After the concluded primaries of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC in some states, three sitting governors have become high-profile casualties in the risky political chessboard of their party.
The dangerous sign became glaring as soon as the national party submitted its final list of cleared candidates to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the major political gladiators in the dicey game are still nursing their deep wounds.
A report by The Vanguard indicates that among the major casualties are Abdulaziz Yari, the Zamfara state Governor, his counterparts in Ogun and Imo, Ibikunle Amosun and Rochas Okorocha. There are other big losers but these three are seriously drubbed by their party.
For one, Yari is the Chairman, Nigerian Governor’s Forum NGF, a very influential position. Okorocha is the Chairman, Progressive Governors Forum, a platform for all APC governors. Amosun is a long-standing political ally of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In spite of these credentials, they were not spared the angst of the party as they met their comeuppance. In Imo where Okorocha wanted his son in-law to succeed him, the national leadership of the party had asked him to decide between his senatorial ambition and his desire to give the governorship ticket to Mr Uche Nwosu. He did not bulge.
To be fair, those who argue against Nwosu’s candidacy did not do so on the grounds that he was not qualified to lead the state, but on account of his relationship with the governor. Okorocha, being the only APC governor in the Southeast believes that he has done a lot to build the party in the zone and should therefore be compensated. Perhaps, if the governor had not been so brazen in appointing his own family members into public offices ab initio, the opposition to Nwosu’s candidacy might not have been so virulent.
In Zamfara, Yari’s threat to the national leadership of the party was the final nail on the coffin of his ambition to have his Finance Commissioner, Mukhtar Idris replace him. Having secured a senatorial ticket for himself, the governor felt he needed to succeed himself with Idris, despite fierce opposition from Sen. Kabir Marafa, another contender.
While at the height of the killings in the state the governor abdicated his responsibility as chief security officer of the state on the grounds that he did not control any of the security agencies, Yari soon found his “mojo” when the National Working Committee NWC of the party cancelled the first primaries and insisted on the conduct of fresh direct primaries, having also announced the dissolution of the party executives in the state down to the local governments. Yari was emphatic that he remained the chief security officer of the state and that the NWC panel should not enter the state because he would not guarantee their security.
Amosun on his part also secured for himself a senatorial ticket. But arguments have been made as to the fidelity of the exercise which saw the emergence of Dapo Abiodun as governorship candidate to the chagrin of the governor.
In Rivers state, Sen. Magnus Abe did not also have it rosy in spite of the Supreme Court judgment which nullified the Ojukaye Flag-Amachree led executive, as the NWC has insisted that the apex court’s verdict has nothing to do with the primaries conducted for the governorship and legislative positions in the state. Therefore, the candidature of Arc. Tonye Cole along with his running mate, Hon. Victor Giadom remains inviolate, while the list of its candidates for the governorship, National Assembly and House of Assembly has been processed, the party said.
In Adamawa, in spite of attempts by the national leadership of the party to pave way for the emergence of an In-law of President Muhammadu Buhari, Gov. Jubrilla Bindow triumphed against all odds. First, the NWC forced direct primaries on the state in spite of protests from the governor’s camp who wanted indirect primaries.
The NWC went ahead to bar the executives of the party in the state, who were obviously loyal to the governor, from superintending over the conduct of the exercise. In spite of these, the governor went ahead to trounce Dr Halilu Mahmood, brother to Mrs Aisha Buhari. This development might perhaps have been responsible to the recent criticism on the party by the President’s wife.
