ABOUT FRANCIS ADEBAYO
Francis Adebayo is the Senior Pastor of Harvest Place, Maryland
Lagos. Harvest Place has helped and still continues to help many
people discover their leadership potentials and purpose in
Christ.
His vision is to raise exceptional leaders in all the walks of life,
and his commitment to this vision has made him to undertake a
number of ventures and initiatives.
From 2010 till 2012, he organized an entrepreneurial mentorship
series tagged ‘ADVANTAGE- Releasing Your Entrepreneurial
Potentials’ in all the universities in the Southwest. The events
had thousands of students in attendance, and twenty-five
exceptional student entrepreneurs were identified and given
financial aids and mentorship to start different businesses which
are still thriving till date.
He is the Co-founder and Director of Global Leadership
Development Forum, a Non-Governmental Organization
committed to the deployment of leadership in all sectors.
He founded Francis Adebayo Educational Support in 2014,
through which he has supported many bright but indigent
students.
He is the pioneer President of Loyola College Class 91
Foundation, his alma mater, and he is currently running his
second tenure. The foundation has contributed immensely to
the renovation of the infrastructure of the school.
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He is the convener of THE VIEW, a non-partisan convention with
the aim of sensitizing the nation about politics.
His passion to make a difference made him to contest in the 2015
elections for membership in the House of Assembly, Lagos State.
A great lover of sports, he is the Chairman of an under-17
football club, Mighty Touch, based in Kosofe Local Government.
This has helped and continues to help talented boys to find
fulfillment.
Francis Adebayo has authored many books including, When Bad
Things Happen to Good People, Influence...The Kingdom Culture,
So Your Hate Politics… My Political Encounter , among others.
He is married to Funmilayo, who pastors with him, and they are
blessed with two boys.

WHY I WROTE THIS BOOK
I have always been fascinated by governance and politics since
my childhood; and though I was still very young then, I can still
remember the political events of 1983 very clearly. I lived in
Ibadan with my grandparents while growing up, and Chief Adisa
Akinloye, who was the chairman of the defunct NPN lived in the
same neighbourhood.
From what I heard and saw in Chief Akinloye Adisa’s house, I
swore never to have anything to do with politics. All I wanted
then was to live a good and quiet life. I am not an introvert, but
I am a very shy person and would rather work anonymously from
the background.
My hatred for politics escalated when the military took over
power in 1984 and exposed the level of corruption of the
politicians. I followed the news on how the Second Republic
politicians squandered our national wealth with amazement.
Little did I know that was just a tip of the iceberg and the
beginning of huge decadence in our polity.
I will never forget the day Major General Mohammadu Buhari’s
administration overthrew the government of Alhaji Shehu
Shagari. It was Brigadier General Sanni Abacha who announced
the coup d'état and the government take over.
My mum was a bit involved with UPN, though she was never
really a politician; and she would always warn us to never have
anything to do with politics. She believed politics is terrible and
she never liked it.
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Fast forward to 2013 when I started getting passionate about
running for an elective post, one of the first things I did was to
search for books on how to join partisan politics, what to expect,
and other related subjects. I suddenly realised my hatred for
politics had waned, perhaps owing to the state of affairs in the
country and my involvement with people at different levels. It
dawned on me that we can’t keep criticising without getting
involved.
Suddenly, I began to see the truth in some quotes like,
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is
neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because
conscience tells him it is right.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
“In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote
by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the
value of some Diehard’s vote.” - David Foster Wallace
“The oppressed are allowed once every few years to decide
which particular representatives of the oppressing class are to
represent and repress them.” - Karl Marx
I got to read many good books on politics and my favourite title
till date is Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela.
Unfortunately, none of the many books I read prepared me
adequately for the task ahead, especially within the Nigerian
context. So, I entered into partisan politics without much
knowledge on how to go about it. I had to learn on the job.
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It would have been easier for me if I knew some of the things I
know now before joining; that certainly would have prepared me
for some of the things I faced.
I therefore, wrote this little book for the following reasons:
1) To encourage and challenge many good-hearted people to
join partisan politics.
2) To serve as guide for those who are willing to join but do not
know how to go about it.
3) To demystify politics to people who see politics as a mystery
or think politicians are from another planet.
4) To educate people that politics can be played the proper way
and that there can be contact without contamination.
5) To teach people that politics can be done without bitterness
and that it is not a do-or-die affair.
I do hope that this book achieves my set objectives
Francis Adebayo


Watch out for the first chapter tomorrow morning

alright

PART ONE
MY JOURNEY
INTO POLITICS
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1. STEPPING INTO POLITICS
"Politics is a dirty game, politicians are brutal and heartless. If
you get involved in politics you will lose your integrity; your
reputation will be soiled."
"Why do you want to go into politics?"
"Pastor Francis, are there no other ways you can make your
impact felt in the society?"
"My friend Francis, I have known you for years; you are a
gentleman; are you sure you can survive the murky waters of
politics? Please give it a second thought."
"My dear son, I would rather be called the mother of a pastor
than the mother of a politician; but if you are led by God, I will
support you."
"My darling husband, being the wife of a senior pastor is
demanding enough for a reserved person like me; now the wife
of a politician? Anyway, you know I will always support you as
longer as you are in the centre of God's will."
"Egbon, are you sure about this? Hmmmm... politics is not easy
o."
"Aburo, thanks for telling me on time; but is it still possible to
discourage you from going ahead or have you made up your
mind completely?"
15
"As your father in the Lord, I will give you my full support. I trust
you are in God's will. However, let me also pray about it, even
though I am excited about this decision of yours."
"Wow! This is good. I'm so excited, and I will support you in any
way I can."
Those are some of the reactions I got when I consulted the
closest people to me, starting from my wife, family, spiritual
fathers, mentors, the pastoral team in church and close friends.
I was convinced this is what I was supposed to do, but I needed
the support of these people to move ahead.
It was easy to convince some, while others weren't so easy to
convince; yet I wanted the total support of all these people who
care so much about me. I knew some of them would not jump at
the idea, so I anticipated all kinds of questions. I started the
consultations over two years before the electioneering process.
I eventually got their support, though some came very
reluctantly, I must confess.
THE DECISION
After due consultation, I resolved to fully participate in the 2015
general elections. I was ready to throw my hat into the ring, fully
equipped to step into the murky waters of politics, or so I
thought.
"Partisan politics here I come!" I was ready to announce to
whoever cared to listen.
16
I envisaged it was going to be rough and tough, but what I
experienced was tougher than I had anticipated. Politics turned
out to be one of those things that you can never fully grasp until
you've handled.
One of the commonest questions I had to answer was, "Why did
you join the People’s Democratic Party?" Many people around
me felt joining PDP was a wrong move as the party was perceived
to be synonymous to corruption, impunity, and bad governance.
Most people generally felt nothing good could ever come out of
PDP. It's a badge the party is still battling with.
However, I believe that apart from colours, logos and names,
political parties in Nigeria at the moment have everything else in
common. There is really no ideological difference among all the
parties going by their manifestos. That is the reason why
politicians can easily transit from one party to another. Many
have done this and more will follow suit till the parties evolve
and develop their clear- cut identities.
I am of the opinion that an individual can win an election for his
party. I believe that irrespective of how popular a political party
is in a particular region, if the opposition presents a better
candidate who has integrity and vision though he is not so
popular, there is likely going to be an upset. There are examples
all over the world to prove this.
A good example is the case of Honourable Kako in Mushin
Federal Constituency, who defected to Accord Party from APC
during the 2015 elections, probably because he felt cheated
when he did not win the primary election. Nevertheless, he
emerged both candidate and winner despite the fact that Accord
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Party was relatively young and unknown. He is still representing
his constituency till date on the platform of Accord Party from
an APC dominated and controlled state.
Mr. Jimi Agbaje has been a political mentor before the
commencement of the electioneering process. He is a man I have
always held in high esteem, and I even voted for him during the
2007 elections, though we hadn't met then. While I will not deny
that his declaration for PDP in 2015 also enhanced my decision
to contest under the same party, I will also state that I have no
regrets joining the party and I remain grateful for the
opportunity the party accorded me.
Emerging as the flag bearer of any leading political party at any
level involves a very demanding, expensive and psychologically
tasking process. Lots of fireworks, horse trading, unimaginable
accusations, high-quality betrayals and drama usually takes
place in the process leading to the primary elections, at least
judging from my own experience.
The journey to the party primaries is one I will never forget.
WHY I JOINED THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP)
Since my goal was to run for an elective office, I needed to join a
political party where I had a better chance of getting the party
ticket and win the election, though many parties caught my
attention.
Therefore, based on the facts and information available to me at
that time, I chose the People's Democratic Party.
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2. PRIMARY ELECTIONS
In case you don't know, Primary Election is the election within a
political party to select the candidates who will represent the
party for respective posts in the main elections. It usually
involves lots of conspiracies and drama. Predictably, it can be
very demanding. Besides, you can never tell whether you were
chosen until the day after the election when your name must
have been submitted to INEC as the candidate of your party.
After primary election, successful Aspirants are referred to as
Candidates.
The campaign for candidacy compelled me to attend all the ward
meetings of my party then. There are seven wards in my
constituency, and my political campaign team resolved that we
must visit each ward on their respective meeting days to get
them to know me well. I also had to visit all the ward executives.
Before the visitations started, I sent one of my team members to
find out what we could do for the party at the ward level, and he
came back with several suggestions. We decided to change the
wooden chairs they normally used for meetings to plastic chairs,
and we ordered several dozen branded plastic chairs. I had to
brand the chairs with my name and the post I was contesting for,
and this cost close to a million naira, but it was a necessity which
eventually turned out to be very strategic.
Usually before each of the ward meetings, we would also visit
the ward executives per ward. They were eighteen in number.
These visits were quite interesting as they would ask all sorts of
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questions. Of course, we always had to provide refreshments
and give them some money as well.
Political songs, mostly Christian songs turned political chants
were very typical of political meetings. I had to learn how to
dance as you can't but dance when the women sing your praises,
especially when you are still campaigning for their votes. And
then you must spray them with some good money as they sing.
My usual practice, however, was to put a good sum of money
into an envelope and present that to the head of the singing
group, as I was never given to lavish display of money via
spraying in public. They would sometimes open the envelope
and count the money right in your presence, and if it wasn't
sufficient for them, they would coax you to drop more. If and
when the money is sufficient, another round of singing would
start. I always ensured to blow them away with what I enclosed
in the envelopes.
I visited the seven wards and was warmly received. My
popularity grew significantly within the party because I did things
which others never thought of.
Let me quickly state here that my initial intention was to contest
for the House of Representatives, but I later dropped the
ambition and decided to run for Lagos State House of Assembly
instead. I changed my mind when one of the ward leaders
approached me to inform me that a long-standing party
member, Mrs. Sherifat Hassan, also spouse to his contemporary,
Alhaji Hassan would also be contesting for the same post. He
told me point-blank that even if all the delegates voted for me,
my name would still not be submitted to INEC. He suggested I
step down and run for a lower post, that is, the state House of
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Assembly with a promise that other leaders would give me
maximum support if I complied.
