Verily verily I say unto you, God, our Holy, Supreme and Just God, has no hand and could not have had any hand in any of the primaries conducted so far in Kogi State, whether by APC or PDP, we all know the game they play. The old order is still very much in vogue.
Ironically, there is celebration now in the APC camp that Wada has won the just concluded PDP primaries?
Why?
Because they see him (Wada) as an electorally weak candidate and so very easy to demolish at the polls by Audu, the APC candidate.
Besides, the so-called “power of incumbency” may not necessarily do the trick this time to ensure “victory by all means” for Wada, since his political party, PDP, is no longer in power at the center. (The same situation had arguably led to the electoral failure and ouster of Audu from power in 2003). But to compound the topsy-turvy political situation, Gov. Wada does not appear, before the primary was conducted, to have reconciled or made peace with Echocho, his major challenger at the PDP governorship primaries, and his (Echocho’s) army of die-hard supporters, who are fairly present in all the three Senatorial Districts of the State. So it is still a moot question as to what Echocho and his supporters would do, now that the chips are down, even though awkwardly down.
Would they for instance go for a pound of flesh this time around?
It is said that once beaten twice shy. But in this case, Echocho has been twice beaten. Hence there is no telling how far he would go in search of his pound of flesh, that is, if such a line of action is really on his card.
The way I figure, from this point in time and given the disgruntled ululations that I hear from the grassroots (excluding of course the political jobers and careerists, who would normally dance to any drum of victory, whether victory by hook or crook), the phenomenon of protest votes against Wada and in favour of Audu (even if given grudgingly) is not unlikely and therefore, may not be lightly discounted.
But then, I am also not unmindful of the albatross on Audu’s neck.
A lot of Kogites (especially from Kogi West and Central Senatorial Districts) that I know still find it extremely difficult to forgive and forget the “atrocities” he is said to have committed during his 1999 – 2003 tenure at Lugard House.
All said, let’s hope and pray that something creative, good and beneficial to Kogites would eventually come out of her present political topsy-turvydom
– Barr Yemi Mohammed writes from Abuja
