On 16th August 1983, a general election was conducted by the Federal Electoral Commission (FEDECO) into gubernatorial positions across the country. Alhaji Shehu Shagari being the incumbent president, assured citizens that the general elections is going to be free and fair. What culminated after the declaration of results in some states was so violent that it is a matter worthy for modern reflection.
Crisis started brewing when Akin Omoboriowo, the deputy governor of Ondo state could not get the nod of the governor, Adekunle Ajasin, Obafemi Awolowo and the machinery of the ruling party in the state for his gubernatorial ambition. The United Party of Nigeria (UPN), which Obafemi Awolowo headed and which was also a major opposition party in the country preferred that Adekunle Ajasin would go on a second term in office. Akin Omoboriowo, like any other opportunistic and ambitious politician weighed his options of staying put in the UPN. The opposition party in Ondo state, which was also the national ruling party, National Party of Nigeria (NPN), under the leadership of President Shehu Shagari, saw Akin Omoboriowo’s disappointment as a golden opportunity to infiltrate into the ranks and stronghold of the Pan-Yoruba political party and establish itself further in the South West.
Akin Omoboriowo got the ticket to run under the NPN and, expectedly, he resigned from his post as deputy governor of the state. This gambit of course is a recipe for violence, but none of the political actors seemed to care enough about how this move would rub off on their supporters. They did little to remind theirselves that politics is easily violent is this clime. In fact, they courted and beckoned violence more with their vengeful rhetoric as the gubernatorial elections drew closer.
The election was held, and FEDECO eventually announced Akin Omoboriowo as the governor-elect. No doubt that the margin of victory and other technicalities involved did not add up. Several observers and pundits tagged the 1983 general elections as the most rigged in Nigeria’s history. Adekunle Ajasin approached the appeal court and the mandate was ultimately secured in his favour at the tribunal, but the military coup which followed did not allow him and the other elected politicians to settle down in office. We can also submit that it was the anger that the electoral fraud courted which set the grounds for the coup d’etat which cut short the 2nd republic on 31st December 1983.
No fewer than 40 lives were lost and thousands of property worth millions destroyed in the riots which followed in Akure alone; amongst the victims were notable citizens and politicians who were believed to have enhanced the fraudulent elections as well as lives of other innocent citizens. In fact, an unverified claim indicated that Hon. Kunle Ajibade, a prominent member of UPN who defected to NPN with Akin Omoboriowo, was beheaded and his head taken to Adekunle Ajasin.
There is no doubt that the electoral commission failed woefully in delivering a worthy, free and fair election in 1983. This is a reminder that anytime democratic institutions fail to deliver on their mandate, the military feels they can save the situation. We would all agree however, that military interventions in the past have been catastrophic and nothing but a setback for the democratic run since independence. And this is more of the reason why, for the safety of lives and well being of all citizens, the patriotism required to be upright in whatever national duties or roles we find ourselves is not only non-negotiable, but it should also be a basic requirement.
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