The Political Persecution of Lamido
Since it became clear that he wants to seek election into the office of the president, former Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido has been facing what many consider political persecution. His travails do not appear to be subsiding under President Mu
During the build up to the 2015 presidential election, former Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Sule Lamido was apparently one of the lone voices that harped on the need for the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to do things properly to avoid the waterloo the party eventually suffered at the elections. Apart, from the fact that his advice was thrown to the dustbin, he and his sons soon became regular visitors at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for alleged money laundering and other sundry offences.
Although, Lamido had been named by former President Olusegun Obasanjo as a possible replacement for Jonathan when the relationship between them went sour, the former governor however, maintained that his chastisement of the former PDP national leadership was not borne out of the quest for presidency but to ensure that PDP maintain its position as the ruling party and largest party in Africa by doing what is right.
But while the disquiet that characterised the ranks of the PDP was well-documented, Lamido a renowned politician who collaborated with other notable Nigerians to oust the Abacha military leadership and participated actively in the formation of the PDP, has simply become a victim of his boldness and quest for orderliness in his party.
In what is seen as a direct consequence of his audacity to challenge the powers that be, Lamido and his sons; Aminu Sule Lamido, Mustapha Sule Lamido and one Aminu Wada Abubakar were arraigned by the EFCC on allegations of money laundering and for allegedly receiving N1.35billion kickbacks from a government contractor. There were 28 count charges relating to alleged breach of trust by Lamido in all.
Lamido’s adversities, no doubt should be instructive lessons in leadership and politicking in Nigeria. For instance, when the trial judge in the corruption case that was brought up against him, Justice Evelyn Anyadike insisted on remanding him in prison custody along with his sons for nearly three months for unproven allegations, not a few Nigerians were baffled. All pleas by the defence counsel, Effiong Effiong (SAN), who pleaded that they should be remanded in EFCC custody fell on deaf ears of Justice Anyadike who said the commission lacked the facilities to keep them.
Back then former military administrator of Kaduna State, Col Abubakar Umar had expressed shock at the court’s decision to keep Lamido and his sons in prison for that long. Speaking on the platform of the Movement for Unity and Progress (MUP), Umar felt the move was unnecessarily punitive and designed to demoralise the former governor rather than a routine judicial process.
“The offence for which Lamido and his two sons were charged is clearly an offence for which they can be bailed. This is why it appears strange that not only were they refused bail but they are remanded in prison custody for about three months. This means that both Sule and his sons have started serving prison sentence even before the commencement of their trial”, Umar lamented and urged every well-meaning Nigerian to call on Justice Anyadike to temper justice with mercy and uphold the constitutional tenet that provides that an accused person can only become culpable after facts have shown that they truly committed the offence.
While the former governor was still bat- tling the litigation that trailed his case with the EFCC, as if the ploy is to brand him as perpetual visitor to law enforcement agents, police from the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 1, Kano, Kayode Aderanti, on April 30 arrested the former governor for allegedly planning to scuttle the forthcoming local government elections slated for July 1 in the state.
The police spokesperson in the zone, Sambo Sokoto, who confirmed the arrest, said Lamido was invited to answer question following a petition to investigate the former governor over his alleged utterances that is considered capable of inciting violence and undermining the peace of the state in the forthcoming local government elections in the state.
The content of the petition written by the state government which was translated from Hausa, allegedly stated that Lamido, at a PDP meeting in Dutse, the Jigawa State capital, told is his supporters that “Before the election I will make every one of you swear with his life to protect our cause. No matter what, I will not listen to you for complaining. All I want is to come for your bail in the police station breaking another person’s head or you fought someone because the administration belongs to mad people.”
According to Sokoto, the ex-governor’s utterance constitutes an offence in that it is contrary to Section 114 of the Penal Code. Hence, he said investigations are ongoing and that Lamido would be charged to court at the end of the investigations. While conceding the fact that freedom of speech has its limitation, in saner countries, suspects are arrested after investigation and not when investigation was going on.
