The constitutional right of picking a governor for a state in Nigeria as a successor is the prerogative of the whole voters resident in a state and this power is vested in the electorate through an elaborate provision in the Nigerian Constitution. It is a right which in a democracy cannot and should not be denied the people of a state because it is undemocratic and also unconstitutional.
The scheming and plans by the incumbent governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello to foist, by all means, a successor by manipulating the delegates’ list to favour only his preferred aspirant to against all odds win the primaries of his party, APC, in the forth coming gubernatorial primaries must be viewed as an attempted daylight brigandage and a coup against the good people of the state.
It has become public knowledge that this candidate whom he confided on some of his inner circle that he is keeping to his chest to succeed him must not be allowed to prevail because Yahaya Bello in Kogi state is now known as a master in failure in everything he has done since he became the governor of the state.
We need not remind the governor of the state that the job of picking, selecting, recruiting or electing his successor as governor of the state is the prerogative of the whole electorate of the state and this is because of the very sad experiences we have had in the state when we allowed impositions to fester in the state and in its trail left the state poorly governed as Yahaya Bello is doing today.
One major question the people of the state must all rise in unison to ask the governor is, whether it is the role of a governor to sit alone and determine his successor in a democracy? The answer is no as the recruiter of leaders in any democracy is the people.
Kogi people must today be told that the governor of the state is scheming to rig the APC governorship primaries by lobbying to favour only his loyalists as party delegates that will take part in the forth coming party gubernatorial primaries to select his anointed acolyte as the candidate of the party for the gubernatorial seat. This is because he wants his anointed candidate not to have any challenger at the primaries because he controls the party in the state.
This action should ordinarily attract the criticism and condemnation of all good people of the state because it is undemocratic. It is the right of the Kogi people to pick their leaders at any point in time by themselves and not that of Yahaya Bello who is carrying a moral burden of misgovernance.
It is no secret in the state today because daily the Kogi people are regaled with stories emanating from the grapevine that there is an orchestrated plan by Governor Yahaya Bello to foist his anointed loyalist on the APC, firstly, by manipulating the adhoc delegates congress in favour of his anointed one as the candidate to beat at that event coming up soon.
As the leader of the party in the state, he feels he has the sole right to impose his will on the party against the will of millions of party faithfuls in the state.
Yahaya Bello seems to be taking this high level scheming and usurpation of the rights of the party faithfuls to pick delegates to the primaries to pick his successor because he thinks in all matters regarding the party in the state he can play god.
He seems to be foreclosing the rights of the people by readily scheming to foist a stooge of his as his successor under the guise that such a person is the ‘Divine Choice’. This mindset of the governor is now making the people of the state irrelevant in our democratic process which has contributed to voters apathy during elections but this time around something urgent must be done to call him to order because we are in a democracy.
Such an anointed person would, in the long run, be only loyal to him rather than the people of the state as his godfather and careless about the people who in the first place are the first priority of government when he assumes office.
It is also a known fact that the governor is doing all the scheming to anoint his successor because he would rather wants someone as governor who would cover his track rather than protecting his legacy which we all know none exists.
Rather, his insistence in singularly hand picking his successor is only for his selfish interest because the right thing is for him to allow everyone who thinks he has the capacity in the party to come forward to tell people why they should be voted for as the next governor of the state.
Yahaya Bello is afraid for his future as he knows he is the worst among those who have governed the state in the whole of the history of the state.
He knows he is generally regarded as a corrupt governor that have embezzled public funds and because he knows sooner or later he would be probed and found guilty of this practices he wants to impose his stooge in office to shield him from being probed.
Governor Bello must be told in clear terms that he became a governor by default and being a beneficiary of divine providence he must be thankful to God by allowing all the aspirants that signifies their intentions to serve the people through the platform of the ruling APC in the state to test their popularity while the delegates must be elected through a transparent, free and free process and allowed to choose the best man for the job as the candidate of the party for the general election.
