From my coverage of court proceedings, I have heard judges posit that justice in a matter should not be to litigants only but to the community/society as well.
This I believe, presupposes that the overall interest of the community must be factored in when cases are determined.
While not delving into the merits or demerits of the recent political cases in Plateau, one is pained that in some of the instances, the interest of the community has completely been neglected and in this,
the case of Hon. Beni Lar, the former member representing Langtang North/Langtang South Federal Constituency stands out.
Here is a lady who has proven over the years that she’s out to serve her people wholeheartedly and has in the process worked so hard to prove that what a man can do a woman can do even better .
She has, over the years, won the hearts of her constituents that they have no qualms sending her to the House of Representatives for the many times she indicated interest in representing them.
Apart from former deputy speaker, Rt. Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase, who has surmounted all odds to climb back to the Green Chamber a record five times, it is only Beni lar that has matched that record in the history of the politics of Plateau State.
Her feat bears emphasis taken cognisance of the kind of environment she comes from where women are usually not given a fair chance in leadership.
This evidenced in the fact that from 1999 till date, only three women, Martha Bodunrin, Prof. Nora Dadut and Beni have been voted into the National Assembly from Plateau State.
While the Bodunrin crashed out after only a term and Dadut after serving for less than a term, Beni has shown an uncommon resilience and stay power that only few have been able to match.
For five consecutive times she defeated all her contenders to the coveted position and in the process stamped her authority not just on the Plateau but in national politics as one of the few women with the highest record of come backs in the entire National Assembly.
While it could be said that she leveraged on the popularity of her family name- being the daughter of 2nd Republic governor of Plateau State, Chief Solomon Lar,- to launch into politics, she has proven through her subsequent rise and sustenance that she can hold her own.
In 2007, in her first attempt to contest for the Reps seat, she had as her major opponent in the primary, the irrepressible Solomon Dalung who was quite popular then owing to his activism and experience in politics. But he was her first casualty as she defeated him in the primary and went ahead to win the seat.
By the time she completed her first tenure, she has shot up the ladder as one of the most likeable politicians on the plateau due to the work she had done and the assistance she rendered many.
There are records of the numerous number of youths she helped with pensionable jobs; families she had assisted to rise above the poverty line; projects she had attracted to her constituency and germane bills she has sponsored in the House.
By 2015 when she contested the seat for the third time, she had become so popular that the mere mention of her name brought shivers to the spine of many that wanted to contest against her.
At the national level, her name became synonymous with the Langtang North/ Langtang South federal constituency.
If her earlier success at the polls were attributed to the support she got from her father, she proved that she earned her place in the hearts of the people such that even after he passed on in 2013, she had gone ahead to win the seat a record three times!
Again, to prove that the circumstance belonging to the ruling party in both the state and at the national levels did not account for her wins, she encored the feat of returning to the House as a member of the opposition when when her party regressed to the opposition at both levels in 2015 and she went ahead to win in subsequent elections.
The unfortunate thing is that even in current circumstance where her seat had been taken due to intra party issues that bears no direct blame on her, she was able to prove her mettle by defeating her opponent with 14,899 votes against the 8,871 votes he polled.
In the history of scions of political icons from independence, she stands out as one the few who succeeded in following in the footsteps of their forebears as most who have tried to do so underachieved in that regard.
If justice is said to factor in public interest, it certainly did not consider the overall interest of the people of Langtang North/ Langtang South federal constituency as they cannot be said to have voted in error for a particular candidate for five consecutive times!
It is obvious that Beni, with her reputation always preceding her, can win the election for the seat any day even with her two eyes closed.
One can only imagine how the people feel that their beloved daughter whom by their testimonies and votes has given them the kind of representation they desired would no longer represent them even when they had clearly, chosen her.
The loser in this episode it would appear, is not Beni but the people of Langtang North/ Langtang South Federal Constituency who have been denied their choice of a representative.
My other worry is that of democracy is said to be a government for the people by the people and for the people then there is no justification for foisting people who have been rejected at the polls
The implication is that it would embolden those who get to office through such means to look down on the people as they can beat their chests and say to the constituents justifiably ” I don’t owe you anything as you were not the ones that put me there.”
And if democracy is about the people, then how does one explain when the wishes of the people can be so brazenly thwarted and abandoned.
