WOLE ADEDEJI
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Kwara State, Mallam Garba Attahiru-Madami, can beat his chest to say he is one of the few among his colleagues, who swam ashore the turbulent waters of the just concluded general elections across the country. The exercise in Kwara State, his duty post, till date did not record any official complaints; neither is there any court case for now, protesting the conduct of the elections. Rather, political stakeholders were commending him, even as those who lost out in the elections, in the true spirit of sportsmanship, stretched out hands of fellowships to the winners and congratulated them as well.
Before now, The Nigerian Xpress was told that politicians had called Madami names because he was too hard for their liking. His first offence, according to sources, was that he decided to move round the Electoral Officers (EOs) in the 16 local governments, who were said to have remained in their respective posts for fifteen years running. His action allegedly displeased political chieftains in the state, who approached and ordered him to reverse himself. His alleged refusal to heed this request earned him names like ‘mad man’, ‘non-conformist’ and ‘the rude one’. The story was told of two prominent traditional rulers, who sent for him and asked that he retained the EOs in their council areas, which he reportedly turned down still.
The elections had, however, come and gone. Even, the fear and threats that hell might break lose had also fizzled out and the mood in town had changed.
Recounting the experience of working to succeed with newsmen in Ilorin, Mallam Madami said he only gave the glory of the success story to God Almighty and his dedicated staff. The experience, he said, was harrowing because he apparently came to effect a change in the old order and definitely expected a stiff resistance from those that had been the beneficiaries of the system, particularly, the big politicians and traditional chiefs.
Now that the exercise is over, however, politicians and stakeholders are singing different tunes in praise of the man they earlier disparaged. They commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, boss for his impartiality and neutrality. That was the position and accolades some political parties in the state poured on him on the day the final results of the election were announced and the winners declared.
In separate interviews, representatives of these political parties made the commendation on the eve of the last leg of the elections when the distribution of election materials at the premises of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, was being done in the state capital. The Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Mr. Oladimeji Mustapha, for instance, lauded the REC for giving all political parties a level-playing ground.
Mustapha also commended him for inviting representatives of political parties to witness the distribution of sensitive election materials to the 16 local government areas in the state. He said Attahiru-Madami was transparent in his actions, particularly as regards the distribution of election materials.
His words: “The REC has been transparent and open because details of all the materials being distributed are given to us to know the number of ballot papers allocated to each local government and ward.”
He scored INEC 85 per cent in the conduct of the February 23 presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.
Similarly, the representative of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Olatunji Gabriel, said the REC had been neutral and very open to everybody. He had said: “So far so good. The Resident Electoral Commissioner has been very transparent and open in the discharge of his duties and dealing with political parties.”
According to Gabriel, immediately the sensitive materials were delivered, the REC called all political parties to send representatives to come and witness the distribution. “I can confirm to you that the electoral materials are intact and arrived earlier than the Feb. 23 elections. He has been neutral and impartial in the sense that all the documents that back the INEC materials are given to all political parties,” he said.
The state Secretary of Action Democratic Congress, ADC, Ojolowo Tajudeen, also said: “If Kwara has had a man like Attahiru-Madami as head of INEC since 2003, people’s vote could have counted. I have never seen a REC like Malam Garba since I have been in Kwara. He works with honesty, integrity and neutrality; in fact, we want people like him in government. He is a carbon copy of President Buhari in integrity and honesty.”
He added that the REC had demonstrated his transparency and openness in the way he conducted the distribution of election materials in the open glare of every stakeholders.
“He gave us all the documents that accompanied the election materials from Abuja to demonstrate his openness, neutrality and impartiality. The REC has done more than giving political parties level-playing ground; he is a man of impeccable integrity.”
Tajudeen, therefore, called on all other Resident Electoral Commissioners in the country to learn from Attahiru-Madami’s honesty, integrity and impartiality in dealing with political parties.
The governorship candidate of Labour Party, LP, in the state, Comrade Issah Aremu, also commended the transparency and openness of Attahiru-Madami in the two elections in the state. Aremu said this when he led executive members of the party on a courtesy call on the REC in his office in Ilorin. The liberation of the people of Kwara, Aremu said, was made possible by the impartiality, transparency, openness and honesty of the REC.
According to Aremu, the people of the state have never had a resident commissioner as open, honest, transparent and with impeccable integrity like the current REC.
According to him: “Indeed, Madami is a man of honour and integrity. He is the man that has made that the peoples’ vote count during the elections; this has never happened in the state before.”
The LP governorship candidate said INEC had proved to the world that it was capable of conducting credible election.
“I want to through you commend INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, for the success of the elections. For us in Labour Party, you are our number one REC in the country for the role you played to ensure the liberation of Kwara people. We cannot quantify the actions and steps you have taken to make the election a huge success in Kwara. It is only God that can reward you for what you have done for the people of Kwara for the free, credible elections you conducted,” he added.
Also, the Senator-elect for the Kwara South Senatorial District, Lola Ashiru, in an interview in Offa, commended the REC for his neutrality and impartiality during the elections. He said the 2019 elections were better than the previous ones because the REC provided a level-playing ground for all the players.
“We have never had a free and fair election in the state before now. In the past, the process was compromised, but in 2019, INEC in Kwara did the right thing. What was on ground in 2019 elections was far better than four years ago. The propeller for integrity for the 2019 elections in Kwara was no other person than the Resident Electoral Commissioner; he is a man of integrity,” he added.
An APC chieftain, Chief Theophanous Sunday Oyebiyi, who is the deputy chairman of the party in the Kwara North Zone said he had never seen the like of the REC since he started politics in 1976.
“Mallam Attahiru-Malami is a man to be emulated; a man who is very open, a person who listens and so transparent. The REC is a very wonderful man; your team is also very wonderful, they have all performed well,” Oyebiyi said.