I gave him a sum of fifty thousand naira to thank him for the
piece of advice, as he was just being sincere with me, and
requested for some time to think about it.
Prior to that time, some leaders had given me the same piece of
information. However, unlike this man, they had encouraged me
to challenge Honourable Hassan. They promised to support me,
and that she would never win. They went on to say slanderous
things about the couple, with statements like, "how can we serve
both husband and wife?". In retrospect, I realized they were just
pushing me for their selfish gains: It was in their interest that I
challenge her as that was the only way they could make more
money from me.
I bought the idea initially and was ready to give her a good run
for her money, until this other leader told me the truth. I was
new in politics and could barely tell if someone was being sincere
or if you were being pushed to your own grave. I remain grateful
to him for telling me the whole truth as people generally do not
tell the truth in politics; most would only tell you what you want
to hear or what will favour them at your own detriment. Many
political novices learnt this the hard way.
I consulted with my team and we concluded that compliance was
our only sensible option; it was in our best interest to obey. So, I
gallantly stepped down for Honourable Hassan to contest for the
Lagos State House of Assembly.
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Honourable Hassan called me afterwards and said, “Thank you
for stepping down for me, even though you wouldn’t have won.
You would only have made me spend more money than I
budgeted, while you waste yours”.
She eventually won the primary ticket unopposed.
While we were preparing for the primary elections, Election
Guidelines were released by the Elections Committee of the
party, which stipulated that aspirants vying for the State House
of Assembly were to pay 1.2 million naira for their forms, one
hundred thousand naira for expression of interest, and another
one hundred thousand naira as support for the Local
Government. I was astonished! So eventually, I paid a sum of 1.4
million naira!
Finally, the date for primary elections and the list of eligible
delegates were released. Delegates are very powerful as they
decide who becomes the candidate of the party. Usually, there
are two types of delegates namely, the Automatic Delegates and
the Elected Delegates.
We got to know the automatic delegates immediately, and then,
the visits and hustle to solicit for their support began. I got all
their phone numbers and had to send them recharge cards many
times. I had late night meetings with them individually. I got
acquainted with their close friends and family members to also
help to appeal to them who in turn, demanded some money to
assist in appealing to them on my behalf. The entire process was
exasperating and tiring! Nevertheless, I tried my best to appeal
to the automatic delegates while we awaited the elected
delegates to be revealed.
22
Eventually, the elected delegates were announced, and the
same process of soliciting for their support started. There is a lot
of drama in politics for real.
For instance, on one occasion, one of the delegates called me to
ask if I was friends with a certain woman. I knew the other
woman well, but we weren’t really friends, so I quickly
responded that she wasn’t my friend, but I had once given her a
lift after one of our political meetings.
That response was my saving grace! What happened was that
some of my critics had given her the false repot that I was friends
with the other woman, knowing well that the two women were
sworn enemies. I would have lost the support of one delegate if
she had not given me the opportunity to explain myself.
Afterwards, delegates started having birthdays (whether real or
fake, I couldn’t tell) and one event after another. Of course, I
was always invited, and you guessed right: I was the chief
sponsor of all such occasions. Then, one of the delegates lost
his father, and unfortunately for me, the burial was very close
to the primary elections. I had to foot most of his bills. Just one
delegate was that important!
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3. NIGERIAN POLITICS AND MONEY: PARTY
PRIMARIES
Don't be deceived: no one can win any election in this country
without spending a large sum of money. It's either you have a
deep pocket or someone with a deep pocket is backing you up.
Indeed, politics involves money all over the world where
democracy is practiced. However, the manner in which money is
spent in Nigeria is different.
I started out my campaign secretly by meeting with party leaders
at ward, local government and state levels. You certainly cannot
go for any meeting with empty hands because though leaders
would rarely demand anything from you at that level, there’s an
unwritten rule that the amount of money you drop at each
meeting with these powerful individuals shows your level of
seriousness about your quest for an elective post.
After one of such meetings, one of my supporters called me and
inquired how much I had been giving to the leaders. When I told
him, he categorically questioned my level of seriousness about
wanting to emerge the party flag-bearer as according to him, my
contemporaries were dropping more money and therefore were
being taken more seriously. I felt very sad, especially when he
insisted that I must up my game if he must continue to support
me. His support was vital to me as he was one of the movers and
shakers of my constituency. His verdict was that I go back for
another round of visitations which I should tag 'thank you' visits,
with 'thank you' packages in cash, of course.
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I do not consider this gesture as bribery since it wasn’t
demanded of me, and I wasn’t trying to get the beneficiaries to
commit any illegal act for me. It was simply a way to appreciate
the elders of the party for building us a reputable platform on
which to contest, as one of my think tanks put it, and that was
my rationale too.
So, I went ahead for the second round of the campaign and I had
to step up my game significantly. The financial demands were
beyond my budget and the main campaign had not even started.
In fact, I was yet to pick up the party form which was going for
1.2 million naira and my spending was already running into
millions. My every move was met with monetary demands.
Then I began to wonder why electorates always complain when
politicians get involved in corruption after being elected. What
do you expect after demanding so much from a man just to get
elected? I resolved never to join the madness.
I tried in my own little way to educate the people that what
mattered was what I would achieve for the constituency if
elected, not what I could give to get elected. I told them I had
come to serve them, and if I must serve them, then I should not
have to buy their votes.
My reasoning is that if I pay the fuel pump attendant and
restaurant steward to serve me, then I should be the one to be
served if I also pay the people for their votes, and not the other
way around. I tried to make them realise that this is one of the
reasons why our nation is not developed till date. Unfortunately,
all this fell on deaf ears. As a matter of fact, I was almost stoned
on a particular occasion, but for the timely intervention of those
who believed in me.
25
Politicians pay their way into power, and the consequence is that
those whom they paid would have no choice but to serve them
throughout their tenure. We are not supposed to serve any
politician, but to be served by them.
gave a speech at a certain meeting, where I laid emphasis on
this issue, and after the meeting, I was summoned and cautioned
never to give such a speech again if I must get any party
nomination. Then the scripture which says, “be wise as the
serpent, but gentle as a dove" came to mind. Henceforth, I
resolved to keep my convictions to myself at least till further
notice.
The pressure for money kept mounting, and every politician I
knew became vulnerable. I was invited to speak at every
available gathering, particularly by those who could help me win
the primaries; and I would also be required to make donations
at such gatherings.
On one occasion, I gave out some money to one of the party
leaders, which he counted in my presence and bluntly refused
became it didn't meet his expectations. He scolded me heavily
and told me point blank that he was a politician by profession,
and that he earned his living from people like me. I apologised
with a promise to be a good boy, which I fulfilled by buying him
a generator set. I also footed other bills to remain in his good
books. This man made me realise that he was also collecting
money from other contestants, but he kept assuring me he was
on my side, which I never believed, but played perfectly along.
He eventually played a major role in mobilizing people in my
support towards the primary elections.
I
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Something funny happened one day. An elderly man, who was
one of the people who demanded money from me regularly
called to request for five-thousand-naira worth of recharge card
to make some calls on my behalf. I promised to send it
immediately, but unfortunately for him, he did not end the call,
so I could still hear what he was saying at the background.
I heard him say to the people with him in Yoruba, "That was
Honourable Francis. Very ignorant guy. I will so milk him dry to
show him what politics is all about. After the five-thousand-naira
worth of airtime, the next thing will be to tell him my mum is sick
and to demand the hospital bills from him. Stupid guy!"
I was so disappointed that an elderly man could say such things.
Such is the spirit of many politicians; it's simply amazing! That
was the last time I ever spoke with him. I stopped picking his
calls, and I told my team he was not on our side anymore, so
there was no point wasting money on him.
It was at that point that I resolved to do something other than
doling out money everywhere. So, I started organising medical
outreaches and skill acquisition programs to seek the goodwill of
the people in my community, though I had been doing that for
years in other locations. In my constituency, we got four hundred
people trained on different skills, including Photography,
Catering, Fashion Design, Interior Design, Hairdressing, Graphic
Design, among others.
In my opinion, this was better than just doling out money, as it is
always preferable to teach the people how to fish than to keep
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giving them fish. Some people appreciated my efforts, while
others still didn't. Nevertheless, this gesture made the leaders in
my constituency to see my passion to serve and my sincerity.
Most of them attended the graduation ceremony of the people
who were trained. In fact, what I wore for the event was made
by one of the graduates, who also made many of the clothes I
wore during my campaign, mainly traditional attires with Ankara
fabrics. This was at a cost though, but I preferred it to just doling
out cash. Many of the beneficiaries are still making a living from
the skills they acquired till date, for which I am grateful to God.
Those were some of my experience before the primary elections.
FUNDING DURING CAMPAIGN
So, I won the primary elections and emerged the candidate for
Kosofe 2 for Lagos State House of Assembly under PDP. As soon
as I was declared winner, my mind went into overdrive upon the
realization that I had spent over ten million naira while
campaigns for the main election was yet to start.
I developed the habit of documenting every dime I spent to the
barest details, and even every five hundred naira spent was
documented. The purpose of this was to be able to give proper
account of my spending after the elections. I then summoned my
team for a financial meeting to discuss our financial budget. I
never bargained for the huge spending I had to do, otherwise, I
would have avoided or ignored some earlier expenses. Judging
from what we spent before the primaries, we all agreed that
funding a decent campaign would cost a lot of money.
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Our projected expenditures included:
• Publicity
Posters
Handbills
Souvenirs
• Branding and PR
Acquisition of campaign vans
Branding of the vans
• Community visitations
• Security
• Funds for the street boys.
This would definitely cost several millions of naira. We also had
to craft a strategy to raise the funds as I didn't have such funds
domiciled in any account. One of our strategies was to organize
a Fundraising Dinner in conjunction with Honourable Moyo
Ogunlewe, a colleague of mine in the same boat, who was
contesting for the same post under Kosofe 1 Constituency, since
we were both under Kosofe Federal Constituency.
The dinner was to hold at Sheraton Hotels and Towers, Ikeja, and
our teams met to flesh it out together. A joint dinner would
definitely cut costs, we reasoned, so we planned how to
structure the donations since we would be inviting different
guests.
29
Honourable Moyo certainly seemed to have more clout than I,
considering the fact that he is the son of Senator Adeseye
Ogunlewe, a very sound and renowned politician who was a
Senator representing Lagos East under the Alliance for
Democracy (AD) in 1999 before defecting to PDP, then Minister
for Works and Housing from 2003-2006 under President
Olusegun Obasanjo's administration. However, I was not
intimidated by all that, knowing I could also pull my crowd and
make something out of the dinner.
The dinner was not a bad showing, but it fell way below my
expectations. I was not happy as most of my invited guests never
showed up, while the few who did couldn't meet up with our
expectations.
My father in Lord, Reverend Victor Adeyemi came for the dinner,
and I was deeply encouraged by his presence, his donation, the
inspiring speech he gave, which I believe inspired a number of
people to give, and the wonderful things he said about me.
