Sokoto State Governor and Vice Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to leave a legacy that he would be remembered for and not one of electoral manipulation couched in inconclusive elections as was glaringly witnessed during the 2019 general elections.
He made the appeal at the 2019 Silverbird award, where he emerged as the Silverbird Man of the Year 2019. The event which held on Friday, February 28, 2020, at the Expo Hall of the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, attracted Nigerians from all walks of life.
Tambuwal regretted that the present leadership in Nigeria has not lived up to people’s expectation, adding that it has made mockery of all the gains made in the electoral process in 2015. He contended that the word ‘inconclusive,’ which has found its way into the nation’s electoral lexicon is novel to the dictates of the country’s constitution.
Tambuwal, who was accompanied to the podium by a retinue of politicians, friends and well-wishers, to receive the prestigious award did not hide his feelings about the parlous state of the country’s electoral and legal systems.
He said: “Before Buhari came to power in 2015, I was one of those that had so much respect for him and I had my expectations, just as so many other Nigerians who are very patriotic and committed to the cause of democracy and good governance in this country. But, can we say so in 2019? We saw what happened in 2019 general elections. Is that the kind of legacy that President Buhari wants to leave behind? He will have a second chance in 2023 by the grace of God,” he said.
He narrated his ordeal in the last election to buttress his fears for Nigeria. He said: “I was with the All Progressives Congress (APC); I left for very clear reasons, back to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Everybody knew how the last election was conducted. Everybody knew that a new lexicon called ‘inconclusive’ was introduced into our electoral and legal systems by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The provisions of the constitution says that you win an election as governor, when you get majority of lawful votes and have 25 percent spread in two-thirds of the local government areas in the state. By the results we got from the election, I won, but INEC said our election was inconclusive. They didn’t say so in Ogun where the vote difference in vote margin and invalid vote was also high but they declared ours inconclusive. We went to court and we knew what happened. After we survived the Tribunal, we went to the Court of Appeal and to the Supreme Court. On January 14, our matter was called up but for certain reasons, the Supreme Court could not make pronouncement on the matter but it did on Imo, where number four became the first.”
He cautioned politicians to be afraid of God in their dealings, saying, “As practitioners in politics, we know what we are doing. We should know that first, there is God. We are supposed to respect the voting rights of our citizens. We must not continue to manipulate our ways to power and we must desist from attempting to emasculate our judicial system.”
He also advocated for electoral reforms. “What we need to do is to make sure that we reform our electoral system because power comes from God. We should conduct free, fair elections; allow the citizens to exercise their franchise and whoever wins should be so declared. The votes should count,” he said.
He condemned a situation where armed military men are sent in their thousands to states for election, while Boko Haram insurgents are allowed to have a field day in some states in the North East. He said: “We should allow our security personnel to go and face the real challenge that we have in this country, and not that when we have elections we will mobilize all of them to Kogi, Bayelsa and Osun States, leaving behind people in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe and allowing Boko Haram to be traversing the length and breadth of North East. We should be able to tell ourselves the truth about what is wrong in our system. And it is not about the law; it is about the managers of the system. We must be conscious of the fact that we will go back to God almighty one day and we shall account for our deeds to Him.”
He called for the strengthening of our democratic institutions to make it strong instead of looking for strong leaders. “We should make sure that our institutions are working. We don’t need strong men in Nigeria; we need strong institutions. We have the human and material resources in Nigeria to achieve greatness; what is lacking is sincere, patriotic and committed leadership and we can find it in Nigeria,” he said.
Tambuwal who described Obaseki as an extraordinary governor, fighting extraordinary battle, jokingly advised the Edo Governor to approach him and his like for some tips and lessons on how to face and confront godfathers.
On the award, he said he was surprised when he was told about the process that informed the organisers’ choice of him. “I must admit that I received the news of this award with some measure of shock and surprise, particularly when I was told that the decision was not made in the boardroom; but done via voting that was open to Nigerians to assess those that were recommended and listed for the award. This is a very unique award through a very unique and credible process. I, therefore, cherish it and I thank almighty God for His favours upon me.
“I also thank all those who participated in that process. I thank the Silverbird Group for providing the platform for this process,” he stated.
He dedicated the award to the people of Sokoto State, saying, “I, therefore, dedicate this award to the good people of Sokoto State. I didn’t say the citizens of Sokoto State. I am very clear about what I said. I said it is dedicated to all the good people that reside and live in Sokoto State; a state that is home to all Nigerians and even to non-Nigerians. We are a very hospitable and accommodating society.”