Though it could be rightly argued that the police have the full responsibility to protect lives and property and that nobody is above the law but what can be deduced from Lamido’s latest predicament is that he told his supporters to do everything possible to ensure that the July 1 local government elections are not rigged just like most politicians did before the 2015 general election and nobody was held accountable for such inciting statements.
Agreed that pro-Buhari commentators argued that the Hausa proverb credited to the president in the build up to the election to the effect that kare jini biri jinni, which was translated to mean “If what happened in 2011 (alleged rigging) should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood”, was not properly translated and that the correct interpretation “Come 2015, I promise you, the fight will be fierce”, the question is, are politicians supposed to be allowed to go that far in a society where volatility is part of our daily lives?
If the president’s vow that there would be a fierce fight if there is a repeat of the events that characterised the 2011 election could be pardoned on the basis of the discrepancy in the interpretation, should government not have taken precise actions against ex-militant leader, Mr. Government Ekpemopulo (aka Tompolo), who openly threatened war over what he described as coordinated attacks on the campaign team of former President Goodluck Jonathan in some northern states. Calling on youths and the political figures from the Niger Delta region to forgive one another and forge a united front, Tompolo had added that: “Let us unite and within seven days, you will see what will happen.”
He was reacting to the stoning of Jonathan’s campaign convoy by youths from some Northern States when he said it was an open declaration of war. “This action is calling the Niger Delta youths to war,” he had said.
Alhaji Asari Dokubo was even more frontal in his own case. He told his people that “Every Niger Delta youth should go and prepare for war. For the past four days, I have not slept well nor have I had a change of clothing. I have not been to my house. This is the time. The Northern youths are trying to know how important you are. After this time, no one will play with us. After the 2015 election, no governor will play with us. We are saying we will fight with anything and everything that we have. Ijaw people cannot continue to suffer while other people enjoy.”
In an earlier instance, Dokubo had been quoted to have said that he would make Nigeria ungovernable unless Jonathan secures a second term ticket in the 2015 presidential election. Then he asked politicians from the North to steer clear of the presidency. Though he was interrogated by the DSS no serious case was brought against him and others who apparently put Nigeria on war path with their utterances.
The fact that others who have made worse statements are walking free and the fact that such statements always fizzle away as soon as politics is over, seem to put credence to the claim by Lamido that what is happening to him is a fallout of his presidential ambition.
The Chief Press Secretary to the former governor, Alhaji Umar Kyari, had told journalists that “The Jigawa State Governor who raised a false alarm against Lamido, is simply scared over his presidential ambition in 2019 and the local elections in the state slated for July 1 this year.
“But it is rather too late for anyone to stop Lamido from achieving his political ambition come 2019 since the people have already seen that he has what it takes to rule Nigeria and lift it out of the woods.”
Lamido’s party, the PDP suspects foul play. The party perceives Lamido’s arrest and detention as politically motivated and the handiwork of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, in a statement noted that the real motive for Lamido’s arrest was political.
“The APC-led administration is fast loosing the confidence of the people because of its non-performance, high handedness and lack of empathy for the suffering of the people. The only option left for it is to prevent the opposition from effectively campaigning and mobilising the people for the elections. The whole strategy of the failed APC government is founded on the assumption that if there is no opposition, then they cannot be defeated. Hence the intimidation, harassment and incarceration of popular opposition leaders like Sule Lamido. We are aware that, we in the opposition will be in for a hard time in the run-up to the 2019 general elections with more arrests and intimidation of our prominent leaders”, Adeyeye alleged.
Whatever the case may be; even if the police nails Lamido, the feeling that he is a victim of the Nigerian kind of politics will not go away soon and this is because there are cases that point to the fact that using state apparatus to suppress opposition is part of Nigerian politics.
It is for this reason that the likes of former Lagos State governor and a strong force within the APC, Senator Bola Tinubu and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar should also beware. Push your ambition too far and the state will come after you. Tinubu and Abubakar are not new to such intimidation however. Ahead of the 2019 presidential election, especially considering that the race may be opened to new presidential hopefuls, many more victims will certainly emerge. This is because the party is showing a penchant for witch-hunting perceived enemies. The case of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki at the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) is clearly a good example.