I didn’t want to talk about the charade that characterised Kogi governorship primary, conducted by the All People’s Congress(APC), were the chances of a serving/sitting governor,because of his unpopular nature and policies, had to manipulate all the process to coarse to undeserved victory,as if it was the main determinant election, due for November this year
It is shameful and disgusting that for mere primary election, a Chief Executive of a state was not sure of victory, in a free,fair and credible election,that much of our scarce state resources was used to oil the hands of the stark and famished party officials, under the guise of screening committee to arrive at the controversial reports of screening out over 12 aspirants, including the most popular ones that can contend with Yahaya Bello, when it comes to money for money,power for power,force to force, to arrive at a generally acceptable process of democratic practice in Kogi
It is again laughable and desperate tendencies taken too far,for a state governor who is living out his four year term, to have deploy all his political and extra strenght including his cohorts, for ordinary party primaries,showed the Governor may not achieve the desired results, in the general election billed for November
What is the additional value will what happened in Kogi, that had to do with APC primary add to our nascent democracy in Nigeria,that will trigger more democratic dividends to the people of Kogi state, in the North central
If a contest that involved less than 5,000 people as party delegates, could be so muddled up using power of incumbency to arrive at a short-lived victory,then what is the hope of the forthcoming governorship election in Kogi
This was a primary contest that had initially a teething issue, from campaigns by opponents of the incumbent governor and also marred by sharp practices of clearance or no clearance, as well as hijack of all the whole process using the fake security apparatus and regular thugs, to harrass sincere contestants whose originally intended to salvage the state from the shackles of deceit initiated by the current leaders
For the first time in the history of Nigeria democracy,the process of selection of governorship candidate was so bastardised out of inordinate ambition and sheer imposition to drag the beauty of the process to the mud
In Party primaries conducted since the creation of Kogi state 28 years ago,the state had not witnessed such a rash process owing to the cult like nature of the current occupant of leadership position in Kogi, who want to perpetrate themselves in power by all means possible,basically to continue to inflict pains,agony and poverty on the people
In the last primary election that erroneously brought the current governor to the leadership of Kogi,over 20 aspirants keenly contested for the office of Kogi governor,with no harassment,intimidation,screening out of aspirants and others, as initiated by the current governor and patronized by the APC leadership in Abuja, under the guise of huge financial inducement pilfered from the state coffers
In the history of state governance and governors,no governor had been so brought to his knees over deliberate anti people’s policies in Kogi, in the last three and half years including the recently defeated governor of Bauchi and Adamawa,the process of their primaries was not as contentious as Kogi
It was made worst by some state governors/officials and compromised INEC officials, who were suppose to be unbiased umpires,but grossly assisted the corrupt tendencies perpetrated by a government that believed strongly in a short cut and without due process
Now the primary has come and gone with the governor and his supporters celebrating their pyrrhic victory, to advance bad governance on the people of Kogi again from November,even with glaring impossibility
It is now left for the electorates if allowed to exercise their franchise in Kogi, characterised by haywire thuggery to achieve electoral victory,courtesy of the present leaders saddled with state powers, been deployed negatively to fund thuggery, against innocent and hapless citizens of Kogi, in their quest to exercise their civic rights
A lay man on the streets of Kogi, is conversant with the pre- knowledge that in a free contest of a democratic process in Kogi,Governor Yahaya Bello cannot win his ward in Okene, more of winning other local governments in the state
Even though,the primary election held may be subject to litigation through pre-election or breach of legal injunction in time to come,it is obvious that PDP will be the determinant of next government in Kogi,not hijacked by states of APC governors solidarity, or federal might
The journey for the political development of kogi has started again,amidst all human endeavours,both good or bad,posterity,precedence,antecedents and nemesis will reel its head side by side with people’s ambition.
Usman Okai Austin
Public Affairs Analyst
Written from Abuja.