The die is cast, daggers drawn as former National Assembly member, now Governorship Candidate of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Dino Melaye, is set to slug it out with Governor Yahaya Bello’s anointed, Ahmed Ododo, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the in the November governorship election in Kogi state, KEHINDE OSASONA writes.
Amidst subsisting arguments for, or against the constitutionality of power rotation amongst the component parts of Kogi state, the race to succeed Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state, is in full swing with alignments, cross-carpeting, and ganging up, taking the centre stage.
Blueprint Weekend reports that Senator Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would square with Ahmed Ododo of the ruling All Progressives Party (APC) in the November governorship election.
Ododo, believed to be the anointed candidate of the outgoing governor, has continued to enjoy the unreserved support of the incumbent who has rallied political actors and ‘who is who’ in the state in a bid to give his protege a safe landing.
Aside Ododo and Melaye, other contenders eyeing the coveted seat include Candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC), Leke Abejide; that of the Action Alliance (AA), Olayinka Braimoh; Allied Peoples Movement (APM) Candidate, Dauda Isah; and Labour Party (LP) Candidate, Adejoh Okeme.
Others are: Social Democratic Party (SDP) Candidate, Usman Jibril; that of the Action Democratic Party (ADP), Julius Elukpo; New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) Musa Mubarak/Abdullahi Bawa; Young Progressive Party (YPP) Samson Omale; and Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) Abdullahi Bayawo.
How they fell apart
Prior to the inauguration of the Governor Bello-led administration on January 27, 2016, Senator Dino Melaye was one of his close political allies and they enjoyed a cordial relationship.
Dino, according to reports, was among the strong forces that supported Bello when the APC national leadership nominated him as the replacement for its flag-bearer, Prince Abubakar Audu, who died while coasting home to victory in the November 21, 2015 governorship election.
Not only that, Dino served as the chairman of the transition committee that worked out the modalities for a hitch-free handing over of power to Bello and his eventual inauguration on January 27, 2016.
He later played the role of Master of Ceremony for the inauguration of Governor Bello, which was held at the Confluence Stadium, Lokoja.
However, a few months after the inauguration, the political romance between the duo turned sour and the beats of war drums from the two camps became the order of the day.
Who blinks first?
The situation in Kogi has been tagged by some pundits as renewed hostilities between political friends turned foes. This is as followers of happenings in the state have also concluded that with Dino and Bello on the opposite sides, political gladiators may have returned to their trenches.
In the heat of their rivalry, Melaye had called on stakeholders and citizens to join hands to rescue Kogi state from, what he described as maladministration, insecurity, corruption, and other vices bedeviling the state.
According to the former lawmaker, Kogi state under Governor Bello was like a glorified local government area.
He was also quoted as asking the governor to step down for allegedly committing electoral fraud.
While reacting, Governor Bello said: “I don’t think I have to waste my time responding to distractions. Honestly speaking, I’m too focused to be distracted.
“Kogi state suffered for over 25 years before I came onboard and the good people of Kogi are really appreciative of the efforts we are putting forward to make sure that the state is well developed… Go to the Kogi state website to see what we have done in the 15 months that we have been in the office.
“So, any side distraction is not something I should pay attention to, because the people are with me.”
Melaye commits to inclusive government if elected
Determined to carry the day, the fiery and controversial politician appears to have intensified lobbying, carrying out underground work and stooping to conquer, in order to occupy the Lord Lugard Government House in Lokoja as against grandstanding and bragging attitude associated with his personality.
Fielding questions from journalists, recently, the former Senator representing Kogi West said he would run an inclusive government if elected into office.
Also, in a statement by his media team, Melaye who was visiting Ohimege Igu of Koton Karfi, Abdulrazaq Isa Koto, at his palace, told the monarch and other dignitaries that he would run the state with “fear of God” if elected.
He pledged to be a governor for all regardless of ethnic group.
“As you are aware, His Royal Majesty, in the space of 4 years as senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I did 19 projects in your Kogi LGA.
“I have a very special relationship with Kogi and by the grace of God, when elected as governor; I will focus attention on the needs of our people, particularly the ecological challenges in this area.
“We are not unaware that the major business in this area is agriculture, trading and transportation. We shall make these ventures the focus of our administration by providing incentives that will encourage our people.
“I will be a Kogi governor that will govern our state with the fear of God. I will run all-inclusive governance not as an Igala, Ebira, Okun, Kakanda, Bassa, Koto or Nupe governor but as a governor for all under the guidance of the Almighty God,” he stated.
Road to 2023
In the nearly two decades of the current political dispensation, power in Kogi state had reportedly resided with the majority Igala ethnic group.
Until 2015, what had been noticeable was outright disregard for equitable sharing of power by the majority tribe in the state with heterogeneous mixture.
In the first state election, held on December 14, 1991, Abubakar Audu of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC) and Stephen Achema of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) starred in an all-Igala contest.
Audu won, however, he did not last in office as he exited the Lugard House after 22 months, no thanks to the abrupt end to the 3rd Republic occasioned by the controversial annulment of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election.
With the return to democratic rule, Audu was subsequently elected governor again in 1999 on the platform of the All Peoples Party (APP), which was later renamed All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
His main opponent at the election was Stephen Olorunfemi, a Yoruba from Kogi West, who ran on the APP platform of the PDP.
Audu sought a second term in office in 2003, but he was defeated by kinsman, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, who ran on the ticket of the PDP. Idris served two terms, of four years each, in office.
By this time, the agitation for rotation of power to either Kogi Central or Kogi West had gathered momentum. After years of advocacy, power shift was dimmed further even after coalitions such as Okun/Ebira Agenda and Kogi Unity Group, midwife by Akanmode had thrown up Senator Muhammed Ohiare (from the Central) as joint candidate of the ANPP and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
In the run up to the 2011 poll, prominent gladiators like Akanmode, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bayo Ojo (SAN), Telecoms businessman, Mr Deinde Abolarin, and Chairman of Waltersmith Petrolman, Alhaji Abdulrazaq Kutepa, among others, all from Kogi West, needlessly filed out in their numbers for the PDP governorship primaries.
Consequently, in 2012, Idris Wada, a retired pilot, from Dekina, Kogi East, succeeded his kinsman and friend.
Who gets the crown?
A close look at the 11 contenders indicates that one is from Kogi Central, three are of Okun extraction of Kogi West, while the rest are from Kogi East.
The bone of contention has been the usual capitulation rhetoric by minorities in Kogi West and Kogi Central, populated mainly by the Yoruba and Ebira respectively, to the dictates of the larger Igala ethnic group in Kogi East.
Before now, the clamour by the blocs had always centred on the imperative of equitable sharing of the right of occupancy of the Lugard House, which had been monopolised by the Igalas, until the 2015 political happenstance threw up Bello.
The situation remains dicey, according to a political analyst, Fehintola Anwo, who insists that, “anything can happen.”
He said: “What is happening in Kogi today could defy all manners of prediction or permutations. Reasons being that there have been all manners of injustice in the state in term of succession and until it is corrected, am afraid we have not started yet.”