A few friends also showed up, but I don't want to risk mentioning
names here lest I mistakenly omit some, as I am sure many of
them will read this book.
Only few of my church members attended the dinner because I
invited only those who had shown interest in my political cause.
One thing I had always ensured as a matter of policy was never
to involve the church in my political career. I was able to
separate my campaign and political activities from church work
successfully. I will shed more light on this later.
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However, some church members gave so much to my cause that
I got embarrassed. I didn't begrudge church members who did
not support my political ambition, and I, in fact, appreciated the
sincerity of those who expressed their reservation for my
political activities.
After the dinner, I knew I must devise other means of raising
funds if the campaign was to be meaningful. I reached out to
some friends for us to strategize on how to raise more funds as
the dinner funds couldn’t take us anywhere.
A very dear friend, Bayo Adeyinka, introduced me to his printer,
with whom he had made an installment payment deal on my
behalf. This gesture came as a huge blessing to me as printing of
posters and souvenirs was a major part of our budget. We had
to print posters continuously because opponent parties and
their supporters kept ripping off our posters. I met my major
opponent, Honourable Tunde Buraimo one day and complained
bitterly to him about how his supporters had been tearing my
posters. He apologised and promised to look into the matter. He
was very gentle and we discussed very maturely. I jokingly told
him to step down for me because he was much older, to which
he laughed heartily. We had a good meeting, after which the
tearing of posters reduced considerably. I guess he must have
appealed to his supporters to stop the act. I don't think he gave
the order to do it in the first place.
FRIENDS, FAMILY AND MONEY
A few relatives and friends gave to the best of their capability.
One factor that worked against my fund raising was the fact that
I was contesting against the ruling party. My eldest sister and her
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husband, Mr. and Mrs. Owolabi also reached out to their friends
to support me. However, after transferring some money to my
account she said, “I would have been able to raise more funds
for you, but many people think you won't win, so they feel it is a
waste of funds.”
My response to her was, “Could you organise a dinner in your
house for me to meet with them? I only need to speak with them
for fifteen minutes and they would be convinced.” The dinner
never happened, but she was able to raise more funds for me.
I got help from friends, even those I had not seen in a while, who
saw my campaign on social media and contacted me.
A friend I had lost contact with for over twenty years called me
out of the blue from the US one day. I couldn’t even fathom how
he got my number. He requested for my account details and sent
me a large sum of money. I was so surprised! I called him to ask
why he had sent such a huge amount, and his reply was, “you led
me to Christ many years ago, and if not for Christ in my life, I
don't know what life would have been”. I couldn’t remember
that, and he gave me details of how and when it all happened. I
was stunned but overjoyed.
My bills were running into about five million naira that week, and
what he sent met over half of it. That was another proof to me
that God had my back and that I was in His plan and purpose for
my life.
Spending money in politics is like throwing fireworks. Everyone
enjoys the scene, but then, the money gets blown away.
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My party members also supported me in their own little way.
The party structure also made provision for some money. The
party promised millions of naira, but never delivered. I wasn’t
disappointed though, because I had seen enough to learn not to
believe party leaders anymore.
Mr. Jimi Agbaje rendered tremendous help and support as well.
He gave me money on different occasions, and also had his
printer make 10,000 large posters for me on his bills. To me, that
was huge. His support made me optimistic about winning
despite being cash crunch.
One of the moments I won’t forget in a hurry was when a certain
lady walked up to me while on the queue in the banking hall one
day. She was beaming with smiles.
“Are you the one in the posters contesting for House of
Assembly?” she asked. “Yes”, I answered.
“You look too gentle for politics”, she said. I was just going to ask
for her vote when she told me she was already campaigning for
me. She then called her husband on the phone and asked me to
speak with him. The husband said, “What did you do to my wife?
She is one of your biggest supporters. We don’t like your party,
but you have our votes”.
I thanked him immensely and told him his wife was God-sent.
Before I left the bank, the wife gave a sum of one hundred
thousand naira to me. I was dumbfounded, not because of the
money, but because the gesture came from a total stranger:
someone I had never met before.
33
I had other such miraculous financial interventions.
Another friend called me one day and asked me to send him my
designer’s contact. I did and the designer delivered ten different
attires to me two weeks later. Someone else sponsored the
production of 5, 000 branded notebooks.
Fundraising got stressful along the line, however, I was always
thrilled at the way help came from known and unwarranted
sources. I kept account of my spending during both primary and
the main elections. I am still grateful for everyone God used.
I do not think it is possible for an individual to single-headedly
fund his or her own elections at any level

4. POLITICS AND CHARMS
Writing this part of the narrative was very torturous to me.
Charms, jazz, juju are synonymous to Africa; and we see an
outrageous display in Nollywood. I used to wonder why there
must be one jujuman or babalawo somewhere in African scripts.
I always thought it was lack of creativity. However, my
disposition has now changed concerning this to be honest, as the
excessive display of juju in Nollywood is not a myth, but reality.
The movies actually depict the reality of this part of the world.
Don't be deceived, people use jazz and lots of it in our society. I
had always known this fact, but what surprised me was the
calibre of people asking for my involvement with the occult.
I went into politics with the emblem of being a pastor for good
reasons; and though many people discouraged me from using
that title, I felt otherwise and insisted my posters must carry that
title, though I used just Francis Adebayo in Hausa dominated
areas. One of my reasons was that I thought using the title would
save me from all sorts of harassment and offers by unscrupulous
people; but it turned out I was wrong. The title didn't change
anything.
As a matter of fact, I was approached by several people on
numerous occasions to come for ‘spiritual fortifications’. Politics
is not for the weak, I was told, and virtually everyone does this.
“You will just be killed like a fowl if you don't fortify yourself with
charms”, they warned.
Sincerely, I cannot speak for anyone on this matter, as any
politician who is not involved in such fetish stuff must have
35
fortified himself otherwise, but maybe through the right means.
Politics in our part of the world is very spiritual, and most
politicians are directly or indirectly engaged with the occult.
A day to my primary elections is one day I will never forget in a
hurry. As earlier explained, the primary election was a very
tasking experience which came with its own intrigues.
The primary election day was a Saturday. However, I gathered
all my supporters among the delegates in one place the previous
day, which was a Friday to reaffirm their loyalty and to avoid last
minute deviations, as I didn't want my opponents visiting them
at home to confuse or convince them otherwise at the last
minute. Politics is that dicey. I was able to convince just about
sixty percent of these delegates to attend, and the plot worked
- not without a cost though, because I practically locked them up
and fed them from breakfast till late in the night. We didn’t
release them till midnight, and we gave them no room to make
or answer any phone calls while in our 'custody'.
We made them resume at the same venue on Saturday morning
under the guise of ‘fine-tuning the plan’ and for them to collect
their 'dues'.
After eating and drinking that Saturday morning, one of the men
in attendance called me and said, “Francis, I know you are a
pastor; but we are not going to the crusade ground today: we
are going to the battle field, and you can’t afford to go without
any protection. Please let me put this amulet around your waist
to fortify you from all evil”.
36
It was so funny to me I struggled to suppress my laughter. I took
a look at the dirty thing and gently, but firmly refused. He came
with several, so he went on to give them out to others who gladly
took and wore them, chanting all kinds of incantations. Amazing!
So, I won the primaries, and that was the beginning of real
confrontations. One day, an old woman probably in her late 70s
or early 80s called me.
“Honourable, I need to discuss some very important issues with
you.”
She started with many helpful tips and pieces of advice. She had
been in politics since the Second Republic (days of Chief Obafemi
Awolowo). Truthfully, she had loads of experience. However, she
ended with “I love you my son, and I have arranged to take you
to Ijebu Igbo tomorrow; I have told the man I’m bringing my son,
and he said tomorrow is OK”.
“For what Mummy?” I quickly interjected.
“For fortification”, she replied with a smile. “You need power. I
can see you will win this election, but you need serious power”,
she affirmed. She then educated me for about 30 minutes, which
I endured because of her age, but deep in my mind, I knew it was
never going to happen. It was not a funny experience for me
because the woman kept wheedling me by sending different
people to me everyday. According to her, she was doing it
because she loved me as her own son.
One day, she said to me, “you are my son, and I am doing exactly
what I would have done for my biological son. Honourable, don't
37
worry about payment: I have already paid the man”. At that
point, I got perplexed and felt very sorry for her. I had never
argued with her before but would just politely refuse and
appreciate her profusely. However, that day, I decided it was
time to say my mind.
Firstly, I reminded her I am a pastor, to which she quickly
interjected by telling me pastors also do it. Sigh! Secondly, I told
her I was already fortified and that if she didn’t believe me, she
should go ask the man in ijebu igbo to check me out in the spirit.
I told her I drank blood the previous day, and suddenly, her face
lightened: she was happy. (We took holy communion in church
the previous day, and that was the blood I took. The blood of
Jesus for that matter: nothing compares to it).
Then she made two powerful statements I will never forget:
1. You should have told me this long ago.
2. I will go and ‘weigh’ you in the realm of the spirit to
confirm how fortified you are.
And at that, she let me be.
I had several other encounters with people who claimed they
wanted to ‘protect’ me or wanted to ensure my victory through
diabolical means. Another experience I clearly recall is about a
certain man who asked me to rub some ointments on my body,
which according to him, was meant to guarantee goodwill.
“Ha, Honourable Francis, this one is not juju o; it's natural herbs
that God created. If you use this thing, you wouldn’t need to
campaign so vigorously again; people would look for you of their
38
own accord, and you will be loved by all and sundry. People will
bring you money without you asking. Supporters of your
opponent will decamp to support you.”
After much persuasion one day, he said we should take a bet,
and if the charm didn’t work as expected, I could have his car. I
just laughed and I explained to him that my mother’s spirit
wouldn’t be happy with me if I did such a thing. The moment I
mentioned my late mother, he recoiled a bit; out of respect for
the dead, I guess, then I asked him, “What if my opponent is also
rubbing this same ointment? What then would the effect be?”
He was speechless. He never disturbed me again afterwards.
I wish to reiterate that as far as encounter with the occult is
concerned, I can only speak for myself and no one else. I also
encountered people who were willing to 'carry sacrifices’ on my
behalf. Stuffs that they would put at junctions and market
squares. They are called sacrifices to the gods.
“Never mind if you can’t carry it Pastor, I will do it on your behalf.
You must win this election o.” I heard that statement from
several people.
A certain woman actually gave me a call one midnight and told
me she was already ‘carrying it’. I heard incantations at the
background, and all she needed me to do was just stay on the
line. I quickly hung up, and the woman hasn’t spoken to me till
date. She claimed that if I had obeyed her, I would have won the
elections.
Lord have mercy!

5. STOMACH INFRASTRUCTURE AND NIGERIAN
POLITICIANS
Part of the new vocabulary we learnt this political period is
‘Stomach Infrastructure’. The expression crept into Nigeria’s
political lexicon after Ekiti State gubernatorial election in 2014
when bags of rice and other food items were distributed to
voters to influence their votes.
