The past days has witnessed political frenzy and a renewal of the disharmony of the recent developments in the APC family in Kogi State, as a result of the ongoing jostling for the vacant ministerial slot for the state to which a national leader of the party was said to have nominated and endorsed Hon. James Abiodun Faleke. It will be recalled that the APC in the state was thrown into chaos following the nomination of the incumbent governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello to carry the party’s flag due to the unfortunate and untimely demise of Prince Abubakar Audu when votes of the November 21st 2015 gubernatorial election were being counted and collated. But for the resolve of all parties involved to peacefully pursue and channel there grievances through the law court, the state would have been thrown into a theatre of bloodshed.
Although some have argued that the west senatorial district of the state have had a fair share in terms of federal appointments, having produced the most number of Ministers in the history of the state, hence the need for other senatorial districts to be considered. In as much as this line of argument is genuine, selection of a Minister to fill in the vancant slot at the federal executive council should take into cognizance of the prevailing political configuration in the state. The central senatorial district currently holds the position of governor and the east occupies the seat of deputy governor, it would only be fair and balance for the next Minister to come from the west, giving that the Late Minister, James Eneojo Ocholi hails from the east senatorial district.
Unity and reconciliation has eluded the state’s chapter of APC since the last gubernatorial election with the split of the party into the Yahaya Bello sympathizers and the Audu/Faleke group, the choice of Hon. Faleke who is the leader of that group as replacement for Late Ocholi wouldn’t be a bad idea. If anything, a ministerial appointment for the Audu/Faleke group would only open the door for a genuine and lasting reconciliation in the state’s chapter of the party. The state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello hasn’t been able to do much in running an all inclusive government by practically extending an olive branch to the Audu/Faleke group and making policies and programs that could enhance peace, unity and pacifying the aggrieved within the party.
The need for the federal government headed by President Muhammadu Buhari to dowse political tension in the confluence state by accepting the choice of Hon. Faleke therefore becomes inevitable and a step in the right direction, if stability and harmony is to be restored in the Kogi branch of APC ahead of 2019 elections. At this juncture I respectably call on Governor Yahaya Bello to rise above politics of bitterness, acrimony and hate. He should endorse the nomination of Hon.Faleke in the spirit of fairness, sacrifice and forgiveness in order for mutual trust and respect to prevail.
– Hussain Obaro writes from Ilorin
oseniobaro@yahoo.com
