The choice of the people should prevail
Essentially because of the desperation by politicians, off-season elections that should ordinarily be easy to conduct are now riddled with controversies. Interestingly, this kind of election is an entirely Nigerian phenomenon. They started in 2006 primarily due to court rulings which overturned many election results before the 1999 Constitution was amended to legitimise the idea. But instead of enhancing public trust and building confidence in the electoral system, many of these stand-alone elections are now deepening the crisis of legitimacy. It is therefore little surprise that the campaigns for who becomes the next Governor of Osun State is turning out a puzzling spectacle.
Last Thursday, President Bola Tinubu, overruled the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) by directing a reversal of the freezing of the Osun State Government Statutory Allocation account. The action by the anti-graft agency, taken ten days to the gubernatorial election scheduled to be held this coming Saturday, had been greeted with howls of outrage. Although some stakeholders have also queried the presidential intervention on grounds that it raises questions about the independence of EFCC, the president said he was deeply embarrassed, arguing that the timing of the restriction was inappropriate.