However, the distribution of foodstuff during campaigns in
Nigeria did not start with the Ekiti State election. It had been
happening in many parts of the country, but it somehow became
more widespread during the Ekiti State election. The advent of
smart phones and relative availability of internet service also
contributed to the popularity.
Nigeria appears to be sliding down to the dark days in rollerskates.
Men are beginning to live by their appetite alone and
nowadays, men celebrate being given fish to eat, as against
being taught how to fish.
While we can condemn those who will jettison their conscience
and sell their votes for a plate of rice, we must also face the
reality on ground. The reality remains that many Nigerians are
hungry with little or nothing to eat. Nevertheless, before one is
able to work, he must first of all eat. A hungry farmer cannot
muster the strength to till the ground on empty stomach. A
hungry father cannot send his wards to school – except
education is free, which is not the case in most parts of Nigeria.
Only a well-fed voter has the stamina to withstand the torture
of queuing up under the scorching African sun for several hours
40
at a polling unit in a bid to exercise his constitutional right. A
hungry voter will either collapse or go home to eat. All over the
world, food is deemed more important than everything else. It is
a precursor to good health.
Political parties usually mobilize their members to sell their
standard-bearers to the electorates, and it is not an easy task to
organize several meetings or mobilize people to attend their
rallies/campaigns. One of the easiest ways to gather crowd for
these events is through stomach infrastructure. 'Use what you
have to get what you want' seems to be the rule. Hence, it is
usual to see politicians going around the city to distribute bags
of rice, chicken and even cash during their campaign and at
festive seasons. During and after the last gubernatorial election
in Ekiti State, the current governor, Ayodele Fayose personally
distributed goodies to the people of Ekiti. Governor Fayemi did
likewise too.
Poverty is poverty; it knows no religion and as people often say,
it wears no tribal marks as it affects everyone. Many political
office holders would testify that every day of the week, their
political supporters, constituents and allies besiege their homes
and offices for one support or the other from dawn to dusk, not
to advocate for bills to be passed on their community's need, but
for their own personal needs. They demand for payment of their
wards' school fees, funds to pay their house rents, support
towards their impending wedding ceremonies, assistance
towards the funerals they need to organize and other mundane
and personal requests. "No free lunch in Freetown", they say. In
return, Nigerian politicians used this opportunity of feeding their
loyalists to win votes.
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Alhaji Lamidi Adedibu and Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki (both of
blessed memory) perfected this manner of politicking.
Adedibu was prominent in Oyo state in his lifetime and was
popularly called 'the strong man of Ibadan politics' and
'promoter of amala politics'. Likewise, Saraki was the 'strong
man of Kwara politics' in his lifetime; and these two great men
were kingmakers. They played key roles in the emergence of
governors and other political office holders in Oyo and Kwara
states respectively. By providing food for the hungry, they were
able to buy their loyalty and use their influence to win elections
for their protégés.
The late Chief Moshood K. O. Abiola of the Social Democratic
Party was able to beat his opponent to emerge winner of the
highly controversial and subsequently annulled 1992
presidential election by this same method: stomach
infrastructure. During his campaign, he went around the country
distributing bags of rice and other edibles to cheering Nigerians.
They were spellbound by his seemingly bottomless pocket, from
which he doled out cash generously to suffering and
disadvantaged plebeians. He knew exactly what the masses
needed. He had been in their shoes and knew exactly where it
pinched.
Sadly, the needs of the masses remain the same as we speak.
Constituents generally believe that if they do not get their share
from the contestants during the electioneering period, they may
never see their representatives again until the next election.
Unfortunately, this phenomenon poses grave dangers to the
survival of Nigerian democracy. The average Nigerian voter is
42
still asking to be given fish to eat instead of being taught how to
fish.
Yet, the same electorates would later turn around to complain
about bad roads, inadequate power supply, unemployment,
poor infrastructure, security threats among other things after
years of continuous democracy.
This was what I had to face when I started my campaigns. The
most pressing debate on my mind was to join or not to join the
system of stomach infrastructure. The struggle was real. A
particular scenario aided my decision.
A certain elderly man attended one of the meetings I hosted in
his community. I saw him when he entered and before the
meeting was over, he seemed to have slept off or so we thought,
only to discover after the meeting that he had actually lost
consciousness. We had him rushed to a clinic nearby, and
thankfully, he was resuscitated. All the doctor could say was that
the man was dying of starvation. The poor old man later told us
he hadn't eaten anything in the past three days and had only
attended our meeting with high hopes that food would be
shared. That was the defining moment.
I joined the stomach infrastructure band, and began sharing
foodstuffs with passion, with the less privileged people in mind.
However, my motive was not to buy their vote. I was merely
feeding the poor as the good book encouraged.
Nutrition is priority. It is the fundamental responsibility of any
government to ensure that the physiological and safety needs of
the citizens are met.
43
Sadly, in this country, democracy seems to be measured by what
is distributed to the citizenry by politicians during campaign
periods. The masses really don't care about the state of the
nation.
Designer bags of rice bearing the insignia of politicians flooded
the communities. Typically, foot soldiers of political leaders
connect with the electorates to know their opinions and wants,
and oftentimes, these foot soldiers advise their party candidates
on what to do for the masses. The answer always boils down to
one thing: stomach infrastructure.
My party was amazing on this one. They gave me over 100 bags
of rice, some with pictures of our presidential candidate and
others, just plain bags. Some came as 1kg branded packs. I gave
out the items with a very good conscience, knowing that I was
providing food for the hungry masses.
There was always something to eat at my office during the
campaign period. We employed people who cooked from
morning till evening. We always returned to the office at the end
of campaign each day to review our campaign activities, and on
every occasion, we always met people eating there. It was
always a joy to see these people being fed, I must confess. Some
of them were not even our party members, yet we ate freely
together. I used the opportunity to get to know some of them
and to discuss the pressing needs of the community and what
they’d like me to do when I get the position I was contesting for.
44
However, all the political parties are guilty as charged, and
stomach infrastructure does not guarantee electoral victory
during elections.

6. MEETING THE TWO MAIN GLADIATORS IN
LAGOS STATE
Two main characters were at the helm of affairs in the Lagos
State chapter of the PDP during the 2015 elections. Fortunately,
and unfortunately, these two men were authorities in their own
right as they had great achievements to their professional and
political records. Besides, they had managed to be in the centre
of attention as far as Lagos PDP politics was concerned.
They were Chief Bode George and Senator Seye Ogunlewe.
MEETING SENATOR SEYE OGUNLEWE
Senator Ogunlewe lives within my federal constituency, so
somehow, my team members and leaders who supported my
cause deemed it important to get his blessings. He would not
vote during my primary elections; however, he had great
influence on those who would. He was that powerful and
influential.
I followed him closely when he was the Federal Minister of
Works. I knew of his battles with Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu. I
knew of the creation FERMA, i.e. Federal Road Maintenance
Agency. It seemed to most people then that FERMA was created
to counter and be a parallel body to LASTMA i.e. Lagos State
Transport Management Agency.
FERMA and LASTMA engaged in several struggles in those days
to the extent that the two agencies almost became a nuisance
to the populace. For instance, I was once arrested by FERMA
46
while trying to park my car because according to them, I didn't
indicate with my trafficator before I parked. It was so funny. I
simply told the guys that their job was to maintain the road and
not look for who wasn’t using his trafficator. They were very
unruly, but I was able to handle them. They wanted a bribe, but
I found a way of dodging that and I was let off the hook.
I knew Senator Ogunlewe was not the head of FERMA, even
though FERMA was under his ministry. However, I felt he
unleashed the menace on Lagosians for political purposes - not
necessarily for the good of Lagosians. So, my initial impression
of Senator Ogunlewe was not really a pleasant one.
After deciding it was time to meet him, I was very apprehensive
about how he would receive me. My first question to my guide
was, " How much should we package for the Senator and what
else should we take along?".
"You will incur the wrath of Senator Ogunlewe if you dare take
anything along for him. To start with, he won't take it from you;
secondly, he might even embarrass you for bringing something
for him, which would mean you hadn’t done your home work
well before visiting”, he quickly replied.
However, my guide insisted on taking fifty thousand naira from
me, just for taking me; he explained that the money was for his
inconvenience since he would have to leave everything he was
doing to take me, and he also needed to fuel his car. Well, I
bluntly refused. We laughed over it and I eventually gave him
twenty-five thousand naira after the visit to Senator Ogunlewe
for his kind gesture.
47
We finally got an appointment with Senator Ogunlewe and we
went in a convoy to his house. Contrary to my expectation based
on public perception, I met a good-natured, highly intelligent
and very understanding man. We had an in-depth discussion
after which he asked me several questions, which according to
him, I answered very intelligently and tactfully. He mentioned
jokingly that pastors are very clever and would usually make
good politicians.
Afterwards, he prompted me to ask him questions, to which I
initially hesitated. He however encouraged me to open up, so I
asked two questions:
The first question was about his experience while in
government, and as the Federal Minister of Works especially. He
opened up to me more than I envisaged, and that totally
changed my perception of him. He told me about his mistakes,
regrets and things he would have done differently.
My second question was if he thought PDP could win in Lagos.
His prediction that day was not absolutely correct based on the
outcome of the elections, but it was very close.
He also lived in a very modest apartment, and I said to my team,
“if this man truly looted public funds as we were told, then I can't
see anything on ground to justify that”. It was a very modest
home, open to all and sundry. People moved in and out freely,
and I was disappointed because I had expected to see a huge
mansion with a very high fence and heavy security.
48
He was kind enough to give me his personal number that day. In
fact, before we left he said, "you are now my son". I was told he
doesn’t say that to everyone and I was quite delighted.
I got reasonably close to him, close enough to request financial
support from him for my election campaign. He was kind enough
to tell me the state of his finances, but he eventually gave me
some support. I became a friend of the family with absolute
access to call and visit him anytime I wished. I loved the fact that
his house was open to people, and several times, I saw him
attend to the needs of the people. I discovered that he even
helped people outside his political circle.
Some people still do not agree with my updated perception of
Senator Ogunlewe, however they are certainly entitled to their
own opinion. I have given account of what I got to know of him
in the several months that we related, and I am still very much
in touch with him even though we no longer belong to the same
political party.
MEETING CHIEF BODE GEORGE
Chief Bode George is another known figure in the political circle
and beyond. He was the Military Governor of Ondo State from
1988 to 1990, under the administration of General Ibrahim
Babangida.
I was told by my team and party leaders of my constituency that
a one-on-one meeting with him wasn’t quite necessary because
he already had a lot on his plate towards the coming elections.
His priority, I was told, was to ensure Jimi Agbaje got the party
ticket, as he believed the chances of winning the governorship
49
seat of Lagos State was achievable with Jimi Agbaje as the flag
bearer of the party. That was a great relief for me as I wasn’t too
keen on meeting him anyway.
