Timothy Ajiboye writes on the controversies surrounding the recent defections of two former acting governors of Kogi State, Hon. Clarence Olafemi and Hon. Abdullahi Bello, from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress
Not much has been said after Lokoja, the Kogi State capital on Tuesday September 23, witnessed a rally by the main opposition political party, All Progressive Congress (APC), during which the party received defectors from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
But a number of events have happened in the state lately, principal among which is the series of defections that the confluence state PDP has been engulfed in since 2013. Expectedly, the media has been part of the game with up to date report of events as they unfold.
Though some people have contended that most of the high profile defections witnessed in Kogi State over the past one year are basically those of the former Senator Muhammed Ohiare camp, who alongside his supporters in Kogi Central Senatorial District left the PDP for APC and Hon. Sunday Shigaba, a member of Kogi State House of Assembly representing Bassa constituency who also dumped APC for PDP, but other factors listed below will also come into consideration.
APC to PDP
It would be recalled that as part of the governor’s programme of keeping abreast with the people at the grassroots, he initiated a thank you tour. So far, the governor has visited 15 local government areas, meeting with the people to feel their pulse, commissioning and initiating new projects. High points of the governor’s visit in the areas visited have been the defection of members of the opposition political parties, particularly the APC to PDP. Approximately, the PDP claimed to have received close to about 25,000 new APC members as at the last count, with the defectors hinging their decisions on the administrative style of the party.
PDP to APC
However, the tempo of the gale of defections was raised with the September 23 rally of the APC in Lokoja where the party formally received two former speakers, Hon. Clarence Olafemi and Hon. Abdullahi Bello, as well as two other lawmakers, Alhaji Saidu Akawu, former Chief Whip and Hon. Jamiu Siaka, representing Kogi and Okehi State constituencies respectively, all former members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The APC leader in Kogi State, former governor, Abubakar Audu alongside other national officers of the party while receiving the new party chiefs along with their supporters said their defections mark the end of the PDP and is a dawn of a new era for the APC in the state.
Audu said the party is determined to ensure victory in the 2015 general election. Three APC presidential aspirants; former military Head of State, Major Gen Muhammadu Buhari (rtd); former vice president, Abubakar Atiku and Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso , were also in attendance.
The rally tagged “Tusunami” by Audu also drew supporters from neighboring states as well as the North-west, particularly Kano State.
Describing the crowd as unprecedented, the national chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie Oyegun , who enthused that the APC has grown so fast in no time, predicted that “with this sea of heads, our party will win the councillor, chairmanship, house of assembly, House of Representatives, senatorial and governorship elections in Kogi State come 2015”.
The deputy national chairman, North, Senator Lawan Shuaibu, went further to describe the rally as “tumultuous” and “the beginning of the end of what used to be called PDP in Kogi State”. Hon Dino Melaye, a former member of House of Representatives and senatorial aspirant in Kogi West who anchored the programme, gave the list of defectors to include a former PDP state chairman, Chief John Odanwu, Ambassador Isaac Onu and 10 former council chairmen, and others, stating that with this development, “in 2015, PDP will become opposition party both in Kogi State and at the centre”. He put the number of the defectors and their supporters at above 5,000.
The Echocho Volte Face
The most celebrated and advertised defection of a former governorship aspirant of the PDP, Alhaji Jibrin Isah (Echocho), was however not to be. His absence confirmed speculations in the media few days to the rally that Echocho would not be part of the defection party. It will be recalled that Audu at a mini-reception for the defecting actors at his residence in Lokoja on September 14, first hinted of Echocho’s defection to APC, and a grand rally to formerly unveil him on September 23.
Inside APC sources however revealed that Echocho who lost the PDP governorship ticket to incumbent Governor Idris Wada, in 2011, had a last minute change of heart after what was described as “crisis of confidence” involving him and Audu. Sensing that Audu’s insatiable appetite to return to Lugard House will ruin his chances of making any progress within the APC, it was learnt that Echocho ditched the APC at the dying minute. Sources said the ex- banker refused to pick calls from his supporters ostensibly to prevent any form of persuasion.
