Governor Idris Wada:

All is now set for the governorship election in Kogi state as the APC banks on its wind of change to wrestle the state from the firm grip of the PDP

Jethro Ibileke.

All is now set for the 21 November, 2015 Kogi State gubernatorial election that will decide the winner of the battle for the occupation of the Lord Lugard government house in Lokoja, as all the political parties participating in the election have successfully conducted their primary elections as directed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Dr. Chris Iyimoga, the Commission’s Information & Voter Education Committee Chairman, had on 9 July, while announcing the time table for the epoch-making election in a press statement released in Abuja, asked political parties and their aspirants to conduct their primaries to nominate candidates for the elections between 25 August and 15 September.

Following the directive, scores of aspirants from the different political parties in the state hoping to fly the flag of their respective parties in the election began making state-wide consultations to test their popularity and acceptability. Expectedly, the All Progressives Congress, APC, suddenly became the political bride courted by top politicians in the state, with the hope of riding on its wind of change to actualise their political ambition. Many of them switched loyalty from their parties, especially the ruling PDP in the state. Prominent among such defectors were Nigeria’s former minister of police affairs, Humphery Abba, and an ex member of the PDP Board of Trustees, Halima Alfa, who defected to the APC with over 8,000 of their supporters.

At end of the primary elections by the two dominant parties and major contenders, PDP and APC, marred by political tricks and intrigues as usual, incumbent governor, Idris Wada, was declared standard bearer for the PDP, while Abubakar Audu, a former governor of the state, defeated 21 other aspirants in a keenly contested primary election to get the ticket of the APC.

The recurring decimal of demand in each election year for power shift from the eastern senatorial district which has produced the state governors since its creation, to the west or central senatorial districts, failed as the disunity among the two minority districts reared its ugly head in both the PDP and the APC, as they failed to present a consensus candidate for the election. Again, candidates from the eastern senatorial district which has the highest population won the primary elections in both parties for the election.

Some prominent members of both parties from the west and central senatorial districts were even accused of deliberately sabotaging the chances of presenting a consensus candidate that could wrestle power from aspirants from Kogi east. For instance, Kogi State PDP publicity secretary, Bode Ogunmola, during a television chat, was quoted as saying, “I am from the Central Senatorial district, it is my wish that one day I should be the governor of Kogi State; no doubt about that, but we are saying that we should sit around the table and talk about it. Must we kill ourselves because of power shift?”

Abubakar Audu, APC candidate

Others however argued that his administration was mired in allegations of corruption to the tune of several billion of naira for which he is still being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Abayo Samson, who did not like the choice of Audu as the APC’s candidate, also raised the issue of Audu’s poor relationship with the state’s civil service during his past administration in 1999 to 2003, arguing that it could easily be used against the party. But to many, Audu remains the devil that is known to them which is better than the angel they don’t know.

Similarly, the choice of governor Idris Wada as candidate of the PDP was drenched in controversy. Not a few of the party members criticised his emergence as their candidate. They hinged their concern on what they called the abysmal performance of Wada in the last three and half years. They point to the slow pace of development that has characterised his administration.

To his numerous supporters and admirers, however, Wada should be praised for his achievements, despite the paucity of fund. They are quick to point to some legacy projects he has executed, some of which include the University Teaching Hospital Anyigba, the 500 housing units in Ganaja and the Diagnostic and Imaging Centre in Lokoja. Others are the remodeling of Kogi Hotels, the completion of 58 road projects across the state, on-going dualization of Ganaja-Otokiti multi lane road, the on-going dualization of the entrance to Lokoja to the new Market Road, improvement in infrastructures in the education sector through upgrade in Primary and Iconic Secondary Schools and many others that have changed the face of the state.

For a very long time, Kogi State has been a stronghold of the PDP until the last presidential and national assembly elections during which it lost woefully to the opposition APC, a development that could still impact on the forthcoming governorship election. Whether President Muhammadu Buhari and APC’s mantra of change that brought what was like a tsunami all over the country during the last election will consume Kogi state during its gubernatorial election, it is only a matter of weeks and it will be known. But many observers are of the opinion that both Wada and Audu have a big task ahead of them, that of image laundering to give the people the kind of superior character that is different from the past.