Editorial
Osun Poll: Cynosure Of All Eyes
With less than 24 hours to the July 16, 2022 governorship election in Osun State, voters seem to be prepared to elect a governor that will take charge of the affairs of the state in the next four years. Incumbent All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Governor Gboyega Oyetola, is eligible for re-election and has been renominated by his party. Nigeria’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is totally ready to conduct tomorrow’s election.
The primaries, which were held between 16 February and 12 March, 2022, resulted in Oyetola winning the APC nomination for a second time, albeit amid whimpers from his primary challengers. For the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), longtime internal feuds led to two parallel primaries being held as a faction nominated former senatorial candidate, Dotun Babayemi, while the group recognised by the national PDP nominated former Senator for Osun West, Ademola Adeleke, the party’s 2018 nominee. INEC recognised Adeleke as the legitimate PDP contender.
The election will be a straight battle between Oyetola and Adeleke. This will be a replica of a similar outing in 2018, which was obviously a fierce battle between both candidates. But, two other parties, the Accord Party (AP) and the Labour Party (LP), would also make crucial impacts if they work harder to earn a victory. In all, the election will feature 15 political parties and candidates. Expectations are rife that tomorrow’s poll will be generously managed in terms of logistics than last month’s Ekiti ballot.
The Osun voting will once again demonstrate the degree of INEC’s preparedness and capability for the 2023 general elections. The vote-casting should mark the inception of a great shift to galvanise voters, especially the youths. Therefore, Osun people should equip themselves with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and troop into their polling booths to practise their franchise because their votes will count. They should resist any enticement to sell their PVCs. Capacity and courage are required from INEC to conduct a transparent voting exercise to enable the people to decide who their next governor will be.
INEC’s innovation in applying technology to the nation’s elections is quite estimable, as it has infused confidence in the country’s electoral process. The Bimodal Verification Accreditation System (BVAS) deployed by the commission comes across to have functioned more efficiently during the Ekiti election in June, as observed by the British High Commission and other election observers, unlike in Edo, Ondo, and Anambra States. The commission needs to improve on its feat in Osun.
An essential question is the security situation, especially in the face of some reported clashes in parts of the state. In one recent example, the collection of PVCs was disrupted in Erin Oke and Erin Ijesha Wards of Oriade Local Government Area, resulting in the loss of 46 voter cards. The commission has to act quickly to meet with relevant stakeholders for endorsement of the Peace Accord by political parties and candidates under the auspices of the National Peace Committee.
Major political parties in Osun have been exchanging mutual allegations of planned violence. The police should take prescient measures, deploy their intelligence-gathering machinery and apprehend anyone plotting mayhem. They should beam their searchlight on leaders of the transport unions, who have become the main perpetrators of political and electoral violence in the South-West. They and their sponsors should be ruthlessly dealt with. This will send a strong message to others that the 2023 elections will no longer be business as usual.
INEC must proactively curb vote buying. The unprecedented buying of votes that characterised the governorship election in Ekiti State should not be replicated in Osun to stave off the election from being exposed to massive fraud. Nigerians must do everything within their means to protect the voting processes of the Osun poll from being hijacked and manipulated by the powers that be. It could be uncontainable if vote buying is authorised to repeat in tomorrow’s guber poll the same way it was done in Ekiti.
The obvious outcome of vote buying is that it is gradually becoming the bane of democracy in Nigeria. For a democratic nation, the electorate are slowly losing their voting power by exchanging it for money and other material things. And by so doing, there is a big distortion and hindrance to the idea of a free and fair election which ensures that the electorate elect the leaders they deem fit to rule them.
Furthermore, the rampant spread of vote buying is acting as a catalyst for the destruction and death of democracy in the country and also acting as a hindrance to the possibilities of good governance. Political parties which cannot provide capable candidates to govern the country but can afford to buy votes are now using this means to purchase their candidates into power. The apparent outcome is that those positions will fall into the wrong hands.
Rather than buy votes, political actors in the state have to make their campaigns issue-based, devoid of frivolities and vague promises. If the state must progress, those seeking to govern it must tell the public what they intend to do. The electorate would then base their votes on the issues. The state deserves to have purposeful governance built on clear developmental ideas, not Naira, pounds, and dollars. They must also ensure that candidates are offering solutions, not just intangible promises that are neither measurable nor redeemable.
Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) should foster peace and boost inclusive election at the grassroots. They need to educate the voters, so that they can make egregious choices and perhaps reduce invalid votes. There is a necessity for continuous voters’ education to have desired results. CSOs can be effective in this regard. Groups, stakeholders, politicians, and political parties should sensitise, train, recruit, mobilise and deploy youths as volunteers for ward-to-ward and polling unit-to-polling unit anti-rigging ballot monitoring exercises.
