by Idemudia Oviosun

If, by virtue of some beneficial imagination, or a heightened sense of humour, we assumed that Heaven, that place of joy immense, saw the need for some sport.

Continuing this constructively amusing train of thought, let us also assume that wrestling was the favoured sport and some angels were pitched, one against another, in combat.

At the end of the combative exercise, there is no doubt that one angel would certainly emerge as the winner. This goes to show that there is no contest without a winner or a loser. The loser would most likely be he or she who was most frangible in the battle.

Last year, a winner emerged after the conduct of September 28, 2016, Governorship election in Edo State.

Naturally, a loser emerged, sulking and unhappy. The loser, unhappy with his station, petitioned an Election Tribunal and alleged that dark magic (for so we must refer to corrupt electoral practices) occurred during the election process and that there was over voting in some wards, and so on and so forth.

Last week, the Election Petition Tribunal re-affirmed Governor Godwin Obaseki’s mandate as the duly elected Governor.

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and her candidate, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu were the ones who did not win the election, who again lost at the tribunal, and who were so displeased by everything that they slandered and maligned the judicial system in Nigeria.

They called the judgement perverse and alleged, without a shred of evidence except for some warped interpretation of a statement by a former governor, that Justice Ahmed Badamasi, the Chairman of the Tribunal, had greased his palms to give such a judgement. God, the bespectacled cleric said, gave the mandate, to him and he was being robbed of it.

So, as a pastor, he is of the opinion that people are stealing from God, and he, being God’s policeman, has a duty to nab the thief and recover what was stolen; a mandate.

Should this pastor not have imbibed the spirit of sportsmanship, especially when an election has been adjudged free, fair and peaceful, and more so, when a duly constituted tribunal re-affirmed same?

The infelicitous Pastor should remember that the laws of Nigeria have provided redress in court for aggrieved people so they can go to a Court of Appeal if they do not feel satisfied with a judgement earlier passed.

He, therefore, should be very careful to cease taking laws into his own hands by denigrating the same judiciary he hopes to appeal to. You cannot call a man perverse and still run to him praying for one thing or the other. If his mandate is really divine, then it should be major and no corruption should be able to steal that from him such that he would be flying from one court to the other after besmirching the entire judicial system in the country.

We must learn from history; for crisis retards progress and no one stands to benefit.

Democracy makes provisions for everybody directly or indirectly to participate. Salus populi suprema lex esto (the good of the people shall be the supreme law).

Let us join hands to build a better Edo State; we have no other state to call ours. He that has an ear let him hear.

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