Although the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the recently held Kogi State gubernatorial election, some chieftains of the party failed to live up to their promises to the party. Yekini Jimoh reports.THE gubernatorial election that took place in Kogi State some few days ago witnessed surprises, as some bigwigs of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could not deliver their polling units, wards or even local governments to the party. It was a sad moment for the ruling party, considering the way and manner such politicians had paraded themselves before the party and the state governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, boasting that they could deliver the goods at any time.Although the election has come and gone, one incontestable fact, according to analysts, is that it remains one of the freest, fairest and most credible elections ever conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). One of the opposition parties alleged that the election was scientifically rigged, but most stakeholders in the state said the election was conducted in a peaceful manner and without rancour. The PDP emerged winner, as Captain Idris Wada, the party's candidate, clinched the victory by a decent poll margin.However, the victory of the party was far from being rosy, considering the series of crises that rocked it at the initial stage, and even up to the last moments before the election. There is no doubt that the state governor, Alhaji Idris, was able to exhibit courage in spite of the storm. The result of the gubernatorial election showed that those who believed that they were bigwigs in the PDP are nothing but failures. Some political stakeholders who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune were of the belief that those so-called leaders of the PDP in Kogi State were not respected by members of their respective communities.According to the stakeholders, when the so-called leaders occupied various positions either in the state or at the federal level, they tended to forget their people, and never assisted them whenever the need arose. The just concluded gubernatorial election exposed such leaders, as they could not deliver their wards to the party.For instance, in Adavi Local Government Area, the Commissioner for Environment, Mr Muhammed Sule, lost his ward and local government to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), while the member representing Adavi/ Okehi Federal Constituency at the National Assembly, Honourable Abdulrahaman Badamasi, also lost his local government to the ACN. Also in Adavi, the former deputy governor of the state, Mr Patrick Adava, a PDP leader in the central zone, lost his ward and local government to the ACN.In Okene Local Government Area, Senator Nurudeed Obatemi lost his ward, Barake, to the ACN, though the PDP won the local government. Still in the central zone in Ajaokuta Local Government Area, a current member of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Honourable Samson Bako, lost his Geregu ward to the ACN. Also, a commissioner, Alhaji Ahmed Samari, lost his Ajaokuta native village ward to the ACN.In the Kogi West Senatorial District, Senator Tunde Ogbeha, leader of the PDP, lost his ward in Lokoja, while General David Jemibewon, the Director-General of the Wada/Awoniyi Campaign Organisation and former Deputy Chief of Staff in the Presidency, Chief Olushola Akanmode, Alhaji Suleiman Babadoko, former chairman, Muslim Pilgrim Board and current member of the Kogi State House of Assembly, equally lost their wards. Others are Chief James Katugwo, Julius Arijojoye, Alhaji Owonibi (Sarkin Yoruba); Zonal Vice-Chairman PDP, Alhaji Muhammed Balga, Mr Kaguwa James and Dr Godwin Ajakpo.In the Kogi East Senatorial District, the Commissioner for Education, Mr. Sylvester Onoja, lost his ward and local government Olamaboro to the ACN, while the Commissioner for Justice, Barrister Joe Abraham, also lost his ward and local government area, together with the Majority Leader, Kogi State House of Assembly, Mallam Yunusa Yakubu.Some schools of thought were of the belief that the PDP bigwigs lost their immediate constituencies because they had lost touch with the people. According to them, most of the losers had refused to embark on meaningful projects that could have made positive impact on the lives of their people when it mattered most. It was also gathered that most of them hardly parted with their money whenever the need arose.Some PDP members who spoke with our correspondent said that 90 per cent of those in the cabinet of Alhaji Idris should not be considered for re-appointment by the governor-elect, Wada, when he comes on board. According to them, most of the losers were only out to protect their positions without minding the implications for the electorate.They noted that a particular politician in the cabinet of the governor once told people of his immediate community that he came to office to fight poverty so that when he left office, he would not suffer again, but failed to realise that the same people recommended him for the position.Observers say that the defeat of the PDP bigwigs in the just concluded gubernatorial election should serve as an eyeopener for the incoming governor, since it is not those who parade themselves as leaders of the party that actually hold sway in their various constituencies, and can deliver the political goodies at critical moments.They are also of the view that it is high time the incoming governor looked for fresh hands and technocrats that would assist him in his effort at developing the state. To them, the incoming governor must make sure that he resists any attempt by the so-called PDP leaders to impose candidates on him for political appointments, as such a move could jeopardise the development of the state in future.
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