My perception of him was also not a pleasant one, especially
after the Nigeria Ports Authority scandal; and even though the
Supreme Court eventually vindicated him, it still left a sour taste
in my mouth.
However, my first encounter with him came the day everyone
contesting for an elective post under PDP was invited to his
office. The notice read that the leadership of the party would like
to interview us briefly to check our level of preparedness for the
primaries and subsequently, main elections. I was given an
appointment.
It was a long wait: I waited for over five hours before it got to my
turn to see him. Other party leaders were with him. Before then,
I had become well acquainted with Senator Ogunlewe who
happened to be one of the leaders at the parley.
I was ushered in and before I could say anything, Senator
Ogunlewe had said, "let's welcome the pastor turned politician
into our midst". Everyone laughed and the only set of questions
Chief Bode George asked me was, “Are you truly a pastor? Are
you the founder or are you working under another pastor?” I
told him I was the founder and Senior Pastor of the church.
Everyone clapped, and he asked me to pray for everyone and for
favourable outcomes for the party at the elections, which I did.
After a thunderous ‘Amen’, I was dismissed.
50
I later learnt that some of my colleagues were really queried, and
some were even advised not to contest for some reasons,
though I cannot tell if the advice was adhered to by anyone since
the meeting was not convened on any constitutional authority.
My second and final encounter was after I had won my primary
election. All contestants from PDP quickly converged to form a
forum called ‘PDP House Of Assembly Candidates In Lagos State’.
We appointed few executives to coordinate the affairs of the
forum. We decided it was expedient we met with Chief Bode
George at that time mainly to seek for financial support. It took
quite a while before we could get an appointment with him, and
when we eventually did, we went at the scheduled time and as
usual, had to wait for over two hours before we could see him.
I was one of the people who spoke at the meeting. I told the
Chief how much winning the primaries had cost some of us and
how we needed more funds to execute our campaign
successfully. He told us that the party already earmarked some
amount of money for us, and while he was not in the capacity to
tell us how much it was, he knew the party would call us very
soon. He said the money might even come through him, but
since he wasn't the party chairman, he couldn't disclose how
much it would be yet.
True to his words, we were summoned to collect some money at
his house few days later, and to our disappointment, we were
given just one million naira each. We all felt we should have been
given more than that. More support was however promised,
which never came even after the election was over.
51
I never had any close interactions with Chief Bode George, so my
perception of him has not really changed. The little encounter
we had would not suffice to change what I initially thought of
him, and just like every other person, I am entitled to my
opinion.
52

7. BUILDING STRUCTURE AND SYSTEM FOR MY
CAMPAIGN
I had neither campaigned nor contested before, and no one
lectured me on how to go about the campaign.
I took a day out to think in a hotel room and to prepare myself
for the task ahead. I needed to clear my head, also come up with
a clear structure on how things should run. I would definitely still
run my plans through my team, but I wanted to at least have
something to present to them.
While thinking and praying in my hotel room, an idea came to
me. The idea was to divide the entire constituency into areas and
zones. Several streets would constitute an area and several areas
would constitute a zone, while zones would make up the entire
constituency. We would appoint area coordinators and zonal
coordinators. The area coordinators would report to the
respective zonal coordinators appointed over them.
They would have two major missions:
1. Find out what we could do as community projects on the
various streets within our limited capacity and funds, that
would touch the lives of the citizens.
2. Work out how to effectively mobilize the people to support
us and eventually vote for us.
The zonal coordinators would work with their area coordinators
to ensure this is done effectively. This was to ensure we get to
the grassroots. I was determined to reach everyone.
53
It was a plan that was well received by all and we started to
suggest those who could serve in either capacity. It was a bit
challenging because the coordinators must reside within the
areas and zones they would handle. Three streets would make
an area and three areas would make a zone. It meant we would
assemble hundreds of area coordinators and zonal coordinators.
They had to be strong party members or people well-known to
me. This was to prevent any form of sabotage, as I experienced
a bit of that while preparing for my primary election.
It took us about two weeks to gather these people and we
scheduled a meeting to discuss the plan with them. It was a
Sunday evening, and the venue was filled to capacity with men
and women of all ages. We had prepared souvenirs and other
materials for everyone in attendance. We also had forms they
would be required to fill to report their various activities from
the streets, areas and zones. It was a very well-thought-out
meeting.
As usual, the meeting started with the party's anthem, and the
Director General of my campaign team gave the welcoming
speech and introduced the members of our campaign team. He
then introduced and welcomed me to the podium to give a talk
about the plans.
I explained the plan to everyone in details. The plan was received
with great enthusiasm. It sounded feasible and practical, and
many of them began to see our possibility of winning the
elections.
We had started distributing the forms when one of them
suddenly stood up and asked how much we would be paying
54
them. The question came as a shock to us because though we
knew that we would give them incentives, we didn’t envisage it
was something they would ask for. My Director General could
not say anything at the point, and I quickly responded that we
wouldn't want to disclose that yet, as that was our first meeting,
and that we would get back to them.
More people joined the guy and demanded we tell them
immediately, but I stood my ground and insisted we would get
back to them. We couldn't agree on that and some of them
actually walked out on us. We lost about one quarter of the
people that day.
I was quite disappointed, but as a leader I didn’t show that to
anyone. I had to encourage those who stayed. In fact, I
immediately asked our welfare team to serve them soft drinks
instead of water with their food as earlier planned. I just wanted
to do everything to let them see our sincerity and that we meant
well.
I also understood the pains of those who left. They had been
used and dumped in the past, so they wouldn't risk going
through the same thing again. They just couldn’t trust any
politician again.
We went on with the plans and recorded some success, even
though we couldn’t implement our plans fully because of paucity
of funds. We dug boreholes, constructed drainages, filled
potholes, helped clear traffic congestions etc. We had greater
plans, but we implemented what our finance allowed.
55
We also gave tangible reward to everyone involved in the
process. Their level of commitment was laudable. It was a lot of
work, yet some of them were up to the task with little or no
incentives.

8. POLITICS AND VIOLENCE
I have come to love politics and as far as I am concerned, it is not
in any way a dirty game. Any game can be dirty depending on
the players.
Violence, which involves (sometimes deliberate) destruction of
life and properties, seems to be part of Nigerian politics. This was
one of the major fears expressed by most of the people I initially
shared my intentions with.
"Francis, how will you handle the violence that goes with
Nigerian politics?" was a common question I heard everywhere
I turned at the beginning of my underground consultations.
Truly, political violence in Nigeria is growing at an alarming rate.
This trend should be a source of worry to all well-meaning
Nigerians who covet the peace and progress of our dear country
These are few reasons why I believe we still have so much
violence in the system from my experience:
1. Failure of the justice system:
The fact that politicians who have been indicted for electoral
violence in the past are still walking free till date tends to
promote impunity among the political class, with the general
mindset that they can get away with violent acts during the
electioneering period.
There is a need to look into the justice system to fashion out
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ways to prosecute electoral offenders.
2. Unemployment:
The large number of unemployed youths are ready-made
mercenaries in the hands of unscrupulous politicians.
The desperation of the political class to grab or retain power by
all means is consistent with the desperation of some of the
unemployed youths to survive at all cost.
3. Corruption:
Corruption is a menace which has eaten deep into virtually all
strata of the Nigerian society. Indeed, the electoral system is not
free from this menace as monies constantly change hands during
the electioneering period to induce, silence or influence the
process as the case may be.
4. Lack of internal democracy in political parties:
Nigerian political parties have failed in their primary duty to reorientate
politicians within their fold on the need to play by the
rules. Worst still, electoral violence is consciously or
unconsciously encouraged at the party level when candidates
emerge for the main elections. This is due to the flawed
processes instituted internally by the parties.
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5. Inadequate security:
The Nigerian security agencies are most times overwhelmed by
the spate of political violence that has been witnessed in the
society over time. Several media reports have detailed how
security personnel were on ground when these acts were
committed but looked the other way because of their limitations
in terms of numbers or unavailability of the tools needed to carry
out their duties effectively.
6. Misinterpretation of politics:
Many people in the Nigerian society believe that violence in
politics is the norm and have unfortunately, gotten accustomed
to violence springing up during the electioneering period.
In fact, many youths who are recruited into the 'private armies'
of the politicians, already have the mindset that their duty is to
cause mayhem, foment trouble, intimidate voters and engage in
brawls with political opponents. This kind of mindset clearly
shows that the whole essence of politics is grossly
misunderstood by the political class, a large section of the public,
and party followers.
7. Poverty:
The level of abject poverty in Nigeria is capable of turning a
decent man into a beast within the twinkling of an eye. The
political class in the country are aware of this fact, and they use
it to their advantage, knowing that getting people on their side
is not a big deal as long as they can flash the cash. It is also the
norm to use material gifts to gain the support of voters and
influence their decision.
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8. Lack of democratic culture:
Decades of military rule has affected the psyche of the average
Nigerian, including Nigerian politicians. Indeed, many are still
struggling to come to terms with the fact that we are now
practicing democracy. Lack of democratic culture is evident in all
the stages of the electioneering period, from internal party
'wrangling' through campaign rallies to political debates and the
interactions between the politicians and the public. Efforts need
to be made by civil society groups to instill democratic culture in
the Nigerian populace.
I personally witnessed several incidents of violence, and I must
seize this opportunity to say, “thank you” to my driver and to my
Chief Security Officer, who both worked assiduously to ensure
my protection always. I received several calls from unknown
people at different times threatening my life, and sometimes
threatening to deal with me if I dared to come to certain areas. I
later discovered some of those calls were just empty threats to
check out the stuff I was made of. Well, I have every cause to
believe they were empty threats because no one attacked me at
any point during the campaign and afterwards.
I never recruited any thug to work for me, even though I engaged
the services of security agencies. However, wherever I went
during the campaign period, I always met political thugs who
wanted to recognise with my cause. They would show up with
songs of solidarity and sometimes attempt to cause some
mayhem. That was their own way of showing whoever cared
that I also had 'foot soldiers' backing me up.
I never at any time encouraged their sometimes disorderly and
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embarrassing behavior, but I didn't stop them from following me
whenever they chose either.
One incident that clearly comes to mind was this unscheduled
campaign I had to go for. It was on a Monday. I had decided I
wasn't going out throughout that day as it was a public holiday,
details of which I can't remember now. I made up my mind to
spend the whole day with my family to catch up with them on all
fronts as I was hardly home at that time because the election
campaign was in full gear. My wife and kids were elated.
I discharged everyone on my team, though I noticed they were
reluctant to go; but I insisted that they should go spend some
time with their families too.
Around noon however, I got a call from the campaign team of
Mr. Jimi Agbaje that he would be paying an unscheduled visit to
my constituency. Needless to say, I would be required to show
up in honour of him and to join the campaign train since it was
my constituency. It made sense but left me with mixed feelings
as my scheduled rest and family time had just been canceled.
