As the Kogi State Gubernatorial election gets closer, there has been anxiety on the possibility of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) retaining the Lugard House.
This is because many believed that the incumbent Governor Yahaya Bello’s anointed cousin brother, Ahmed Usman Ododo is not fit to occupy Lugard House as the State is too big for a man that lacks capacity and integrity to lead the Confluence State.
There’s no nothing to be optimistic about as the flight of APC to the Governorship election hit the rock earlier with the choice of Ododo due to the outcome of the primary election that reduced him.
Apart from the maladministration of the current administration, the last stroke that broke the camel’s back is that the APC Governorship Primary divided the party in the three senatorial districts.
While some Aspirants approached the Court to seek redress, others accepted the outcome, while an Aspirant like Muritala Yakubu Ajaka quit the party to pick the ticket of Social Democratic Party (SDP).
A frontline Aspirant and former Senator representing Kogi West, Smart Adeyemi had challenged the Candidature of Alh. Ahmed Usman Ododo, claiming that no primary election was held.
One sad thing about Kogi State APC is their lack of reconciliation mechanism which led to the fallout between the current administration, Smart and Muri.
Without mincing words, Kogi APC is going into the election as a divided house, as in politics, everybody matters.
Borrowing from the words of Engr. Olusola George Olumoroti, an APC Chieftain in Kogi West, “GYB should ask his friend Governor Sule of Nasarawa State why he lost his second term election bid. Instead of GYB learning from Enge. Bello experience, he has instead adopted template that governor Sule used whereby the loyal party members were side tracked and ignored; behaving like small god and acting with impunity leading to the fragmentation of APC in Nasarawa, the eventual result is him losing the election.”
“Even though INEC announced Engr. Bello the incumbent governor as the winner, BVAS data presented to the tribunal proved beyond reasonable doubt that he lost the election advising the tribunal judgement in favour of the PDP candidate, this a governor that started his tenure with three APC senators, today APC has no single senator in Nasarawa State (SDP -2 and PDP -1); the two SDP senators were APC members who abandoned APC and Engr Bello. Similarly, GYB has fragmented Kogi APC so badly that APC cannot and will not win the November 11 election in Kogi State. Muri Ajaka was the immediate past APC deputy National Publicity Secretary and bulk of his supporters are APC members, in the same vein larger part of Elder Leke Abejide supporters are APC members, this is in addition to some APC members that are with Admiral Usman Jubrin of Accord party.
“Yahaya Bello himself knows that he will lose the next election, reason he is desperately awarding graded chiefs and appointments without portfolios, these desperate measures cannot stop APC from losing the November 11 election. Okun governor will take over from Yahaya Bello by the grace of God.”
Going back memory lane, Barrister Natasha Akpoti Oduaghan faced harassment from Governor Yahaya Bello and his data boys but despite their guns and money, she defeated them in the last Kogi Central Senatorial District election and she was robbed of the mandate.
Now that the Appeal Court has restored her mandate, it is crystal clear that all cannot be well with APC on November 11th 2023 as the bloc votes from the Central is unrealistic.
For the first time in the history of Kogi State, the State has been more divided on ethnic and religious divides as the Igalas and Okun felt cheated and are ready to support their brother.
Of recent, the APC Governorship Candidate is faced with certificate forgery litigation and if found guilty, speaks doom for the ruling party.
Also, people of Kogi state are worried that Ododo is hiding from media. Most people do not know anything about his content – plans, vision nor blueprint for the State. Aside viral videos of his public gaffes, we only see pictures of him and big people smiling. He has chosen to run to big men and avoid the masses.
Ododo is viewed by local government workers, teachers and pensioners as the brain behind their financial woes occasioned by satanic percentage salaries. It is extremely difficult to market a man like Ododo in Kogi State.
– Abbas Adamu wrote from Lokoja.
