by Tahir Sherriff
For the first time, after three previous attempts, General Muhammadu Buhari won Kogi state. A state he had lost in three attempts to three different presidents prior to the 2015 political uprising. The recent victory however became possible due to a restructuring in the support of political titans that have held the state relentlessly, making it a PDP stronghold.
Although the state had remained largely toxic with a consistent and growing disdain for the political manouvres; insecurity, unemployment and brain drainage, as well as harbouring a disconnect with central powers over the epileptic response to major constructions such as the dredging of the Niger and the Ajaokuta steel complex, these problems played less role than the effect of political titans who emerged with new leverage to deliver the state into the hands of a new political party.
General Muhammadu Buhari began running for the office of President in 2003, and he never won Kogi until recently defeating incumbent, President Goodluck Jonathan.
Buhari ran under the platform of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2003 when Prince Abubakar Audu was the governor the state as well as a relentless APC member, but lost the presidential election to Chief Olusegn Obasanjo. Audu was at the time running for a second term, a position he lost to Ibrahim Idris who had previously only been a hotel owner.
In 2007, Muhammadu Buhari also contested under the platform of the ANPP, loosing the state for a second time to Umar Musa Yar’adua; a fellow northerner from his home state Katsina.
After losing the presidential election back to back, Buhari again decided to run again in 2011. This time he did not run under the platform of the ANPP. He singlehandedly single handedly formed the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) a mere six months to the presidential election. This time he came came out second behind President Good luck Jonathan by gathering over 12 million state, but victory in Kogi state remained elusive.
The bulk of his votes were from the North West and the North East. Many felt that even though the South West threw their weight behind Jonathan and the South East and South South were no go arears for Buhari, it was expected that he would make inroads in the North Central region. However, the story remained the same.
Political analysts coined the state a PDP stronghold, and one notable politician from the state was quoted before the 2015 elections to have said:
“…it would take a miracle for an opposition party to win in a state like Kogi, PDP is just like a religion in Kogi. The people have accepted the party and they don’t seem ready for change…”
Undeterred by his previous loss and the tag of a serial loser, Buhari decided to contest one more time. This time around Buhari rode on a new mantra. The slogan of his new party was ‘Change’.
Buhari this time around did not only win the Presidential election but also broke the jinx of losing Kogi state. He won Kogi by polling 264,851 votes to Jonathan’s 149,987 votes.
Political pundits have pondered on the reasons that led to such victory. Most have concluded that this could only become possible due to the lackluster performance of the state governor, Idris Ichala Wada.
During an opinion poll carried out in the state, Sanni Shehu a Lokoja resident said:
“…We don’t really have a problem with President Jonathan. However, the people of Kogi are so aggrieved with Wada’s administration that the people voted against Jonathan. We don’t want him back that is we voted for Buhari. A win for Jonathan is a win for Wada. If Jonathan had won, Wada would be rest assured that he would win his second term election through rigging. Now that Jonathan has lost, he has been paralyzed…”
Sani’s view was held by a majority of those interviewed. However, despite the general grievance by the people of Kogi towards the PDP, the citizens were concerned that the election might not be free, fair and credible as a result of power of incumbency.
Political gladiators and stake actors earlier neglected by the state governor and the PDP however leveraged their popularity towards ensuring the state would swing into the hands of a new political party. A move which was marked by massive decamping and the brokering of fresh political alliances.
The awaiting Senator of Kogi East Senatorial district, Hon. Dino Melaye, once a member of the Kogi State House of Representative’s became one of the front runners of the APC campaign in the state. His Senatorial ambition became instrumental in a Buhari to win at the Kogi West Senatorial district by defeating Senator Smart Adeyemi.
Former Governor of Kogi state, Prince Abubakar Audu also played a major role in Buhari’s success. Audu who had remained in the opposition since the return to democracy in 1999 also leveraged a filtering popularity to ensure that the PDP would not maintain its hold in the state once again.
At Dekina, former governorship aspirant Alhaji Yakubu Mohammed played a pivotal role in ensuring that thugs who had been hired to disrupt elections in the events of a defeat were stopped. Like all other state actors, he too leveraged the strength of old political alliances and a huge popularity rating to ensure a victory for APC in one of the largest zones of the state.
Despite the monolith effect of these people, and a major turnout of voters in the state, victory would have remained elusive without the huge defection of political titans once in strong support of the PDP. Some of the key members of the PDP who defected to the APC are, former Kogi State PDP Chairman Mr. John Odawun, Alhaji Abukar Rajab, Senator Alex Kadiri and the winner of Kogi East Senatorial election, Alhaji Abdulrahaman Abubakar, former Dekina Local Government Chairman, Benjami Ikani Okolo and former Senator representing Kogi East Senatorial district, Nicholas Ugbane alongside eight former local government chairmen of Kogi East were among those that championed a win for the APC in the state.
Whether these state actors will remain loyal to the APC in coming times is unknown, but many believe, the next few weeks will be as important as the next four years if Buhari and the APC are set to keep the state as an APC stronghold.
___________________________________
Article written by Tahir Sherriff, and in-house news reporter with NewsWireNGR
Disclaimer
It is the policy of NewsWireNGR not to endorse or oppose any opinion expressed by a User or Content provided by a User, Contributor, or other independent party.
Opinion pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of NewsWireNGR
