Bello, Wada and battle for Lugard House

The Kogi State governorship election is gathering momentum. Who wins between Governor Yahaya Bello of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Musa Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)? Correspondent JAMES AZANIA writes on the preparations for the poll.

Eyes Are on Kogi State as it warms up for the November 16 governorship election. Analysts are unanimous that it will be a two-horse race between Governor Yahaya Bello of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Musa Wada of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The PDP candidate is a brother to Bello’s predecessor Capt. Idris Wada.

The Wada brothers, alongside 11 others, participated in the PDP primary.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cleared 52 candidates, including five women and their deputies, to contest the election.

Seven women were cleared to contest the election as deputy governors.

Notwithstanding the array of candidates, those of the APC and the PDP appear the two to watch out for. But, while the ruling APC appears to be going into the election as one united party, the same cannot be said of the PDP.

Against all odds, Bello appears to have put the fractious and centrifugal forces that threatened to tear the ruling APC apart, in better shape. The PDP was only able to put its campaign organisation in place, few days ago. Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West), also a governorship aspirant, rejected his appointment as the head of the PDP Governorship Campaign Organisation.

With the D-Day fast approaching, other disturbing indices in the PDP have continued to unfold, including defections of its stalwarts.

Read Also: PDP urges INEC to warn Bello, APC against violence

Chief Clarence Olafemi, a former Acting governor and ersthwhile Campaign DG to the PDP presidential candidate in the last general election, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, was last week at the Government House Lokoja. He indicated he was set to dump the PDP, saying that the national working committee of the party had failed to recognise his input and effort, despite being one of the strong members of PDP in the state.

The controversial Kogi PDP primary may have contributed to the crisis in the PDP family, with strong indication that the party may lose more of its chieftains in weeks to come.

While the dust raised by the primary that threw up Wada is yet to settle, more PDP chieftains have expressed their willingness to either defect to the APC or work against the party from the inside.

Permutations prior to the PDP primary were flung in the winds. Going into the exercise, the bets were on either Idris Wada or Abubakar Idris, son of former Governor Ibrahim Idris, to emerge the standard bearer.

The PDP was happy with Bello’s emergence as Kogi APC candidate, hoping that the election will be a walkover, on account of the former’s alleged poor performance and inability to deliver dividends of democracy to Kogites.

In a statement by Kogi PDP Publicity Secretary, Bode Ogunmola, the party said: “PDP has long been praying for the APC to make the mistake of presenting Bello for the governorship poll. It is a well-known fact that the governor cannot win any local government in Kogi, due to his poor performance, and the way and manner the resources of the state is being massively looted. His desperation to return is to save himself from going to prison over looted funds. That was why he had to spend hugely to get strong contenders (for the APC ticket) disqualified. If he succeeds in fooling the leadership of his party and the delegates, we are confident that he cannot fool Kogi electorate, who are victims of his monumental misgovernance.

“It is shameful that in four years, Bello could neither invite President Buhari to inaugurate any project nor any of the governor’s colleagues to inaugurate projects initiated and completed by his administration.”

Ogunmola called on Bello to forget a second term saying: “Kogi people are wiser, and so are not ready to go through another round of no salaries, no pension, harvest of suicide, no infrastructure development, but government sponsored thuggery and violence.”

Bello became governor in 2015, following the sudden death of Prince Abubakar Audu, who was coasting to victory at the APC governorship candidate.

The development threw spanners in the works of the winning party, with the lacuna in the electoral laws, as to who should step in as governor-elect. Chief James Faleke was Audu’s running mate. The runner-up at 2015 APC primary was Bello.

The INEC declare the election inconclusive, and Bello was awarded the late Audu’s votes, leaving Faleke, who would have been deputy, out in the cold.

Bello faced stiff opposition from the Audu/Faleke APC group right from the inception of his administration. There were strident calls that he should be denied the APC ticket for the election.

Despite the protests, Bello picked the ticket, and got the endorsement of the APC National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who said that he performed better than the PDP, which was in power for 13 years.

Opponents of Bello’s second term bid, including his deputy, Simon Achuba, who is presently facing impeachment threat, accused him of irregular payment of salary to workers, victimisation of perceived enemies, mismanagement, appointment of ineffectual persons into office, muzzling of trade unions and non performance.

The ethnic factor:

The pervading ethnic influence on Kogi politics may end in Bello’s favour.

The majority Igala people of Kogi East were waiting in ambush; to deploy their numerical strength to remove Bello from the Government House, at the poll.

The plan being to present formidable opponents in both the ruling APC and the opposition PDP, to supplant Bello. But, they were outgunned by the latter, who not only won his primary with a very wide margin, but went on to play the joker, by picking his Chief of Staff, Edward Onoja, an Igala man, as his running mate.

Onoja has in the last three years built a cult followership among his kinsmen, particularly the teeming youths. His coming on board as Bello’s running mate, is sure to be reciprocated at the polls by his kinsmen.

The Ebiras of Kogi Central, where Bello hails, from will most certainly back their own, while the people of Kogi West, where Speaker of the House of Assembly, Prince Mathew Kolawole hails from, are likely to follow suit.

Bello, with the combination of Onoja, is considered a first rate strategist, with the ability to penetrate the seemingly impenetrable.

With the backing of the national leadership of  his party, which for obvious reasons will not want to lose Kogi State, the Bello ticket becomes even more formidable.

Bello will also have the support of two senators, seven House of Representatives members, 25 members of the House of Assembly, commissioners and the legion of political appointees, including the 21council sole administrators he appointed.

Recently, Bello commissioned the Omi rice farm, in Kogi West and stepped up on other areas.

He was also able to offset salary arrears, with the release of the last bailout by the Federal Government.

Bello’s main challenger and candidate of the PDP, Musa Wada an engineer is from Dekina, the largest local government area in Kogi East. A political neophyte, his emergence as the party’s standard bearer, from among more formidable opponents, including Capt. Idris Wada, Abubakar Idris, the son of a former governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris and Senator Melaye, attested to the contrary. Between him and the incumbent, the November 16 governorship poll in Kogi will be interesting.