Former Governor Joshua Dariye is one of the several governors whose administrations were characterised by controversies, resulting in a decline in political relevance. Isaac Shobayo writes on a reverse situation, submitting that the former governors return to Plateau State politics as a senator could be the beginning of another political career.Former Governor Joshua Dariye ofPlateau State could be described asa cat with many lives, based on his travails in and out of government. In fact, his name, Dariye, connotes different meanings to different people and it all depends on the angle it is being perceived. But among these diverse interpretations, the former governor has been viewed by some as a survivor.Dariyes eight years as governor of Plateau State was shrouded in controversies and crises as a result of the sectarian issues which engulfed the state. Apart from the crisis within Jos, there was also a crisis in the southern part of the state, precisely in Yelwa-Shendam, during his administration, where hundreds of people were killed in a barbaric manner.This usual occurrence led to the declaration of six months emergency rule in the state by former President Olusegun Obasanjo with the aim of halting the act of bestiality and bringing an end to violence and underdevelopment, which had besieged the state.No doubt, this emergency really changed the face of Plateau politics and put Governor Dariye at a disadvantaged position. Most of his political opponents in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) such as former deputy Senate President, Senator Ibrahim Mantu; Honourable Damishi Sango and a host of others, allegedly acting in connivance with the former president, took the advantage of the prevailing situation then to wrest the structure of the party from Dariye and his cronies.From all indications, the imposition of emergency rule on the state in 2004 marked the beginning of his travails in the state. Since then, things were no longer the same with him. He further ran into murky waters during the emergency rule in United Kingdom, when he was arrested by the Metropolitan Police, jumped bail and escaped to Nigeria in a dramatic manner.There was an attempt to frustrate his return at the expiration of the emergency rule, but Dariye was lucky to be back in his seat as the governor of the state through what some people termed as divine intervention.Apart from the internal opposition within the PDP, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was also on ground to send him packing as governor of the state through the state House of Assembly.The probe panel instituted by the state House of Assembly then did not yield positive result and this was attributed to the fact that most members of the state legislature then were Dariyes loyalists, who maintained their allegiance to him all through.But along the line, the EFCC, which was behind the probe along with other security agencies, led five members of the House to impeach him. The impeachment attracted a wide range of condemnation from Nigerians, based on the unconstitutional way and manner it was carried out.Former Governor Dariye and his cronies, at this point, resorted to legal processes to quash the impeachment. While battling for this, he, along with his supporters, was schemed out of the PDP and their names tactically deregistered. They had no choice than to embrace the then Action Congress (AC) in the state for a veritable platform to remain politically in control.However, few weeks to the end of the tenure, the Supreme Court nullified his impeachment and Dariye returned to power as the governor of the state.He tried to prove his political relevance in the state by sponsoring a candidate on the platform of the AC against the candidate of the PDP then, Mr Jonah Jang, but he could not withstand the forces on ground.Out of office, Dariye did not find favour with the anti-graft body, the EFCC, as it dragged him before various courts on 21 count charges of diversion of the state treasury to private use, to the tune of about N36 billion.Despite all these problems, most of his supporters remained loyal to him and supported him, when he came into political reckoning again in 2010. And when the PDP was in crisis in Plateau State, he took the advantage of the factionalisation to launch himself back to politics and aligned himself with the opposing group, trying to wrest the PDP structure from Governor Jang and Professor Dakum Shown who was the state chairman of the party.His alignment gave the faction led by Chief Emmanuel Mangni recognition, as most of his followers in the ACN returned to the PDP until the group jettisoned the PDP for Labour Party, when it was obvious that they could not take the PDP structure away from Governor Jang and his group.Through a consensus arrangement put in place in the LP, Dariye emerged consensus senatorial candidate of the LP for Plateau Central. Running against the likes of Dr Dauda Gowon of the PDP, Honourable Gambo Nbilamut of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Mr Bala Bako of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), the former governors travails in the hand of the EFCC became a subject of campaign by his opponents. But Dariye forged ahead.In the keenly contested election, Dariye won with a total of 189,014, while Dr Gowon clinched 160,106 votes. Mbilamut had 7,902. Among all members of the PDP that defected to the LP, Dariye was the only person that scaled through, as the deputy governor, Mrs Paulin Tallen, lost to her boss with a wide margin.With the outcome of the election, former Governor Dariye could be considered as the only man standing among the oppositions who left for the Labour Party and as well justified his political nickname, head boy, as the only candidate standing with his head high.However, the battle seemed not to be over for him, as the PDP in the state alleged a foul play, saying that the former governor rigged the election and the party is set to drag him before the electoral tribunal. The state chairman of the party, Dr Haruna Dabin, called for the cancellation of the election conducted in Plateau Central Senatorial District with immediate effect, following alleged cases of irregularities and manipulation of result.Dabin claimed that the INEC officials connived with other agents to rig the election in favour of Dariye, saying that the party would file petition, if the INEC refused to look into the matter.However, with the outcome of the senatorial election, Dariye has again proved to be a force to reckon with in Plateau politics and could as well re-establish himself as a political gladiator in the state.
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