It is a sign of weakness to bypass the law as the obedients and some elements in the PDP are doing. They should be strong and follow the it.
Democracy is a process, a journey which for any contestant begins with a declaration of intent and ends either in winning or losing a seat.
My brother Atiku Abubakar has lost many times. He lost primaries. He lost general elections. Where he was not satisfied he went to court. That is strength. That is maturity. Dino is on his own.
My mentor, President Buhari is also an epitome of strength in this respect. He lost general elections three times. Three times he went to court, each time climbing the judicial ladder to its pinnacle, “kotun daga ita sai Allah ya isa”, as he once put it.
The patience of these two individuals differed sharply from their predecessors in 1965, 1979 and 1983, who were always happy to connive with the military to oust the government of the civilian President who defeated them.
Datti Baba-Ahmed and other Obidients should follow this path of honour. They must have been intelligent enough to foresee defeat and prepare for a democratic response to it. Their rallies in 16 northern states —where they held them—were not more than Monday assemblies in secondary schools. LP’s performance at the elections was the second herbinger. It met the 25% spread requirement in only 16 states while the APC met it in 30 states.
The PDP camp of the wailing Dino was also duly warned. It lost bloc votes with the emergence of LP which snatched its supporters in all Christian dominated areas of the SS, SE and north central. Even in the traditional North where its candidate expected to make a good showing, it was clear even before the elections that he would have to slug it out with the APC candidate. In the end, Atiku made 25% in only 21 states and Tinubu got more votes than him even in the North.
That is not to say that the APC had a field day. It lost in the constituencies of its juggernauts. But clearly, it enjoyed an enviable national spread, coming either first or second in most states of the Federation.
It is usual that losers will be aggrieved even with the minutest report of malpractice and they need to save their face before their supporters, hence the traditional outcry of “widespread electoral rigging” that follows every election. The courts become their natural resort to buy time and mount the propaganda of injustice to placate their supporters. In the end, the affirmative verdict of the Supreme Court is always the final bus stop of the journey. They lick their wounds, take a rest and start planning for next elections. That is the tradition since 2003.
So it is completely weak of any democrat to resort to the military or interim government even if he is invited to dinner by the coup plotters of 1966, 1983 or 1993. It is most pathetic to see a Datti, who by the way shares the same social background as Atiku and Buhari, on national television boastfully uttering unimaginable, treasonable statements on the matter. He must be pretending blindness not to foresee defeat and he must be a weakling not to finish the journey to the last bus stop.
Obidients should be strong. They need stronger shock absorbers ahead of May 29 when Tinubu will be sworn in as President. That is a reality staring them in the eye and making them go berserk. Instead of avoidable distress over a fait accompli, they should learn from the Jagaba the art of winning elections in Nigeria: embrace all, build bridges, wait for your turn, work hard and be strong. If they do, perhaps, one day, Obi will become president too.
* Dr Tilde, a politician and public affairs commentator, writes from Bauchi
