Leadership (Abuja)
Chuks Ohuegbe
29 March 2008
It's D-day in Kogi State. The people of the state are going to the polls again to elect a new governor. It is a battle royale between the two leading political parties in the state - the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
The Appeal Court sitting in Abuja had set the tone for today's rerun for the office of governor, when it upheld the nullification of the April 14, 2007, gubernatorial contest in the state that produced Alhaji Ibrahim Idris (PDP) as the winner.
While the PDP retains Idris who had ruled the state since 2003 as its flagbearer for today's contest, the ANPP is still sticking to Prince Abubakar Audu who is not a stranger to Lugard House, Lokoja. In fact, Prince Abubakar called the shots from Lugard House during the ill-fated Third Republic. He had a second stint from 1999 to 2003.
Ahead of today's election, the federal government has deployed over 6, 000 policemen and women to the state. Also, over 1, 000 army personnel have been deployed to the state, while about 1,000 para-military officials from the neighbouring states, comprising Immigration, Prisons, Customs and Civil Defence Corps, are on ground in the state.
Deputy inspector-general of police, Adedayo Adeoye said mobile policemen have been deployed to volatile areas of the state like Okene, Olamaboro, Dekina, Idah, Ankpa and other local government areas.
Already, going by the spate of attacks and killings of opponents by suspected supporters of the political parties, there is apprehension that before a winner of the election would take the oath of office, there would certainly be a high number of casualties of the election.
According to reports, no fewer than seven persons have been killed, and several others injured in the last few days. Security agencies have had a raw deal with political thugs.
The Real Battle
The real combatants in today's epic battle are former governors Ibrahim Idris and Abubakar Audu. They would not be meeting for the first time. Today's meeting will be the third time. In 2003, all the political forces in Kogi State lined up behind Idris to unseat Abubakar.
The pill of that defeat was too bitter for Abubakar to swallow. He vied for the office again in April 2007. Again, Idris was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which had illegally disqualified Audu from contesting. Audu headed for the courts and obtained a judgement nullifying the election of Idris.
Keen observers of Kogi State politics are of the opinion that today's contest puts both men (Idris and Abubakar) on the same stretch. It is a winner-takes-all contest. The loser in today's might as well say goodbye to partisan politics.
Audu would want to prove that he is the supremo of Kogi politics and that the landmarks he left while he was in office still commend him to the electorate. He would also want to prove to his critics that the election tribunal ruling cannot be contradicted, as the Kogi electorate would be poised to replicate that ruling with their votes.
On the other hand, Idris, who has the singular privilege of defeating Audu in two previous elections, is convinced that he can do it a third time; with the incumbency advantage both at the executive and legislative arms that he helped to install while he was in power, the political machinery would all be mobilised to return him to Lugard House.
At the national level, the PDP is not taking the re-election lightly. During the week, President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and the new national chairman of the party, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor, were at the head of the campaign team in Lokoja, the capital city, to drum up support for Idris.
The party had also set up a seven-member national campaign team led by the former governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu. Their charge was simple: deliver Kogi State to PDP.
ANPP, on the other hand, is banking on the credibility question hanging over most of the electoral successes credited to the PDP by INEC. The party stalwarts are convinced that the rerun election result will confirm their claim that the elections of April 2007 were rigged in favour of PDP.
The Umpire
Today's election in Kogi State is an acid test for the INEC. The credibility of the commission is at stake.
INEC chairman Professor Maurice Iwu recently declared that the commission would declare whoever emerges winner in today's election in Kogi State as the winner. It was the electoral body's indication that it wants to be neutral.
The commission's spokesman, Mr. Philip Umeadi (Jnr), said yesterday that sensitive materials had been sent to the 21 LGAs in the State. Umeadi, who stated this in Abuja while explaining the commission's level of preparedness, said that national commissioners had been deployed to the state while other necessary logistics had been put in place.
The electoral body has imported their officials from 12 neighbouring states comprising Edo, Benue, Nasarawa, Niger, Enugu, Kwara, Ekiti, Ondo, and the Federal Capital Territory.
Furthermore, over 1,000 members of the National Youth Service Corps have been drafted from the neighbouring states to assist the INEC officials.
Monitoring teams from the INEC headquarters, Abuja, have since arrived in the state and have been posted to various local government areas for effective supervision of the exercise. Both local and international observers have been posted to all nooks and crannies of the state.
Meanwhile, with the high presence of security personnel, everywhere seems to be calm. Today's election may be peaceful if report from other parts of the state is anything to go by. LEADERSHIP WEEKEND visited Okene, Anyigba and the state capital Lokoja; everywhere was cool.
The State House of Assembly has approved the sum of N400 million to be used by the acting governor, Clarence Olafemi, for security purposes.
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