t want to agree with Obasanjo but then if what INEC did in Katsina and elsewhere is anything to go by, then our quest for free and fair elections in Nigeria will still be a mirage.
We really wanted to bring about change to the good people of Katsina State who have suffered for the last 12 years in the hands of the PDP. We intended to engage all and sundry to bring about the desired change through purposeful leadership. Our attention would have been the provision of portable drinking water to the entire state which the PDP government was not able to provide. The situation unfortunately has made us and our children to become ‘Yangaruwa’ as each and every one of us has to go out every morning to fret and fetch water for domestic use. Cases of dysentery and diarrhea are so prevalent as the result of drinking contaminated water. Whereas, very little effort is required here to bring water to our teeming population as Katsina State lies within the luxurious sedimentary structures of the Sudan Savannah which has formidable aquifers that will make bore hole drilling easier and cheaper. The dams at Zobe, Sabke, Mairuwa etc are other sources to provide not only water for domestic uses but could also be used to generate employment for our youths. Unfortunately the water dam stability is carelessly allowed to be wasted through evaporation and seepage.
The provision of quality education to our students in the primary, secondary and our tertiary institutions is another area of great concern. The present situation where education is treated as a second fiddle is not accepted. To anybody who cares, or who thinks am politicking, what he needs to do is to go round any public school of his choice in the state, there is no exception and see for himself, the number of students in a classroom, the teacher/student ratio, the number of core subject teachers, the availability of facilities and instructional materials and you will be surprised at the outcome of your visit. You will also agree with me that the free education program provided by the PDP administration in the state is nothing more than the payment of school and examination fees. How much is the school fees any way? For a day student, parents pay N30.00 per term and N90.00 per annum and those in the boarding houses pay N50.00 per term and N150.00 per annum. Free education in Katsina state!!! Surely we deserve more.
Alas, all these and many more lofty intentions have come to naught as the result of the rigged election but the consolation is that the outcome of the election is now in the public domain and is for the tribunal to adjudicate and decide on those that have issues hanging on them like the one from Katsina.
Meanwhile, what remains to be seen is how the depleted and disintegrated CPC in Katsina will pick up the pieces after going to the battle field with a single bullet. The State Chairman of the CPC has lost his credibility and legitimacy for ignoring extant rules and regulations of the party with vehemence and impunity; his ouster from the party is just a matter of time.
I think the onus now lies with the Masari group and other like minds to take up the gauntlet and come together, re- strategize and forge ahead with the struggle as 2015 is by the corner and the time to start is now.