I had to quickly explain the situation to my wife, and she agreed
that I had to go, but made me promise not go anywhere else,
and I did. Unscheduled meetings, impromptu calls and
emergencies like this, even in the middle of the night are part of
the package for every politician. Fortunately for me, my driver
was still hanging around and I was happy. I told him the plans
and off we went to the venue to receive my principal.
I didn't deem it necessary to call my other team members since
we were to go to just one location and return home immediately.
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I was glad to have joined the amiable Jay Kay (as he was
popularly known) on this campaign because the location was an
area I had never been, though we planned getting there
eventually. Visiting the place with Jay Kay would certainly reduce
my spending, and I might not even need to go there again, I
reasoned.
Jay Kay spoke very well of me and mentioned that we had been
friends before I decided to go into politics or even run. It was a
good campaign and I was also given the opportunity to make a
speech and to deliver my plans for my constituency. I spoke so
eloquently amidst intermittent ovations.
After the campaign, Jay Kay left with his team and security
personnel, and suddenly, we started hearing gunshots and out
of the blue, my car was surrounded by stern looking boys
chanting, "APC! CHANGE!" Obviously, these guys had come to
disrupt the campaign and cause a mayhem, and I was caught
right in the middle of it. None of my team members was around
as it was an unplanned campaign, and even my CSO had left. My
driver tried to maneuver our way out of the place, but it just
wasn’t possible. For a second, I thought the end had come, and
wanted to say my last prayers, but then I felt very calm within.
Then suddenly, another group of guys, close to a hundred,
emerged from nowhere with machetes and all sorts of deadly
weapons, chanting "PDP! POWER!
Real pandemonium ensued, but God rescued me unhurt, though
my car was badly damaged. I left the guys there fighting one
another, though I learnt the police later intervened after I had
left.
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I witnessed another amazing scenario during one of our
roadshows. Campaigns were by then in full gear by the two
major parties. There were rallies round the clock almost
everywhere.
My Federal Constituency planned a major roadshow with the
two House of Assembly candidates and the candidate for the
House of Representatives. It was really big and we moved in a
large convoy of vehicles and trucks with thousands of party
members walking and jogging beside the vehicles. Our
constituency stood still that day. It was my first major roadshow.
I got an open roof truck and sat on the roof of the jeep.
The party provided us with thousands of branded souvenirs like
exercise books, pens, t-shirts, caps etc. to distribute as we
moved from place to place. And of course, we distributed food
items too: well packaged 1kg bags of rice, various brands of
noodles, and items like matchboxes, etc.
We were well received in most of the neighbourhoods we
visited, especially because we had lots of giveaways. Those items
cost millions of naira, as I was part of the committee that decided
what should be bought.
Then, we got to a particular narrow road only to discover our
major opponents were also on that road. Wow! In all honesty, I
was scared to my bones. The road was so narrow that neither of
us could turn back. Then neighboring shops began to close down
hurriedly, as they envisaged a free-for-all fight. Worse still, I was
fully aware that both groups were accompanied by political
thugs with all sorts of dangerous weapons.
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Immediately, I was ordered to get off the roof and into the car. I
obeyed and prayed silently, not sure what to expect.
The tension in the air was heavy as we got closer, and when we
met side by side, both groups took turns in singing political songs
against each other. Our group would sing against them, and they
would respond with their own song. We were in that gridlock for
at least fifteen minutes, then each group started throwing their
respective souvenirs at the other. It was such a beautiful sight to
behold, and how I wish we could record it, as it would have been
very useful for case studies.
It turned out to be so much fun at the end of the day: there were
no gunshots or any other form of violence, and not one person
got injured, though there were thugs armed with dangerous
weapons in our midst.
I was really impressed. In my candid opinion: that is how politics
should be played. It should be without bitterness or violence.
At some point, I alighted from my car to exchange pleasantries
with some candidates of our rival party. We shook hands, and
onlookers applauded. Those who had closed their shops started
to open again. It was a day I will never forget

9. MEETINGS UPON MEETINGS
Like Pastors and The Holy Bible, Imams and The Holy Quran,
bread and butter, yam and egg, we can also comfortably add
politicians and meetings to the list of cliché inseparable pairs.
Politicians hold countless meeting. It is always from one meeting
to another, and as a matter of fact, a politician gets bothered as
to whether he is being sidelined if he doesn't have an endless
schedule of meetings. One of my first lessons in politics is that
most meetings are convened impromptu, and that could happen
at any time of the day.
It was always difficult for my PA to organise my day because
scheduled meetings were often cancelled or postponed for
unscheduled but more important ones. I had close to fifteen
different meetings on some days, and it could get so crazy that
there wouldn't even be time enough to eat.
Then, I also convened many meetings myself. I had meetings and
campaigns sessions with different type of people and groups. I
met with different associations from different communities.
For example, I met with the following associations:
• Barbers' Association
• Hair Dressers' Association
• Association of Fashion Designers
• Association of Vulcanizers
• Landlords and Resident Associations
• Churches
• Mosques
• Association of Traditional Medicine Practitioners
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• Nigerian Union of Teachers, Kosofe Branch
• Cooperative Societies of various kinds.
I documented over 160 instances of meetings of this nature. For
example, we had to meet with the Association of Barbers in
three batches, and that meant three times. I chose that
approach over meeting with them as a whole so that I could have
more impact. That approach is called Grassroot Networking.
The meetings were usually fun to me. I love people naturally, so
any opportunity to meet with people always gladdens my heart.
The meetings were usually very interactive; and one could tell
the people were yearning for result-oriented governance and
that they were tired of promises made by politicians. They hardly
could trust any politician as they had been betrayed over and
over again. Asking them to believe you was almost like giving
them slaps on their already wounded faces! Trying to convince
them of my sincerity was a Herculean task, and I totally
understood.
Let me share some of my experience at the numerous meetings
I had with some of these groups.
MEETING WITH ALL CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM PASTORS
One of my campaign team members, who was also a member of
the Cherubim and Seraphim Church brought up the idea of
meeting with the pastors of the churches in my constituency.
The idea was that to reach out to these pastors so that thy could
also help persuade their numerous church members to vote for
me.
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The meeting was fixed for 7.00am on a certain Saturday
morning, and my team arrived at the venue at about 6.30am.
Luckily, it was our first meeting for that day. We were well
received and as usual, I introduced all my team members and
also got to know everyone present. There were over fifty pastors
in attendance. That was huge as almost all the churches under
the denomination in my constituency were represented. I was
very happy.
I presented my intentions to them and they asked several
questions, which I answered to the best of my ability. Everything
went well. They pledged their support and some of the pastors
even invited me to their church to minister (or was it to
campaign?). I agreed and we immediately fixed speaking
appointments with about eight different churches.
At the end of the whole session, they requested to pray for me
and I agreed. They all surrounded me and the head of their
association wanted to lay hands on me, but I refused. Laying on
of hands is not something I do flippantly, and I don't allow just
anyone to lay hands on me as I believe that there's transference
of spirits through that process.
This caused a little uproar as the man felt humiliated. It took a
while for me to explain to them, but a serious debate ensued and
they weren't placated. They insisted on withdrawing their
support if I didn’t allow it, but I stood my ground too.
After a while, they asked me to excuse them for a moment. I was
called in about fifteen minutes later. They had changed their
mind, but they requested to point their rods towards me while
praying for me. Each of them had a rod in his hands. I agreed to
that, but only requested that they should not allow the rods to
touch me. They all laughed but agreed.
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We hugged and laughed after the prayers. I honoured all the
pastors and visited their various churches. The largest one had
close to 1,000 people in attendance, and the man told me to
campaign and not just preach as he was also a party member and
everyone knew that.
THE ASSOCIATION OF LANDLORDS AND RESIDENTS
The second meeting experience I would like to share is the one I
had with the Association of Landlords and Residents of a
particular community.
The meeting had about 150 people in attendance. I spoke as
usual, but I could tell that many of them were not in support of
my party. They bombarded me with questions that were beyond
my jurisdiction to answer, and I made them realize those weren't
questions I could answer. They really put me on the spot.
My team members got very uncomfortable; it looked like we
were in an enemy zone. However, I was determined to listen to
them and even take all the heat: it was all part of the package.
Some of the people asked me to leave, then suddenly, an elderly
man stood up and asked with a loud voice, "Are you Francis
Adebayo from Harvest Place Maryland?"
"Yes sir", I replied.
Everyone kept quiet and it seemed the man was well respected
in the neighbourhood.
"Thank God you're here", he said, "I've been looking for you".
He came out and said, "Please listen to me everyone. We are all
going to vote for this man. We are not voting for his party, but
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we are going for him". There was another uproar, but the man
appealed for their audience and said, "Francis Adebayo sent my
child to school. He paid her school fees for three years. I lost my
job around that period and could not afford to keep paying her
school fees. But she came home one day and informed me that
her pastor had decided to take her education up, and he paid her
school fees for three years till she graduated. I'm sure this man
will work and serve us. Let's give him the chance".
That testimony was the game changer. It was victory at last.
Everyone saw the man's sincerity, and it was clear we had never
met before. I was overjoyed.
We ended the meeting on a good note, and some of them
agreed to follow my team to other meetings I had scheduled for
the day in their vicinity.
MEETING WITH PROFESSIONAL PROSTITUTES
I am aware that prostitution is illegal in our part of the world, but
to say prostitutes don't exist or the profession is not being
practised openly would be a great denial.
One of my team members came one day and asked,
"Honourable, is it right to campaign to prostitutes? I asked him
what he meant, and he said he just passed by a brothel where
he saw many prostitutes and he was wondering if I would
consider coming to campaign to them. My response was, "as
long as we are sure they have voter's cards”, which he agreed to
go back to confirm. He returned with one of them about two
hours later, and she confirmed to us that many, if not all of them
had PVCs. We arranged a meeting with the group and her job
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was to help us mobilize their members in that vicinity on the
meeting day.
The reality of the fact that there were young people who weren't
ashamed to be known as prostitutes in the name of survival
broke my heart, and I did shed some tears. That was one of the
effects of bad governance on our nation 's economy.
We went for the campaign meeting on the set date and it was
well attended. We also went with several materials and
souvenirs. I addressed them, and some of them spoke about
their problems. They requested to take pictures with me and I
obliged them, but I ensured there was always a man standing to
my left and to my right. I was just being careful as I was aware
such pictures could get to public domains and be used against
me. They also showed us their PVCs and I was glad our effort was
not wasted.

10. POSTPONEMENT OF THE ELECTIONS
I was in a house-to-house campaign on a Saturday afternoon
when I heard the breaking news that the Jonathan-led
administration had postponed the elections by some weeks.
That came as a blow for me, as it meant that we would have
spend more money, paste more posters, and continue with the
rigorous campaign, and I was weary already. It felt like when a
student had thoroughly prepared for his exams and looked
forward to getting them over with only to have the exams
postponed at the last minute.
We were supposed to go to another community that evening,
but after the news I didn’t have any strength in me again. I told
my team we should retreat to our office instead. We met at the
campaign office and I was able to convince them that based on
the news, we should also postpone any further engagements
and campaign. We actually took a two-week break and reduced
our engagements and public activities drastically during the
period. However, we kept meeting to strategize.
