#KogiGovRace: Kogi West, Central Meeting with Audu Ends in Deadlock

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The efforts of those working for the political unity between Kogi West and Central senatorial districts ahead of the November governorship election suffered a major setback as  a meeting initiated by the Kogi West and Central Forum For Equity and Justice, with former governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Abubakar Audu, in Abuja, on Tuesday ended in a deadlock.

The meeting aimed at forging an alliance to give room for power rotation between the three senatorial zones, did not produce any tangible result because Audu was said to have insisted on contesting the election though he is from Kogi East, which has been ruling the state since its creation in 1991.

Inside sources at the meeting who hinted about what transpired at Audu’s Asokoro residence said the former governor was adamant about picking the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket. Whereas it is the platform on which the non-partisan group intends to actualise its power shift agenda.

Some of the attendees included; former General Officer Commanding Third Armoured Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Julius Olakunle Oshanupin; President, Okun Development Association (ODA), Ambassador Babatunde Paul Fadumiyo and former governorship aspirant on the platform of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) in the erstwhile Kwara State, Dr. David Atteh.

Also on the delegation were Alhaji Yusuf Tawari and Alhaji A.G. Usman, who served as commissioners during the Audu regime in 1992.

Those from Kogi Central included Audu’s deputy during his period as governor between 1999 and 2003, Chief Patrick Adaba; former Special Adviser on Education to Audu in 1992, Prof Angela Okatahi and Prof Yusuf Aliyu.

It was gathered that the delegation informed Audu that as representatives of Kogi West and Central, they had, in recognition of his place as the first democratically elected governor of Kogi State, as an elder statesman in his own right and as the leader of the APC in the state, decided to enlist his support for power shift in the state.

They were said to have drawn the attention of the former governor to the fact that since the state was created in 1991, it has been governed by a succession of governors from the Igala-dominated Kogi East. The list includes; Audu (1992-1993, 1999-2003), Ibrahim Idris (2003 to 2012) and the incumbent, Idris Wada (2012 to the present day).

He was also reminded that for as long as every governor that made it to Lugard House, Lokoja, enjoyed the massive support of West and Central, the time has come for Kogi East to reciprocate the serial goodwill of West and Central.

The meeting was against the background that it hopes to field its candidate on the APC platform and also in the view of the considering that recent release of the gubernatorial election schedule for Kogi State where party primaries to elect candidates is expected to have been concluded by August ending Proponents of the collaborative effort are resolute in their collective.

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