INEC deserves to do better than the Ekiti poll. It should guarantee that the lapses witnessed in that state are not repeated. Political parties and their candidates always choose to move a step ahead just to beat the electoral umpire. The commission must adopt a proactive approach. It has been observed that some of the commission’s officials collude with political parties and their candidates to undermine elections. This must be disallowed in the Osun poll.
When Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, received the Board and Management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), led by its Chairman, Senator Adeyeye Adedayo Clement, his message was unmistakable: Rivers’ seaports remain underutilised, and Nigeria is poorer for it. The governor’s lament was a sad reminder of how neglect and centralisation continue to choke the nation’s economic arteries.
The governor, in his remarks at Government House, Port Harcourt, expressed concern that the twin seaports — the NPA in Port Harcourt and the Onne Seaport — have not been operating at their full potential. He underscored that seaports are vital engines of national development, pointing out that no prosperous nation thrives without efficient ports and airports. His position aligns with global realities that maritime trade remains the backbone of industrial expansion and international commerce.
Indeed, the case of Rivers State is peculiar. It hosts two major ports strategically located along the Bonny River axis, yet cargo throughput has remained dismally low compared to Lagos. According to NPA’s 2023 statistics, Lagos ports (Apapa and Tin Can Island) handled over 75 per cent of Nigeria’s container traffic, while Onne managed less than 10 per cent. Such a lopsided distribution is neither efficient nor sustainable.
Governor Fubara rightly observed that the full capacity operation of Onne Port would be transformative. The area’s vast land mass and industrial potential make it ideal for ancillary businesses — warehousing, logistics, ship repair, and manufacturing. A revitalised Onne would attract investors, create jobs, and stimulate economic growth, not only in Rivers State but across the Niger Delta.
The multiplier effect cannot be overstated. The port’s expansion would boost clearing and forwarding services, strengthen local transport networks, and revitalise the moribund manufacturing sector. It would also expand opportunities for youth employment — a pressing concern in a state where unemployment reportedly hovers around 32 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Yet, the challenge lies not in capacity but in policy. For years, Nigeria’s maritime economy has been suffocated by excessive centralisation. Successive governments have prioritised Lagos at the expense of other viable ports, creating a traffic nightmare and logistical bottlenecks that cost importers and exporters billions annually. The governor’s call, therefore, is a plea for fairness and pragmatism.
Making Lagos the exclusive maritime gateway is counter productive. Congestion at Tin Can Island and Apapa has become legendary — ships often wait weeks to berth, while truck queues stretch for kilometres. The result is avoidable demurrage, product delays, and business frustration. A more decentralised port system would spread economic opportunities and reduce the burden on Lagos’ overstretched infrastructure.
Importers continue to face severe difficulties clearing goods in Lagos, with bureaucratic delays and poor road networks compounding their woes. The World Bank’s Doing Business Report estimates that Nigerian ports experience average clearance times of 20 days — compared to just 5 days in neighbouring Ghana. Such inefficiency undermines competitiveness and discourages foreign investment.
Worse still, goods transported from Lagos to other regions are often lost to accidents or criminal attacks along the nation’s perilous highways. Reports from the Federal Road Safety Corps indicate that over 5,000 road crashes involving heavy-duty trucks occurred in 2023, many en route from Lagos. By contrast, activating seaports in Rivers, Warri, and Calabar would shorten cargo routes and save lives.
The economic rationale is clear: making all seaports operational will create jobs, enhance trade efficiency, and boost national revenue. It will also help diversify economic activity away from the overburdened South West, spreading prosperity more evenly across the federation.
Decentralisation is both an economic strategy and an act of national renewal. When Onne, Warri, and Calabar ports operate optimally, hinterland states benefit through increased trade and infrastructure development. The federal purse, too, gains through taxes, duties, and improved productivity.
Tin Can Island, already bursting at the seams, exemplifies the perils of over-centralisation. Ships face berthing delays, containers stack up, and port users lose valuable hours navigating chaos. The result is higher operational costs and lower competitiveness. Allowing states like Rivers to fully harness their maritime assets would reverse this trend.
Compelling all importers to use Lagos ports is an anachronistic policy that stifles innovation and local enterprise. Nigeria cannot achieve its industrial ambitions by chaining its logistics system to one congested city. The path to prosperity lies in empowering every state to develop and utilise its natural advantages — and for Rivers, that means functional seaports.
Fubara’s call should not go unheeded. The Federal Government must embrace decentralisation as a strategic necessity for national growth. Making Rivers’ seaports work is not just about reviving dormant infrastructure; it is about unlocking the full maritime potential of a nation yearning for balance, productivity, and shared prosperity.