I also seized the opportunity to attended to some personal
things that I had left pending for a while.
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11. TWENTY-FIVE MILLION NAIRA
I mentioned earlier that all successful House of Assembly
candidates in the 2015 elections formed a group tagged The
Lagos State PDP Candidates for House of Assembly. We also
constituted a leadership structure. Their main job was to help
liaise with party leaders to give us all the support we needed to
execute our campaigns. They successfully reached out to some
leaders of the party both within and outside Lagos State.
Some of them supported us financially, while the majority
promised but never fulfilled their promises. I began to realise
how some of these people play their politics. It seems many
don’t even know the importance of words. I mean, how could
you make promises to forty adults, and then fail to fulfill your
words without any remorse or apology? I simply don’t
understand it. To my amazement, some of them even denied
ever making any promises, and sincerely, I was stupefied. How
could leaders tell such lies?
Our executives convened a meeting and informed us that the
leadership of PDP from the headquarters in Abuja had promised
to support Lagos State elections financially, and twenty-five
million naira was to be allotted to each of us to help fund our
campaign. I initially doubted the claim and didn't give it much
attention.
Other follow-up meetings later validated the claim. I was not
privy to the ways things were run in the party, but I was
convinced about the genuineness of this claim. However, I still
maintained my strong doubts concerning whether the promise
would be fulfilled.
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About four weeks to the elections, I got calls from some
colleagues telling me that our money had been disbursed to
Lagos chapter and we would soon be summoned by the party to
come sign for it. I received the news with mixed feelings, but
some people were very optimistic about it. With that, my
optimism rose a bit, and I started including the money in my
plans. I also made lots of promises based on my expectations.
As usual, I told my team about the money. I made it a point of
duty to tell them about every amount we were given for
accountability. I was absolutely transparent about my finances
and I pledged that I would remain accountable when elected into
government. I disclosed every money that came in for the
purpose of the elections. All of them are still alive and can attest
to this. On this occasion, we agreed to base our plans on ten
million naira, as we were so sure part of the money would have
been tampered with somehow.
And then, the wait started.
Two weeks to the elections, the news had it again that the final
decision had been made and we would be given fifteen million
naira each. By that time, I had come to believe the story, so I
spent up my last reserves for the last days based on my
expectation.
Long story short, the money never came till date. Worse still, we
couldn’t tell whether the money was ever released from Abuja,
or if it was released but embezzled here in Lagos. However, I
believe some money was released which never got to us.
Few hours to the elections however, we were given a sum of
seven hundred and fifty thousand naira each by the party to
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support us on the day of the election. I gave the money to my
team members to spend as they deemed fit.
The campaign team of Mr. Jimi Agbaje gave me about 200
customized ATM cards. Each card was loaded with five thousand
naira. The cards were to be given to our party agents on election
day for their services. We trained the agent to do their job well,
and I ensured all my agents got their cards.
I learnt that was the first time such a system was used, and it was
a way of avoiding cash exchange as the money would definitely
grow wings at some points and then some agents would be
short-changed. It was a very laudable idea from Mr. Jimi Agbaje's
team.
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12. MODERN DAY RIGGING
"Elections in Nigeria are neither free nor fair". This statement is
often heard whenever issues on policies or elections are being
discussed. Suffice to say that politicians, political analysts and
the general public do not have an exact definition for election
rigging; colloquial definitions have been adopted instead.
According to Collins Dictionary however, election rigging is
defined as the act of dishonestly organizing an election to get a
particular desired result through fraud and interference with the
election process.
This definition sounds all too familiar with the political scene in
present-day Nigeria.
This unpleasant expression has continuously echoed in the
political system for as long as most Nigerians can remember; in
fact, it is something the average Nigerian has come to expect
whenever elections are around the corner. This menace of
election rigging has become a ‘sure’ route to electoral victory in
Nigeria, subverting freedom and fairness in the process.
Election rigging involves activities such as ballot box snatching,
ballot box stuffing, conflict between party agents and electoral
staff, illegal printing and usage of voter’s cards, falsification of
results, as well as tampering with the voters’ register. However,
activities such as ballot box stuffing and ballot box snatching
have reduced considerably.
The advent of electronic voting through the use of Permanent
Voter’s Card has reduced or eliminated some of these activities
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while also introducing some other forms of rigging which I will
describe shortly.
Please bear in mind that the elections conducted in Nigeria right
from 1959 to the 2015 elections have been fraught with various
irregularities; hence, it is not surprising that this scourge is one
of the fundamental problems facing Nigeria today.
The somewhat sophisticated nature of the rigging activities
shows that the rigging process, which reaches a crescendo
during election periods, always begins long before the elections
take place. It also shows that our political class tends to take the
issue of elections as a do-or-die-affair.
CAUSES OF ELECTION RIGGING IN NIGERIA
Election rigging chews aggressively at the very heart of
democracy, standard of living and the level of trust placed on the
government by the electorates.
It is worthy of note that this political and social vice has roots,
chief among which are corruption and poverty.
1. Corruption and Poverty
Corruption has been the bane of this country for ages, inhibiting
the growth and progress of the nation. The deplorable state of
our infrastructure and standard of living of the people have
served to further increase the level of corruption and poverty.
Those in the political class have taken advantage of the
desperate Nigerians living in this sorry state by offering them
meagre amounts of money or making promises which they have
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no plans of fulfilling. This seems fair enough to the poor masses;
hence, they trade in their votes.
2. Economic Instability
Another significant cause of election rigging is the level of
economic instability in the country. This acts as a huge
motivation for people to seek political office in order for them to
feather their own nests with a share of our commonwealth. This
further drives the do-or-die attitude, which makes desperate
politicians to resort to rigging.
3. Logistics
The problem of logistics has always bedeviled the electoral
umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),
despite the huge efforts they have put in to overcome it. This
logistical problem is further exacerbated by the infrastructural
challenges facing the country.
4. Staffing
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) normally
engages temporary staff during election periods. Although the
engagement of temporary staff makes economic sense as
explained by the immediate past INEC chairman, Professor
Attahiru Jega, the problem with temporary staff is that they are
more easily influenced into electoral malpractices and are
sometimes not available during the process, probably because
they have little or nothing to lose.
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5. Weak Judicial System
The performance of the judiciary has so far been under par with
respect to cases of electoral fraud, which are sometimes swept
under the carpet or controversially decided. This is quite
disappointing because this institution is saddled with the
responsibility of ensuring justice, equity and fairness, even to the
poorest of the poor, and it is most disheartening that on issues
concerning election and electoral irregularities, it seems to have
been folding its arms either due to the dependence on the
executive, an overload of petitions, or inadequate training of
judicial officers. These factors play roles in hampering the
efficiency of the judiciary.
6. Indiscipline and Decadence amongst Security Operatives
There have been some instances of acts of indiscipline and
decadence amongst our security operatives during elections.
There have also been reports of security operatives assigned on
election duty, who have been used by politicians to perpetuate
electoral fraud.
MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH RIGGING
Three days to the elections, I got this mysterious call from this
fellow I couldn’t remember knowing. I was in another meeting,
but he sounded very desperate, insisting that we must see that
night. I told him I wasn't sure when the meeting would end, and
that it was already late, but he insisted on waiting till whenever
we finished as his mission was towards my success at the
elections.
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I alerted him at about midnight when the meeting ended, and to
my greatest surprise, he said we should meet at some
designated place. I went there with five of my team members
and met about seven guys waiting for me.
The venue was not well-lighted so I couldn't tell the faces of the
people, but I felt safe in their midst. They introduced themselves
and I was surprised to know that five of the people there were
INEC ad hoc staffs.
They narrated how they had followed my campaign and declared
that they were willing to help me win the elections as that would
be naturally difficult since I was in the opposition party. I was
curious, but I allowed them to continue. They also mentioned
that they had many loyalists spread all over the different polling
units in my constituency. My curiosity had now gone through the
roof, but I was afraid at the same time; they tried to calm me
down, even though we could barely see one another. I asked
them, "So, what's the plan?"
"Honourable", their leader said, "we don't need any money from
you". That shocked me and made the matter even more
interesting. I couldn't take it anymore, so I got up and said, "so
you guys think you can set me up?" I was going to walk out, but
they begged me to listen to them, so I sat down.
"Honourable, you are not at any risk at all, and if anything, we
are the ones putting our name and certificates at risk; but we are
ready to do this for you. We are sure it won't be detected", they
said. At that point, I was eager to hear their plan.
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The leader of the team then described the plan as enumerated
below:
Step 1:
We have identified over fifty polling units where this rigging will
be done by anyone for you.
Step 2:
At the polling units: we already know the number of registered
voters at the units. We will wait till we are sure more people are
not likely to show up to be accredited, and at that point, we will
call for your men.
Step 3:
If out of 500 registered voters in a particular polling unit, only
300 showed up, we would ask you to send 150 people who have
no voter's cards.
Step 4:
When the people get to such polling units, we would have given
them a code to say to identify them as part of the deal. Once we
hear the code, they show someone else's voter's card, and we
will pretend as if the card had been swiped. Usually, the party
agents are either tired or have lost concentration at this point.
We will quickly pass them and put ink on their finger, and once
this is done they are free to vote.
"We can't do this in all the polling units", the guy said, "but the
units we have chosen are guaranteed because we have the same
mindset. It will be safely executed, and this cannot be detected",
he insisted.
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I was speechless for about two minutes, I closed my eyes, and
for a second, I was tempted to say, "you people are Godsent!" In
all honesty, it was tempting, especially when they described the
entire process; and despite my values and convictions, there was
a raging battle inside me.
I opened my eyes and the words that came out of mouth were,
"Guys, you are wonderful! This is a great plan, but I am sorry, I
can't be part of this arrangement".
The leader of the team said, "Honourable, we don't want
anything from you. Nothing at all. All we want is that you
remember us by serving our constituency when you get there".
I replied, "My conscience will forever judge me if I go ahead, and
I might even confess after the elections. " I appealed to them
that I simply couldn't do it.
They were shocked, but they appreciated my stand. I couldn't
pick their faces, but the facilitator looked like someone I had
seen before. Before we left, he hinted that one of the reasons
why they were trying to 'help' me was that other parties were
also perfecting their own plans of rigging.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
How Do We Stop Election Rigging?
The key way to stopping rigging is to get many people involved
in the process. Rigging would be very difficult to execute if, for
example, ten parties have party agents at the polling units to
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supervise what is going on. It is impossible for all the ten to be
bribed or to be too tired not to know what's going on.
Most times, only two or three parties have their party agents at
all the polling units. Some parties do not simply have enough
volunteers to represent them and defend their cause at the
several polling units. This is another reason why I encourage
everyone who loves and believes in the future of this country to
join a party. Volunteer to be a party agent. Be involved. Do
something.
Like Pastor Poju Oyemade, the Senior Pastor of Covenant
Christian Centre once said, "Nation building is the assignment of
this generation". I believe this with all my heart.