He commended Silverbird for posthumously recognising the efforts of Alhaji Shehu Shagari, the Turaki of Sokoto; Dr. Chuba Okadigbo; Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya; and Chief Alfred Rewane at nation building.
“When they were being presented with the award, I am sure all of us could remember that they laid foundation for a democratic, free and civil Nigeria, alongside their compatriots like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and Tafawa Balewa among others. And when our sister from the Rewane family spoke, she sent the message that this is not the Nigeria that our founding fathers worked hard and toiled to build; the same applies to my sister from Adesanya’s family. And of course, when Alhaji Ismaila Isa Funtua spoke, he himself is not happy with what is happening in Nigeria from the way he spoke, but if you talk about people who are around the president of Nigeria today, Isa Funtua is one of them. How I wish he is still here. We should learn from our forefathers. We should continue to answer our fathers’ name by telling our friends and brothers in power and those in positions that are very transient that all of this life is ephemeral. We should tell them the truth and guide them. Our father and leader, Alhaji Shagari identified these from his conduct and behaviour. He was tolerant and accommodating,” he said.
He expressed happiness for the award and wished that Silverbird Group would continue to grow in strength and character as it clocks 40. “We are going back home with two awards and the most touching one for us is the one bestowed on our father and leader, Turaki Sokoto, Alhaji Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari of blessed memory. We thank you for appreciating what he was able to do in the service of our fatherland. May the good Lord continue to guide the management of SilverBird and as it celebrates its 40 years anniversary, may it continue to grow in strength and character,” he prayed.
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome, who presented the award to Governor Tambuwal, described him as a very unique, extraordinary Nigerian; a patriot; a lawyer of no mean standing; a politician extraordinaire; an intellectual powerhouse and a man of great humanity who is much at home with every Nigerian, irrespective of tribe, religion or political leaning.
Also speaking after receiving the award of the Extraordinary Personality of the Year, 2019, the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, said he got the award not because he is an extraordinary person but because he governs extraordinary people. “Edo people are extraordinary people. My 11,000 teachers who are catering for over 300,000 children in our public schools who would have trained in digital devices are extraordinary because our children in our public schools are now learning. We are happy to move Edo State from a situation where children go to school to where they now learn.
“For me, this award is not a celebration of my success so far; it is a celebration of the great people; amazing, extraordinary kind of people that I govern in Edo State. We are grateful to God that we have a symbol in the Oba of Benin; he is extraordinary and that is the source from where we draw our extraordinariness.
“We thank Silverbird for such amazing and well thought out award ceremony. I carefully looked through the details of all the awardees and I saw that every awardee has done something extraordinary to change our country. The awards are based on extraordinary accomplishments of our citizens from the arts, creative industry, financial system, to military, security and governance. I want to thank Silverbird and say that on behalf of the people of Edo State, we appreciate this award,” he stated.
Presenting the award to Obaseki, the founder and chairman of Silverbird Group, Senator Ben Murray Bruce said he would even honour his enemy so long as he does something great. “I am a card carrying member of the PDP; we honour anybody and everybody that is wonderful. This governor succeeded against all odds. Those who want to go into politics should learn to be simple and humble,” he said.
However, the posthumous award category has the first civilian president of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Usman Aliyu Shagari; former Senate president, Dr. Chuba Okadigbo; Chief Alfred Rewane, and Chief Adeniran Ogunsanya. They were posthumously recognised for their individual and collective contributions to growth of democratic governance in Nigeria.
The Special Recognition Award went to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu; Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, Oluwatosin Araromi (MBGN Universe); and Miss World Africa, Onyekachi Douglas, for their contributions to the growth and development of the country.
Lifetime Achievement Award went to a renowned stand-up comedian, Ali Baba and a great artist, Bruce Onobrakpeya for their contributions in creative industry in Nigeria, even as the like of business moguls, Jacky Hathiramani and Femi Otedola as well as Paul Okoye were honoured with Extraordinary Achievement Awards.
Special Achievement Award went to a world-class designer, Patience Torlowei, who, according to Senator Florence Ita-Giwa tells story with her designs.
The Nigeria Air force smiled home with the Heroes Award for its gallantry in the fight against insurgency in North East Nigeria, while the Financial Sector Award equally went to the Fidelity Bank Plc for its exploits in financial sector.
Against all odds, the event was graced by the crème-de-la-crème of Nigerian society, cutting across entertainment, business, creative arts, banking to security and politics. Personalities who received posthumous awards were duly represented by their children and other family members as well as friends and well wishers.