Hon Abdumumin Jibrin representing Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency of Kano state has been a recurrent decimal in the selection of the speaker of the House of Representatives since 2015 but seems never to have reaped as it were from his labour. JOSHUA EGBODO writes
The setback
On Saturday, news filtered in of decision of the Court of Appeal sitting in Kaduna to nullify the election Abdumumin Jibrin as the representative of the Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency.
Jibrin, who is of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared winner of the February election with 41,700 votes, while his lead opponent in the contest, Aliyu Yako of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 40,385. In a ruling on Friday however, Ajoke Adepoju, the presiding judge, annulled the election on the grounds that the final result contained in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC’s) Form EC (8)E was mutilated. He subsequently ordered for a fresh election for the federal constituency.
The election petition tribunal had in September, ruled that Jibrin was the winner of the House of Representatives election for the constituency, prompting Yako and PDP to drag Jibrin and the APC before the appellate court, citing alleged irregularities in the judgement delivered by the election petition tribunal.
Yako also reportedly maintained that the February election was marred by discrepancies and should not stand. The PDP candidate further accused INEC of wrongly declaring Jibrin as winner.
His style in politics
Now that a fresh stage has been set for him to prove his popularity against his lead opponent, it is of great concern to his admirers, for at the moment, all is seemingly not well in his relationship with some key members of his political party in the state, including the governor. To many analysts, he usually fights with all weapons in his arsenal. He is also seen as one who doesn’t believe in the theory of fighting and running away, so he can live to fight another day.
He vigorously worked for the emergence of Yakubu Dogara as speaker of 8th assembly of the House of Representatives, but fell apart midway into life of the lower legislative chamber. His greatest undoing according to pundits then was the perceived attempt at rubbishing all members with the allegation that each, including himself, had benefitted from some undeserved running costs for their offices. He was abandoned in the battlefield when members felt that the budget padding allegation against Dogara and some principal officers, upon which he started the fight, was no longer the major issue he was pushing.
His current travails
While serving his 180 days legislative sitting suspension slammed against him by the 8th House of Representatives under Yakubu Dogara as speaker, Jibrin endeared himself to his state governor, Abdulahi Ganduje. He was visible with the governor at several public appearances, before his return to the house at the expiration of the suspension.
All appeared so rosy between the duo until the 2019 gubernatorial election in the state, in which early results saw the incumbent governor losing to the leading opponent of the PDP. In the wake of popular feelings that Ganduje may lose the election, and fears that he may also not be willing to concede defeat, Jibrin reportedly went on a social media platform to warn that nobody should, on the basis of his political ambition, set the state on fire. He was reported to also literally urge the governor to congratulate the opponent.
This, according to followers of Kano politics, did not go down well with Ganduje, who in spite of the controversies surrounding cancellation of results from certain polling units, later emerged victorious in the re-run.
Politics of the 9th Reps leadership
Back in the House of Representatives, Jibrin was very visible in seeing to the emergence of the current leadership of the house. He was named the campaign DG of the Femi Gbajabiamila group. He fought and saw the emergence of Gbajabiamila and Idris Wase and as speaker and deputy speaker respectively. He was able to break the ranks of the opposition led by the PDP, even when there were fears that a block alignment from them would spell doom for Gbajabiamila- the one the majority party, APC, anointed.
He delivered on his promises, even against Umar Bago who was his erstwhile ally and the incumbent speaker then, Dogara, was solidly behind. Following that feat, there were insinuations then that he had secured the nod of some power brokers within the presidency for a ministerial slot. The failure of the Gbajabiamila to name him as head of any of the committees of the house gave some measure of credence to such speculations.
However, after the over a hundred committee heads were named, and ministerial lists forwarded to the Senate, Jibrin’s name was conspicuously missing. He curiously adopted a low profile, even at the National Assembly. He only surfaced with a message on his verified tweeter handle, which understandably went viral as becoming a babysitter, after what he explained as losses in committee chairmanship or a ministerial appointment.
Many had the feelings that the lawmaker, after so much sacrifice to get the leadership of the NASS and the presidency to work together he, ordinarily, would have been rewarded with a ministerial appointment, especially at a point when his election back into the house was in a topsy-turvy. He reportedly won with a very lean margin against his closest rival in the polls, and even then reports were also rife that the result was questionable in terms of credibility.
His response on the verdict
Jibrin in a statement on Saturday did not accept decision of the Court of Appeal, but appealed to his supporters to be calm. He said in the statement; “As you may be aware, the decision of the people of Bebeji/Kiru to renew their trust in me to represent them at the House of Representatives was challenged vide an election petition.
“In the petition, the court was specifically asked to nullify the results of the 23rd February, 2019, election in 13 polling units. Of the 13 polling units challenged, only one witness, who was not listed on the petitioners’ list of witnesses, and who deposed to being both a member of the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party member at the same time, gave evidence in respect of all the said 13 polling units. The witness neither personally saw nor did he directly encounter events in the polling units he purportedly gave evidence about. We pointed this out in our representations to the Judges and the tribunal agreed with us that the petition was without merit.
“The petitioners appealed to the Court of Appeal, and by a decision delivered earlier today, the petitioners’ appeal was allowed. Strangely, even though the petitioners’ sole relief as it related to a rerun election before the tribunal and Court of Appeal was for a nullification of the afore said 13 polling units, the Court of Appeal, on its own volition nullified the entire election of 23rd February, 2019.
“As a good Muslim, one who has unflinching belief in the will of Allah, I know full well that all events are within the scope of The Almighty, and this is no exception. I profoundly disagree with the decision of the Court of Appeal, but as a thorough bred democrat, I have received the court’s decision in good faith, and forced to accept it even though it runs contrary to other precedents of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Bearing in mind the fact that ours is a nascent democracy, I implore all my supporters and well wishing Nigerians to continue to pray that decisions of our Courts actually dispense Justice based on facts, law and correct precedents and without improper influences.
“As we go back for the rerun, I urge my supporters and well-wishers to remain calm. No election is a do- or- die affair. I remain unshaken in my belief that the people of Kiru/Bebeji, who have consistently and repeatedly been freely giving me their mandate, will not hesitate in doing so again”.
Fate on the balance?
The nation’s electoral umpire, would by law in the coming days make public, a date for the re-run election as ordered by the Court of Appeal, which is the last arbiter in election matters concerning the National Assembly. The fate of Jibrin at the moment appeared unpredictable. To analysts, he is seemingly on his own at the moment, but still remain an asset the APC should not discard with any ease.
However, in politics, anything can happen. Options have been advanced, including urgent reconciliation moves by him with Governor Ganduje and key leaders of the APC in his constituency. To such followers, it is most unlikely that the governor and APC in the state would sacrifice the position on the basis of their current differences with Jibrin.
