The announcement of Barrister James Ocholi as a Ministerial nominee representing Kogi state came as a surprise and a shock to many political watchers and off course, all indigene of the Central Senatorial District of the state. It is on record that the Central District of the Confluence state gave the APC and its presidential candidate about 98% votes at the last general election as against the 66% and 51% by the Eastern and Western Senatorial Districts respectively.
One would naturally expect that, going by the “95%/5% sharing formula” comment credited to President Muhammodu Buhari on his visit to the United States of America, the President would do things differently from the PDP government’s style of injustice and unfair treatment, and look in the direction of the Central District for his choice of Minister, with the aim of correcting and balancing the anomaly which is currently the case in the state, going by the sacrifices, exploits and tireless efforts of the teaming youth, women and politicians of the Ebira-speaking part of Kogi state.
The fact that an indigene of the Eastern Senatorial District (Igala speaking) prince Abubakar Audu is currently, fraudulently holding onto the APC gubernatorial ticket of the state, in clear violation of the constitution of the APC, on the grounds that Abubakar Audu should have been disqualified by the virtue of the fact that he failed to resign as a BOT member of the party three (3) months before the primary election. While filling his nomination form with the APC, he filled in “political case with the EFCC” instead of ‘criminal case with the EFFC’. The fact that prince Audu is unfit to stand for an elective position on the platform of the APC giving his criminal indictment and on-going trial should have been an ample ground for his being replaced by the 1st runner up Mr. Yahaya Bello.
Now that some very powerful “cabal” in the APC are hell bent and unwavering in their resolve to unlawfully field the candidature of prince Abubakar Audu in the forth coming Nov 21st election in total disregard to the guidelines of the party, and they have even gone ahead to pick a Lagos based politician, a current Member of the House of Representative and an indigene of the Western Senatorial District of Kogi state as his running mate, it is only fair and logical for Mr. president to duly compensate the people of Kogi Central by picking a Minister from the Senatorial District in line with justice, equal treatments, fairness and the “95%/5% principle of political sharing formula” of President Buhari.
Just as Mr. President heeded the agitation and calls of the people of Niger state who called his attention to the fact that Alhaji Musa Ibeto who was earlier nominated as minister representing that state happens to come from same zone which produced the incumbent Governor of that state. We the people of Central Senatorial District of Kogi state are equally calling on the President to do the needful and address this current lopsidedness by withdrawing the Ministerial nomination of Barrister James Ocholi and replace him with an indigene of Kogi Central District, like he has done with Niger state.
If zoning is good for Niger state, it is also good for Kogi state.
Failure of Mr. President to as a matter of urgency correct this political imbalance will go on to show that nothing has really changed from the use and dump style of politics of the PDP which the law abiding people of Kogi Central Senatorial District has suffered in the past.
– Hussain Obaro, oseniobaro@yahoo.com, 08065396694
