9th December, 2010
The resignation of Mrs. Ayoka Adebayo, Resident Electoral Commissioner of Ondo State, South-West Nigeria, has been described as good riddance to bad rubbish.
Politicians and members of the civil society groups who reacted to her resignation also saw it as one of the best things to happen to the country’s political setting this year.
The embattled electoral commissioner resigned yesterday after a long drawn protests and opposition by Nigerians against her continued stay in office after the shoddy way she handled the Ekiti State election re-run that saw former Governor Segun Oni’s declaration as the winner of the election in controversial circumstances.
Reacting to her resignation, those who spoke with P.M.NEWS, said they had expected her to take the decision before now. They also added that she is not the only person that should be shown the way out as there were others who influenced her actions when she was in Ekiti.
The Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Taiwo Kolawole, said Mrs. Adebayo’s resignation was a good development.
He, however, disagreed that the woman should be crucified as people would wish, saying, “if not for her alarm, the whole world would not have seen what actually was happening in the country and in the state.
“She would learn from her lesson. When she took the decision to act against the usurpers and resign, she should have stood her ground even when she was declared wanted.
“If we decide to punish the woman, what about those that collected money to influence decisions in Ekiti. She raised the alarm and it is on record that it also made the case easy.
For Hon. Adelabu Onibiyo, Chairman of the Lagos State House Committee on Local Governments, the septuagenarian would always remain a disgrace to womanhood and the country even after resignation.
“It is an indication that the public is reacting positively and if we had started this earlier, we would not be where we are today.
“Unlike before now, thieves show their pride and we watch them helplessly allowing things in the country to degenerate. The people must speak out if you are doing something bad.â€
He added that Ayoka was like a bad dancer who may not have know she was not taking the right steps until she decided to listen to the beats of the drums.
Another lawmaker, Hon. Saka Fafunmi, told P.M.NEWS that with the current awareness of the people about their rights, people like Mrs. Adebayo, have no choice than to resign.
He said the woman did not fit into the new thrust of the ‘one man one vote’ mantra of the people, adding that what she did in Ekiti was a proof that she should not be part of a growing democracy.
“Of all frauds, the most unfortunate one is electoral fraud and this hampers our development.
“She is not the only one that should go. The Resident Electoral Commissioner of Osun State should also be made to resign since we are all witnesses to malpractices in the state,†he said, adding that the likes of Adebayo were clogs in the wheel of the country’s progress.
In his reaction, the coordinator of the Anti-Babangida Campaign, Comrade Abiodun Sowunmi, described her resignation as sad because she had not be been tried for electoral offences.
He also said all those who forced her to declare an election result that was not true in Ekiti should be made to also face the music.
“The issue should not just end with her, but others who declared her wanted and forced her to act against her bidding, including men of the Nigerian police, the Administrative Secretary and former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Maurice Iwu,” Sowunmi said.
—Kazeem Ugbodaga & Eromosele Ebhomele
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