How APC De-robed PDP in Kogi

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Before the 2015 general elections, most people expected the All Progressives Congress (APC) to give the ruling Peoples Democratic (PDP) a good fight. However, only a few expected the APC to win the presidential polls in Kogi, the three senatorial and six of the nine House of Representatives seats.

Since 2003 when the PDP took over from Prince Abubakar Audu of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, the party has remained in firm control of Kogi State boasting at a stage that there is no opposition in the state.

The just concluded general elections have changed all that with the opposition APC giving the PDP the political beating of its life.

While many were surprised by the APC conquest, most political analysts were not. To them, it was a disaster waiting to happen in view of the actions and inactions of the state government led by Capt. Idris Wada.

Why APC won

The administrative logjam that greeted Wada’s emergence, perceived poor performance of the state government and botched post-primary reconciliation efforts among other factors spelled doom for the party at the polls.

The inability of the PDP to resolve the logjam over who was its authentic candidate in the 2011  governorship election has continued to witch-hunt the party and affected its fortunes at the last elections.

Though most of the court cases instituted by the Jibril Isah faction was resolved in favour of the governor, the two factions could not reconcile their differences and continued to play hide and seek.

First, the deputy governorship candidate of the Isah faction, Clearance Olafemi (a former Speaker of the House), decamped to the APC with his supporters in Kogi Wast Senatorial axis.

Though Jibril Isah (Echocho) himself did not formally leave the PDP, his foot soldiers and party admirers did.

The fallout of these grievances led to the Abuja group of politicians, the Kogi PDP Elders Forum, moving against the governor and by extension the PDP structure in the state. It was therefore not surprising that the party imploded.

But before the implosion, the PDP Elders forum escaped and defected to the APC. One of the Kogi PDP Elders, Senator Alex Kadiri, in a recent interview, gave insight into their defection. “If there is a situation that you don’t like and you complained to the those you believe can cause a change that could make you continue to be in the system but they do nothing about it, then you have two options: to remain there to continue to make the mess or to opt out.

Never in the history of the state has the party or any party faced the level of defections that hit the PDP and many who thought the governor will find a way to reconcile the aggrieved were all disappointed. The governor couldn’t find a means to resolve the irreconcilable differences between him, the Echocho group and the Kogi PDP Elders Forum who were hell bent on bringing him down.

Wada, at different fora, attributed the slow development in the state to the numerous court litigations that he said served as a setback for him.

The most unlikely mistake that finally give the state away to the opposition is the total collapse of the local government administration. Immediately Wada assumed power, he appointed caretaker chairmen known as Liaison officers for the 21 local councils. Most of the officers were nominated by his predecessor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris.

But barely a year after, Wada disbanded the liaison officers and organised an election in which the State Independent Electoral commission, SIEC, declared his party as winner of the 21 councils. Shortly after, Wada started having running battles with the chairmen.

Running battles

Some attributed the problem to the chairmen’s open loyalty to the former governor, who they consult before carrying out the directives of the sitting governor.

First to taste the bitter pill of the grievances was Mohammed Ali, the Dekina chairman (the governor’s council boss), who was impeached immediately.

Not done, the court case instituted by one of the APC stalwarts, James Ocholi challenging the legality of SIEC chairman, Ayo Olaniran to conduct the council election because he was a card-carrying member of the PDP, resurfaced suddenly when many thought the case had died. The case was decided in favour of the APC and Wada without appealing the case immediately carried out the order of the court, sacked the chairmen and dissolved the council executives.

Many still hold the opinion that the governor had a hand in the sudden reappearance of the court case. The governor had earlier accused the chairmen of financial mismanagement which he said affected the payment of council workers’ salary.

Controversial primaries

The PDP did not manage its primaries well. For example, the Eastern Senatorial primary where Isaac Alfa was leading only for thugs to disrupt the exercise was one case in point. The party failed to hold another primary but the name of Senator Attai Aidoko, who is seeking a second term, was pushed forward by Senator Ahmadu Ali, the director general of the ill-fated Presidential Campaign Council.

The complaints of others were treated with kid gloves and the governor seemed not bothered about reconciliation. This development was also recorded in many primaries of the party.

Unlike the PDP, the APC, which also had some grievances during its primaries was able to manage its crises better.


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