By Gbeleyi Emmanuel
In Nigeria, groups emerge as political desperation dictates. And that’s a why it is no surprise that something called Human Global Resource Initiative has approached the Lagos Division of the Federal High Court, seeking a restraining order against INEC, SSS, and APC from fielding Governor Dapo Abiodun for any elective office in 2027. Pray when did the DSS start fielding candidates for elections? But that’s by the way. The group, an outgrowth of the leprous fingers of a drowning senator, alleges that Abiodun submitted fake academic records and made false declarations on his INEC forms. This, then, is the basis for its quest for a perpetual injunction restraining INEC from considering Abiodun as a candidate, and a declaration that Abiodun’s contradictions amount to false declaration and violations of the Constitution and Electoral Act.
Given that these are issues already decided by the courts, it is not hard to see that this is gross abuse of the court process. But the perpetrators are decidedly shameless. Abuse of court process means using the legal system in a way that is improper or dishonest, frivolous or malicious in order to harass, delay, intimidate, or gain unfair advantage. It is patently unlawful, and the political pirate behind the latest expedition knows it. He belongs to the cast of damnable charcters filing repeated lawsuits on the same issue just to harass their opponent, manipulating legal technicalities to obstruct justice. To him, wasting the court’s time and public resources and undermining trust in the legal system–and potentially delaying justice for those who really need it—is all well and good, so long as he gets a mention in the newspapers.
You see, you cannot rescue a pig from the mire; it lives in it by natural instinct. And that’s why the author of the shenanigan is littering the public space with the same talking points that previously led to a dead end. Following the victory of the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, at the May 29, 2019 governship polls, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) littered the public space with a salad of allegations, but failed to prove them from the Elections Petitions Tribunal right up to the Supreme Court. When the Governor was re-elected in 2023, much to the chagrin of the jealous charlatan behind the current comedy, the same cycle of allegations and legal rebuttal followed. And just so we are clear: the author of the latest blackmail and his hired minions have a right to disgrace themselves in the court of law, the court of public opinion and the 2027 polls.
Threatened by the Governor’s rising profile and the reality that he may not get a 2027 senatorial ticket, this detestable individual has unleashed a barrage of attack dogs, including amorphous civil society groups, calling the Governor any name they choose. Fear and desperation have crystallized into a frenzy. Just how can anyone with a basic understanding of law ask a Federal High Court to re-litigate an issue already laid to rest by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court?
Governor Abiodun retains the right to participate in the 2027 general election as far as the laws of Nigeria allow him to do, and anyone seeking to circumscribe his constitutionally guaranteed rights is merely chasing shadows. The authors of the latest blackmail are desperate clowns who know that they have no moral or legal ground to stand on, but are merely seeking a mention in the newspapers. If anything, the brain behind the exercise is mentioned in the stories circulating online, and it is sufficiently clear that this is a drowning politician desperately clutching at straws, having realised that his 2027 ambition has exploded in his face following his acts of subversion, treachery and blackmail against the same Governor who rescue him from political and financial ruin, and the party that brought him out of political oblivion.
For the avoidance of doubt, there was no controversy whatsoever in Governor Abiodun’s nomination forms, and the pronouncements of the courts on the matter are a matter of public record. But the individual in question is notorious for hating peace and wanting “problems always.” He thrives in chaos. The Ogun people know which politician made their state a pariah among the comity of states in Nigeria. They know the fella whose last four years as governor was full of trouble; the man whose own press secretary accused him of orchestrating several assassinations, and of planning to murder him. They know the man who fought state lawmakers and caused their nudes to be published in the newspapers, putting Ogun State in utter disgrace and peril. They know the man who called himself emperor and turned their state into a theatre of war and brigandage. They know the devious character who left government in ignominy and could not enter Ogun State in eight years. Today, because he believes his own lies, this buffoon is saying he transformed Ogun State. Now here’s a challenge: let him mention one road that he did that has endured.
Mr Desperation was suspended from the ruling party because he worked against the party. Full stop. He is likely to seek refuge in another party to contest the 2027 election. He knows he is toast, and is desperately clutching at straws. That’s what you get for betraying your benefactor and repaying good with evil.
Emmanuel, a public analyst, sent this piece from college road, Ijebu Igbo.