Anything short of this is allowing the governor to have his way unchallenged and this will contribute greatly to the bad governance that has put us where we are today by the lukewarm attitude of leaders in the state today.
The governor is trying to impose someone who probably is his ally in crime who had been with him for a long period of time and knows all the atrocities he had committed and who is loyal enough to cover his tracks and consolidated on his bad governance. This is bad and killing our democracy and developments in all its ramifications because check from the records our governor is a master of failures in all he does.
He must not be allowed to use his antics to preside over the death of the APC in Kogi state.
The implication of this contrived imposition is the tendency of continuing in the state with this circle of incompetent governor’s answerable only to their godfathers like Yahaya Bello who care less about the future of the party or the state by continuing with this circle by perpetuating themselves in office through their cronies.
This practice which the governor wants entrenched in the state is a misnomer and against the true spirit and ethos of democracy which has contributed to bad governance we see today in Kogi state.
Anointing a successor at the governor’s instance is dangerous when he is seen as a non performer and the Kogi people are waiting eagerly for his exit from the power stool as to think of allowing him replicate himself rankles.
This is the feelings of all good people of Kogi state who now wants the party not to allow him have his way in choosing his successor. This is because allowing the governor is tantamount to self surrender to life of slavery for all Kogi people because the Kogi people are fed up with the Yahaya Bello administration that they now feel any other person can be better than him and his cronies that have made the state grown worse in all sectors.
The situation in the state has grown so worse that the people are countdown for the Bello administration. Some caricatures are rampant where some people wish the elections are today. Such wishes can only be a product of frustrations which indicates how desperate the people are looking forward to a breath of fresh air. The people wants a taste of sweetness after a long period of bitter pills under Yahaya Bello so the APC must beware.
It is only those who wants to play politics that would tell you that the governor’s years in office is a blessing to the state and its people. I know many of them who speaks well of this governor in the open for the sake of their stomach but in secret, they lament and wish for a change in government.
Concerning the governor’s quest of scheming to impose a successor, one wonders what manner of a successor that person would be to continue from where he would stop in 2023 because it amounts to wishing the people of Kogi state bad luck.
We have this tree in the country called “Agbalemo”, people say it is called “rubber vine”. Sometimes, if you are lucky to get the sweet specie of that fruits, you can eat both the inside and the outside-so sweet. But if you get the bad type, you will hate the tree and its fruits, because of its bitter taste. What the people of Kogi state have got in the past eight years is the bitter “Agbelemo” and anybody wishing the state an extension of the bitterness and unwholesome experience, he does not mean well for her.
APC beware before the roof of your house falls on you in Kogi state.
The governor’s penchant for causing confusions in the state is legendary. He has politically ostracized the very people that are instrumental to his ascendancy to the office of the governor of the state. His actions as the leader of the APC in the state rather than aggregating more people to the party rather has aggravated or alienated many. In fact if there is any leader in the history of Kogi state who has failed to manage the citizens of the state, a prerequisite for bringing out the best in the citizenry it is the Bello’s administration.
The present reward system in the state left a lot to be desired. The local government system in the state is anything but dead because the third tier of government which is closer to the people at the grassroot has been held hostage by a thieving administration who see the local government system as a milking ground to further his personal nest.
Politically, he rather than see the late Prince Abubakar Audu political family as his brothers in progress for the growth of the party in the state rather see them as enemies that must be decimated by all means. What a governor.
The foundational members of the APC are today wondering if the party as it is presently constituted is the party they really worked hard to make sure it is well entrenched in the state to help the party recover from the years of underdevelopment brought about by the behemothic but ideologically bereft PDP. The very people he is now fronting to take over from him are his very acolytes that help him in no small measure to destroy the party.
The forth coming primary election of the APC is an opportunity for the members of the party to take back the party from the rudderless and failed leadership of the party led by the governor of the state or stay back unconcerned and wait for the party to self destruct.
– Musa Wada wrote from Kogi state.
