.Aspirants face screening tomorrow
The race for Lugard House in Kogi state heightened last week as 27 governorship aspirants on the platform of the All Progressives Congress picked forms for the expression of interest and nomination at N5.5 million each. Only two aspirants who were women received the forms free of charges, beating last Friday’s deadline. The governorship aspirants are expected to face the screening panel tomorrow (Monday) ahead of August 29 primary election.
The APC candidate will slug it out with eventual candidates of other political parties in the November 21, 2015 governorship election.
The APC aspirants, who collected the forms before the deadline, include a former Kogi State governor, Prince Abubakar Audu, Barrister James Ocholi, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, Senator Nicholas Yahaya Ugbane, Mr Sani Halilu Shuaibu, Alhaji Suleiman Baba Ali, Air Vice Marshall Saliu Atawodi, Mr Muhammad Abdullahi, Senator Nuruddeen Abatemi Usman, and Hajiya Hadiza Ibrahim.
Other governorship aspirants include the veteran journalist and one of the founding fathers of Newswatch Magazine, Mr Yakubu Muhammad, Chief Clarence Olafemi, Mr Suleiman Ejeh Abutu, Mr Sunday Ejibo, Otunba Suleiman Lanre Ipinmisho, and Dr. Tim Nda Diche.
Also in the race are a seasoned banker, Mr Habeeb Abdullahi Yakeen, Prince Rotimi Yakub Obadofin, Mr Babatunde Irukera, Mr Olusola Oluworanti, Dr Onukaba Adinoyi, Pharmacist Aliyu Zakari, Senator Alex Usman Kadiri, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Umar, Mr Idris Hussein Kashim and Dr. Sanusi Abubakar.
Most of the aspirants addressed journalists after collecting their forms.
One compelling aspirant is former Governor Audu who formally declared his intention last Monday August 3 to contest in the governorship election.
Receiving his nomination and expression of interest forms at the APC National Secretariat, Audu accused succeeding governors of doing little to advance the Kogi that he left as governor in 2003. “All the structures I left as a governor of the state 12 years ago are still the ones standing without addition by my successors,” Audu charged.
Audu, who was governor from January 1992 to November 1993 and then May 1999 to May 2003, said Kogi needed his experience: “At present, Kogi is in a very bad shape and as such, you cannot allow somebody to go there and learn on the job. Most of the aspirants now… I don’t want to say much about them, most of them are trying to do it as youth corps job, some of them are just young school leavers and because they stumbled on some money somehow, they feel they should be governor of the state.”
In his address, a business mogul, Alhaji Bello, who is the chairman of an international transport outfit, Fair Plus, after paying a courtesy call on the party national chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, told the party leaders in a crowded conference hall that his mission was actuated by the compassion he had for the people of Kogi State whom he characterized as a people under siege and groaning from the ‘oppression that had been their lot’ since the creation of the state 24 years ago.
He asserted that if he became governor, Kogi State would never be the same again, adding, “We have demonstrated across the length and breadth of Kogi State that we are detribalized. We do not segregate. There is no sentiment, and we are out to support the development of our state.”
Alhaji Bello, a frontline contender for the Lugard House in Lokoja, is an entrepreneur whose investments span transport, agro-allied, mining and real estate businesses. He is famous for his commercial transport chain, Fair Plus.
Mr Sulaiman Baba Alli is another contender among the first set of people who picked the forms to contest in the primary election of the APC. Alli, who is a former commissioner, promised to create more employment opportunities rather than sacking workers if he had his wish of being elected governor.
And on Tuesday, some more governorship aspirants were in Abuja to collect their nomination and expression of intent forms from the APC. The aspirants were a former speaker-turned governor, Mr Clarence Olafemi, two veteran journalists Yakubu Mohammed and Hadiza Ibrahim, and a former assistant police commissioner Suleiman Abutu.
Mr Olafemi was appointed acting governor of Kogi State from being speaker on February 6, 2008 when the election of former Governor Ibrahim Idris was annulled. Clarence returned the office to Ibrahim Idris on March 29, 2008 after Idris had won a fresh election, making it roughly seven weeks of reign for Olafemi as governor.
Seizing on that part of his history, Olafemi told Kogi people that he was an experienced governor who was ready to surpass his achievement of February and March 2008.
On her part, Hadiza Ibrahim used her womanhood to campaign, saying, “I feel as a woman, mother and wife that it is time for real change. I pick this nomination form in other to become governor and move the state forward,” she said.
Also speaking, Mr. Mohammed, who said he was instrumental to the creation of Kogi state by Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida government, said he had the capacity, power, fairness, goodwill and a sense of balance to lead the people. He promised to address the leadership vacuum and run a transparent government, noting that ill-equipped hospitals and road accidents were products of corruption from bad leaders.
Mr Abutu, who was a former police officer, promised to rescue Kogi state from its present sorry state.
On Wednesday, four more governorship aspirants collected the expression of interest and nomination forms. They included Mr Yaqeen Habeeb who said that despite the potentials available in the state, it had not seen any meaningful development in recent times. He decried the high rate of unemployment, armed robbery and kidnapping in the state and attributed the situation to bad leadership provided by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). “Kogi State is endowed with highly competent and capable people. What is required is sincere leadership with a vision and a purpose to harness these resources,” Mr Habeeb said.
While speaking, another aspirant, Prince Rotimi Yaqub Obadofin said the issue of hunger and poverty in the state would top his agenda, pointing out that anybody who failed to address such issues was deceiving himself. Obadofin said his mission was to run a governance process devoid of tension, discrimination, acrimony, and regression.
Another aspirant, Dr. Timi Da Diche said he wanted to take over the state from the ‘non- performing’ PDP government, lamenting that 24 years after the creation of the state, “Kogi has nothing to offer.”
In his own submission, Otunba Suleiman Lanre Ipinmisho promised to make transparency his watchword, pointing out that “a state being run like Kogi is the black sheep of the nation and we must not allow it to continue.”
Another aspirant, Mr Haliru Sani Shuaibu said his blueprint for the state included social security, human development, Creation of jobs, and agricultural development.
On Friday, Dr Alex Usman Kadiri, who obtained his forms, attributed the problem in Kogi to bad governance. Senator Kadiri said he would set a template that would address the issues of marginalization and lopsided appointments within two years, stressing the need to build confidence among the people in the state who had found it difficult to engage in inter-marriages.
The former Director and Permanent Secretary said he had the age, experience and support of well meaning to contest the race, adding that Audu cannot pose any threat to his ambition. “I personally believe that I have more experience than Audu,” he added.
Another aspirant Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Umar, who cautioned against money politics, promised to salvage the state by alleviating poverty through the provision of good governance.
Mr Idris Hussein Kashim, who pledged to bring development, social security and unity among the people of Kogi State, noted that the clamour for power shift would create division.
Reacting to Audu’s statement that some of the aspirants were school leavers, Mr Kashim said campaigns should focus on issues instead of sentiments, stressing that the United States President is within his generation.