It is important to also state that rigging is not only done in the
main elections, but also during the primary elections.
A very good example is the August 2016 elections in Ondo State,
in which Barrister Akeredolu emerged the flag bearer of All
People's Congress (APC), and it was alleged that the delegate list
was tampered with. This is referred to as 'delegate swapping' in
political circle and this kind of rigging takes place in almost all the
leading political parties in our country.
Let me also proffer some solutions to this problem.
To curb delegate swapping, I recommend a properly held
congress supervised by INEC at the various wards, after which
the names of both elected and automatic delegates are
published on the website of the parties and even in a national
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newspaper. This will forestall any incident of delegate swapping
when the primary elections is to be held.
The delegates should be allowed to vote in secret ballot as well,
so that no one feels harassed or intimidated after the entire
exercise.

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13. ELECTION DAY
The week before the elections was very hectic. We held
meetings upon meetings. The demand for funds also
skyrocketed: we needed money for so many things.
For instance, we were able to solicit the support of over 3,000
people who registered in my constituency because they worked
there but weren't residents, as it was more convenient for them
to register at their place of work. Our plan was to make them
stay overnight in their respective offices and shops so that they
could vote for me the following day. It was a well-thought-out
plan that would have made a lot impact in my elections.
However, it came with its own financial obligations.
The people requested for some money for their upkeep
overnight, which we agreed was fair as they weren't planning to
vote at all and the only reason they would be staying overnight
was to vote for me.
My team put so much effort into this plan. We grouped the
people into twenty groups and appointed coordinators over
each group to ensure everyone was well taken care of and that
they all voted. We were to give one thousand naira to each of
the people and five thousand naira to each of the coordinators.
Eventually, the plan didn’t pull through as I couldn’t raise the
entire money needed for that exercise again because the idea
came a bit late and the money promised by PDP didn’t
materialize. It was painful, especially when I realized I lost my
elections by about that same margin.
I couldn’t sleep at home few days to the elections, not because
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of any security threat, but owing to the load of works to be done.
I had my clothes in a suitcase in my car. There were days I ended
up booking more than one hotel because I would have checked
in at a place for the night only to get phone calls for engagements
in another location. It was tiring, but interesting. A lazy man
cannot survive in politics as it is highly demanding.
That continued until the big day, that is, the Election Day. I had
not slept a wink for two days. I got home, changed my clothes,
and off I went to the polling unit to vote. I went in the company
of my wife and as usual, all eyes were on me.
By that morning, I was not optimistic anymore, majorly because
I couldn’t raise the money I had envisaged and therefore,
couldn't keep the people we had mobilized to stay in their
respective offices and shops overnight. Few stayed out of love,
but the majority went home. I don't blame them. It would have
been a great sacrifice without any form of compensation in view.
It was while at the polling unit that I realized what great mistake
I had made by not campaigning heavily in my estate. The elites
came out to vote in large numbers, and though we could have
been more, the turn out still surprised me.
The law doesn’t permit me to campaign on the Election Day, but
many people approached me when they realized I was the
Francis Adebayo contesting for House of Assembly. They blamed
me for not going round the estate for major campaigns. Many of
them eventually promised to vote for me, however, it was
already too late to mobilize others.
All our party agents had a telephone number they were to send
the results of their polling units to. We couldn’t establish a
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control room as we had planned at the beginning of the
campaign, but we still had an organised system to get situation
reports at the different polling units.
It was not a bad showing for me, and my results were
unprecedented in any elections in my constituency.
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14. MY LOCAL CHURCH AND POLITICS
I am the Senior Pastor of Harvest Place International Ministries,
Maryland, Lagos, a thriving church I founded over ten years
ago. The declaration of my intention to join partisan politics
came as a shock to many members.
The first thing I did, as far as church is concerned, was to have an
extensive meeting with the core leadership of the church - about
twelve respectable men and women. Most of them were
unenthusiastic about my intention. Nevertheless, their buy in
was very crucial to me. After further discussions however, we
finally found common grounds on how to go about it.
We then proceeded to the second level of leadership, about fifty
in number, and expectedly, it was more difficult to convince
some of them. They just couldn’t fathom why their pastor would
want to get involved in partisan politics. Their concerns were
genuinely borne out of deep love for me, as they wouldn't want
my image tarnished in any way. However, after looking into the
scriptures together concerning this, we came to a conclusion and
agreed to allow God's will run its course. I hadn't even joined any
political party yet at that point. I told them it's not about the
party that I join but about me as a person. I didn't want to
endorse or promote any political party by any means.
After I joined PDP, I told only my immediate leaders and I
ensured I never mentioned my party on the pulpit. I never did. I
didn't want to bring politics to the altar for any reason. I also
knew people in church have different political inclinations, and
as such, it would be unethical to use my office as the Senior
Pastor of the church to promote any political party.
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The Sunday after I won my primary elections, I simply announced
that I had won the primary elections of my party, without
mentioning the name of the party.
In my interactions with church members, especially the ones
that have political inclinations, I also ensured they were free
enough to criticize my party without any iota of guilt. I wanted
to ensure no one was threatened in any way, even if we
belonged to or supported different political parties, and I
handled this quite well by my own judgement.
I want to profusely thank every member of Harvest Place for
their understanding during the 2015 elections.
One other thing I ensured was that I never missed any Sunday
throughout the election period. It wasn't easy, I must confess. I
missed a number of midweek services though, but not a single
Sunday service. I usually left the church immediately after the
service on most Sundays, especially during the campaign period.
My counselling time reduced, but thankfully, we have faithful
pastors and ministers who stood in for me effectively.

15. MY REGRETS AND LESSONS LEARNT
I wish I had gotten involved in politics earlier in life than I did.
The entire experience was a very beautiful one for me, I must
confess. I have no regrets for participating in the elections
process. I learnt a lot, made many friends, met important
personalities and led many to Christ on the field. In all, I am a
better person today, and I will do this again.
However, there are some actions and inactions that I later
regretted in the entire episode, talking of some things I could
have done differently. The following are some of them:
MY REGRETS
1. Primary elections funds
I spent too much preparing for the primary elections. I tried too
hard convincing everyone that I was the man for the job. After
the primaries, my first step was to visit my main opponent. We
scheduled an appointment and I went with some party leaders.
It was a very good meting.
At the end of the meeting, he said jokingly,” Why were you
spending like that before the primaries? Hope you still have lots
of money for the main elections o.” We both laughed over it, but
I know what he had said was true. For example, on the day of the
primaries my team went with over two million naira but
returned with just fifty thousand naira.
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2. Inadequate campaign
This is one point that is still very painful till date. My campaign
activities were focused on certain parts of my constituency at the
expense of other parts. I was actually misled. I went more to the
grassroots and spent more money and time there, while totally
ignoring some areas because I was of the opinion that elites
don’t vote. I was shocked at the number of people that came out
to vote in Magodo Phase 2 where I reside. It was like a carnival
in most of the polling units.
Many bigwigs of the opponent party reside in that area,
including the Senatorial and House of Representatives
candidates for Kosofe Federal Constituency, Senator Ashafa and
Honourable Rotimi Agunsoye respectively (who both won the
elections by the way), many serving commissioners, permanent
secretaries, and top government officials.
I reckon that if I had been more diligent in some of those elitist
neighborhoods, like Magodo Phase 1 and 2, Otedola Estate,
Omole Estate, Unilag Estate, etc. I would have had a much better
showing and might have even won the elections.
In any case, I am very happy that elites now participate in politics
and turn out to vote in large numbers.
LESSONS LEARNT
These are more lessons learnt, which I believe will be of huge
benefit to anyone who wishes to contest in any elections or
anyone aspiring to any leadership position:
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1. Courage
A high dose of courage is required for anyone who wants to
venture into politics. Though negative opinions about politics
can be daunting, the truth is that politics is not as
insurmountable as many people have made it to look, after all,
there are thriving politicians everywhere. Agreeably, it is tough;
nevertheless, anyone with a healthy dose of courage can get
involved.
Many people told me I wouldn’t get the ticket of the party
because I was relatively new. They told me I didn't know the
movers and shakers of the party and gave me a-thousand-andone
more reasons why I wouldn't win and should just back out.
After the primary elections, more people tried to discourage me
from going further.
The greatest secret of the ruling class is discouraging many
enlightened people from vying for political offices.
2. Let the People Know What You Stand For
One of the few things I did upon joining a party was to make my
stand and values known. I made it very clear that I was a different
breed and that I wasn't into politics for what I could get, but to
serve.
I remember going for a certain campaign before the primaries,
where I was to speak to some elders. One of the questions I was
asked was, "Where are you from?"
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The man who took me had told me never to say I am from Ogun
State for obvious reasons, so when the question was asked at
the place, he gave me the ‘don’t forget what I told you’ look.
However, I looked at the people straight in the face and told
them I am a native of Abeokuta, Ogun State. I then mentioned
that since I had lived in Lagos for long, I was eligible to contest
under the Nigerian constitution.
The man gave me a stern look. He was angry about what
happened, but he never said anything about it until one day
when a certain party member suggested in his presence that I
had to tell lies to get something done on behalf of the party.
Before I could say anything, the man said, “Ha, honourable will
not do it o, let’s send someone else”. So, someone else was
chosen for that task.
This helped in many ways even though I was excluded from
certain meetings and discussions because of what I stood for.
3. Accountability and Transparency
It pays to be honest. No one is perfect, but we can all be honest.
For each mistake I have made in life, I am always honest enough
to admit them, repent, and move on. I made up my mind to be
very transparent to my team as regards finance from the onset.
I gave them a breakdown of every fund I received for the
purpose of the elections to the last kobo. I told them some of my
challenges too. I was not going to use them and dump them. We
suffered together and when money came, we planned how to
spend it together. I promised to remain that accountable when I
got elected. My accountability bailed me out several times.
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Rumours fly a lot in politics. People easily cook up stories for
whatever reason. At a time, gossips had it that we had received
some huge funds; therefore people, especially party members,
placed heavy demands on some of my team member with the
assumption that honourable must have given them some
money, otherwise he was cheating and hiding information from
them. Surprisingly, none of my team members believed. They
just knew I would have told them if it was true. They were also
able to convince the people that I didn’t collect the said money.
I actually heard this from one of the people as none of my team
members mentioned it to me. They trusted me that much.
4. Avoid Sycophants
You know who they are: the people around you who praise your
every decision and tell you how smart, wise and brave you are.
They are flatterers and smooth-talkers. They deceive you with
lush words that make you feel good. Who doesn’t want to bask
in the adoration of others?
However, they are dangerous because it’s so easy to fall for their
flattery. Few people like to be told they just made a bad decision
or that they were wrong. The truth hurts. Being told we’re
smarter than Einstein makes us feel a lot better. But unless we
encourage honest feedback, we are vulnerable to their flattery.
There's no other way to guard against flattery but by
encouraging honest feedback. I did exactly that. I encouraged
honest feedback from my team every time, assuring them that I
wouldn't be offended even if the truth hurt.