Kaduna State Governor Muktar Yero’s bid to contest next year’s governorship election has not been a smooth sail. He took over power on December 16, 2012, shortly after the demise of Governor Patrick Yakowa. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE chronicles his ordeal so far, particularly with regards to his party’s governorship primaries.
Governor Muktar Yero of Kaduna State would be testing his popularity in the forthcoming governorship primaries of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) scheduled for next Monday. This is owing to the fact that other governorship aspirants within the party are not in the mood to allow Yero a smooth sail to continue as the governor. Yero assumed office as governor on December 16, 2012, following the tragic death of his predecessor, Patrick Yakowa, in a helicopter crash.
Four aspirants are contesting against him during the governorship primary. They are: Hassan Felix Hyat, Senator Haruna Zego Aziz, Ismaila Yakawada and Jimmy Dung. The contestants cut across religious and tribal lines.
In the build up to the contest, Governor Yero has been accused of trying to manipulate the process, by hand-picking the delegates to the recent party congress; to ensure that he realizes his ambition. The congress has been criticised as lacking in democratic principles. Three of the aspirants, Hyat, Aziz and Yakawada, which made their position on the primaries known at a press conference in the state capital recently said it fell short of the people’s expectation.
The aspirants have decided to close ranks over the matter, to counter Governor Yero’s alleged antics over the primaries. After their meeting, they urged the leadership of the PDP to address the issue as matter of urgent importance. They alleged that the irregularities observed during the congress must be tackled, if the party would have a good outing the next year’s elections.
At the conference, Dung alleged that names of delegates were written before the actual congress. According to him, it negates the principle of fairness and justice. He said the outcome of the delegate’s congress was beyond the people’s comprehension.
He said the process was a fraud because the names of delegates approved were prepared from Government House; with loyalists of the governor and Vice President Namadi Sambo making the list.
The aspirants believe that it would only be fair when a properly conducted congress was allowed to produce the delegates, noting that the aspirants would not condone act of impunity being displayed by the government.
Yakawada believes the idea of automatic ticket being proposed for PDP governors just completing their first term by the party leadership is a farce, and that it is unacceptable.
He added that aspirants in Kaduna were prepared to slug it out with the incumbent at the primaries, urging the party hierarchy to provide a level-playing ground for the contestants.
He said if there was no proper election and consensus to elect delegates for elections in the party, the party’s professed stance of practicing internal democracy was an illusion.
He added: “I can inform you that there was neither consensus nor election where members agreed that the adopted delegates would represent us during the primaries; they are not the choice of the people.”
But, the Kaduna State PDP Publicity Secretary Ibrahim Mansur has faulted the aspirants, saying they were being economical with the truth. He described as baseless the allegations that the party leadership in the state and Governor Yero hijacked the process leading to the delegates’ congress.
Mansur urged party members to sheathe their swords and work for the unity of the party in the forthcoming polls. He said it is only a united PDP that would ensure continuity and that the division in the party would be too costly.
Some aspirants from the fold had earlier crossed to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging that they fear they would not have fair treatment in the primaries.
A former House of Representatives member, Jagaba James Jagaba, equally dumped the PDP because of what he described as Yero’s antics to hold on to power without popular wish.
The infighting within the party has brought division along ethnic lines, resulting in the formation of alliances and counter alliances.
Despite the re-alignment of political blocs to ensure that the alleged flawed congress does not have negative consequences on the coming primaries, stakeholders are keenly interested in who pilots the affairs of the state from next year.
Ahead of next Monday’s primaries, all the aspirants have agreed to present a united front, by bringing one person forward as a consensus candidate to challenge Yero at the contest.
Political analysts believe the PDP is shooting itself in the foot, by going into the primaries divided.
At one of the meetings attended by various interest groups, Senator Aziz was tipped as the aspirant to slug it out with the governor. The meeting which had in attendant four aspirants from Southern Kaduna, religious bodies, youths and elders drummed support for the consensus arrangement, saying it would help to thwart the plan of the incumbent governor.
In a communiqué presented after the meeting, the Southern Kaduna Christian Leaders Council, the Northern Christian Elders Forum, South Kaduna Indigenes Progressives Forum, South Kaduna Peace Initaitives, Gurara Forum and other organisations, urged the people to put aside their differences for the common good.
They said the decision to present a common front in the coming primaries was deliberate and that it would brighten the chances of the aggrieved aspirants; as one of them would be a beneficiary of the arrangement.
The associations believe it would reduce the bickering associated with politicking and reduce the cost of electioneering in terms of finance.
They said: “While it is easy for the other contenders who have agreed to step aside, the onus of collective purpose and communal welfare must be seen to take precedence in order to have one candidate to contest with the incumbent at the PDP primaries scheduled for December 8.
“With this heart-lifting and very promising development, a new Southern Kaduna is born. The depth of our disunity is in the process of being jettisoned for the common purpose. We can now see the light at the end of the tunnel.
“Consequently, we are appealing to all to support the candidature of Senator Aziz at the primaries to achieve our objective of him becoming the PDP flag bearer in the coming elections in February 2015,” the communiqué stated.