PDP’s /Devil’s Alternative
Meanwhile, for the PDP, the entire story of 5,000 PDP supporters decamping to APC amounts to “playing to the gallery, a political masturbation and is of no serious consequences,” considering the strength of the PDP in Kogi State.
The party, in its reaction described the action of the defectors as “motion without movement” and a “misadventure”. The state public relations officer of the PDP, Mallam Abdulkareem Mohammed in a statement in Lokoja, said the PDP in Kogi State “is not losing sleep over it” adding that the defectors will not be missed.
Abdulkareem also faulted reference in some of the reports to former Speaker of the House of Assembly, Muhammed Bello as a former acting governor, pointing out that, “Although, Bello was speaker; he never acted for one second as a governor in Kogi State history.”
He posited that the philosophy behind the defection is what makes it worthless for the PDP to worry about. According to him, “Let’s start with the ring leader, Clarence Olafemi. He has been everything in Kogi State except a substantive governor; twice he was in the assembly, he was Speaker of the House and by providence he was acting governor for two months, all these were benefits he got as PDP member. He asked to be paid personal monies he claimed were due to him from government, which we all know paying such monies at a time the state is struggling amidst dwindled resources is not realistic, at least for now. After he felt the monies were not coming too soon, he decided to leave. He hasn’t the PDP structure that can help him achieve the kind of relevance he craves. So he does not have a choice.
Perhaps, he felt going to APC will provide him with enough space for continued relevance in politics. Bello as Speaker wanted a position (acting governor) that was not available. He too has no choice; he lost out as Speaker of the assembly, lost out in the politics of Kogi Central Senatorial District, lost out in the politics of his local government (Okene), as you know this is because PDP has taken over everywhere.
Audu’s Overbearing Influence and the Crisis Next Time
With a popular and more politically experienced Prince Abubakar Audu who is known for his domineering tendencies, and still has his eyes on the Kogi governorship, any intending governor will need to battle the two time governor first to be a candidate of APC. It would be recalled that an automatic governorship ticket was one condition Echocho gave to join the APC. The body language of Audu did not however favour calculations in Echocho’s camp; hence the latter’s decision to pullout from the defection party.
A source close to the two-time governor said, “Prince Audu will contest the 2015 governorship election. Of course he is still very popular and his influence is still there for everyone to see. But that is tied to Kwankwaso also picking the APC presidential ticket”.
For now, the new Turks entering the APC are no doubt out to challenge Prince Abubakar Audu’s leadership whom they see as of the old generation, a crisis that has further fragmented the party along individual lines and a challenge for the party in the coming days.
Furthermore while Prince Audu is working with Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano State to achieve his Presidential bid, Olafemi and the others are working with former Vice President Abubakar Atiku. “This divide has already created problem in the APC marriage of convenience for these strange bed fellows” in the words of Anayo. the absence of Echocho at the APC rally is an indicator that there is no bridge across the divide.
When Push Comes to Shove
Certainly, the rank of opposition politics has witnessed some growth in Kogi recently, suggesting that the APC in particular definitely will give the ruling PDP a good challenge at the 2015 polls. Political watchers in the state, who are familiar with the trend in the 90s when the defunct opposition All Peoples Party, (APP), later ANPP, was formidable, relish a gradual return to the good old days.
Observers nonetheless fear the cookie will no doubt crumble for the APC defectors if the defections are not well managed. Some founding members of the opposition in the days of ACN and ANPP but who now feel relegated are not pleased with what they see in the absorption of strange fellows, who are seeking recognition having lost political relevance over the years in the PDP, and concluded by saying that the defection by the acclaimed bigwigs to APC if not well managed, will have no serious political consequences in the coming days, thus extending PDP’s dominance.
It was learnt in Lokoja that within the PDP camp, the party strategists have been meeting to reposition the party. Sources said the body language of the governor who has now distinguished himself as a man of peace whose main pre-occupation in transforming the state will be a major advantage in the coming days ahead as both parties are involved in the politics of defection.
