9 states with most dramatic primaries
Insiders reveal behind-the-scenes intrigues
Nigeria’s democratic space has in the past few days been a theatre, sometimes even of the absurd, as politicians from major political parties displayed dexterity in outdoing one another towards clinching the governorship ticket in their states, or enthroning their preferred aspirants. Here, we give you the most dramatic.
Hamza Idris (Abuja), Uthman Abubakar (Maiduguri), Kabiru Anwar (Yola), Jude Aguguo Owuamanam (Owerri), Nurudeen Oyewole (Lagos), Haruna Gimba (Gombe), Shehu Umar (Gusau), Jeremiah Oke (Ibadan) & Peter Moses (Abeokuta)
The drama that played out in some states controlled by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) or the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over get the governorship ticket is now legendary. Out of the 36 states, the electorate in 29 would go to the polls to elect their preferred candidate. During the general elections, there will be gubernatorial in Anambra, Kogi, Bayelsa, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun. And in the 29 states where elections will hold, the APC alone had showcased 160 gubernatorial aspirants who collectively coughed out over N3.5 billion into party coffers in Abuja to collect expression of interest and nomination forms.
However, what played out during the real contests in some states provided comic relief to millions of Nigerians. And unless the two leading but acrimonious parties put their houses in order, the tendency is that they might not be able to field candidates for some offices during the 2019 elections.
All primaries are expected to be concluded by tomorrow, Sunday October 7, 2018 in line with the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
The gubernatorial primaries of APC and PDP in Borno brimmed with exciting intrigues. The ruling APC was a virtual battlefield and had already won the trophy of producing the highest number of aspirants ahead of the 2019 elections. And this was a product of power play between forces controlled by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff (SAS) and Governor Kashim Shettima, and their teeming proxies, counterbalanced by Borno elders, constituting a reputable force, and a substantial sprinkle of the “independents” in the contests.
The intrigues in the APC camp were sparked by the cunning moves by two strongmen, Shettima and SAS, to get and maintain a firm grip of the majority of the aspirants and the delegates to enhance expertise in chessboard moves, towards producing the party’s flag-bearer in 2019.
Expectedly, the power of incumbency endowed Governor Shettima with advantage. He initially engineered and maintained a firm grip on 14 of the 21 gubernatorial aspirants cleared for the primaries, herding them to sustain his political relevance in the face of what hitherto constituted a huge looming force, the force of SAS.
Most dramatic, was Shettima’s reported “caging” of delegates in a hidden location in Maiduguri, so that all other aspirants, apart from his reported anointed aspirant and the reported 14 who reportedly formed a solid block for a reported unanimous support for the anointed, wouldn’t have access to them.
An enraged and frustrated Idris Mamman Durkwa, one of the aspirants who chose to contest than succumb to pressure and entreaties to withdraw for Shettima’s anointed, reportedly ran round to induce each delegate. Another aspirant reportedly withdrew monumental amounts of cash to buy favours from the delegates, who they couldn’t access.
The delegates even wore ‘uniforms’, sewn by the government, perhaps to glaringly mark them as Shettima’s anointed. So the delegates at the El-Kanemi Stadium venue of the primaries were swayed by the governor, to the frustration of 10 of the aspirants who, a day after the announcement of the result of the primaries, disowned the result and petitioned the National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole to cancel the primaries.
Last Wednesday, the state government issued a statement,
arguing that 14 aspirants had accepted the result of the primaries producing the governor’s anointed, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, as winner.
The most intriguing part of the Borno drama is that less than 48 hours to the primaries, almost all the aspirants had strong convictions that the governor would hand over the lone ticket to them. However, the governor could not control his emotions on the day of the primaries, as he was captured on camera tearfully shaking hands with a loyal lieutenant who many thought would be the next governor. Oyo
Analysts believe that it is the ‘Tinubu connection’ that saw to the emergence of a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Chief Adebayo Adelabu, as the governorship candidate of the APC in Oyo State. Sources said Adelabu’s ambition got a boost following endorsement by National Leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, who in recent times saw to the emergence of some governors in the South West.
Discussions in the state ahead of the primaries predicted that Engr. Olasukanmi Joseph Tegbe, the anointed candidate of Gov. Abiola Ajimobi, would carry the day. The development forced a
former Governor of the state, Chief Adebayo Alao-Akala, and the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Azzez Adeduntan, to withdraw.
It would be recalled that the Minister of Communication, Barr. Adebayo Shittu, was disqualified by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC over his refusal to participate in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) after graduation.
Adelabu, who polled 4,889 out of the 5,203 votes cast, won the ticket in a process widely believed to be a consensus arrangement among some aspirants. Kano
The most jaw-dropping move by ex-governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, who recently went back to the PDP from the APC, is the alleged imposition of Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, his son-in-law, as flagbearer of the party. Probably for political expediency, Kwankwaso said the candidate was picked on merit. However, other aspirants rejected the emergence of Yusuf on the banner of Kwankwasiyya-led faction of the party.
The party’s Kano Chairman, Sen. Mas’ud El-Jibril Doguwa, described the Kwankwasiyya-led PDP faction’s primaries as a Hollywood movie. Ogun
The two leading political parties in Ogun State, the APC and PDP, produced two governorship candidates each within the space of one week. Two factions emerged afterwards with a Sikirullahi Ogundele-led group, and the other led by Bayo Dayo.
The first faction is being sponsored by a member of the House of Representatives, Ladi Adebutu, while the other faction is backed by the Senator representing Ogun East, Buruji Kashamu.
While the Ogundele-led faction conducted its primary election at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, which produced Ladi Adebutu as candidate, the Dayo faction’s held at the party secretariat, and produced Adeleke Shittu as candidate.
Interestingly, Dayo told journalists that parallel primaries were “not new to PDP in Ogun State.”
The APC’s gubernatorial primary is equally not less controversial in Ogun. On September 5, the Ogun APC at a stakeholders meeting, adopted consensus arrangement as mode of primaries.
However, less than 24 hours after the decision, the party picked a lawmaker representing Egbado South and Ipokia Federal constituency, Adekunle Akinlade as its candidate, believed to be the candidate of outgoing governor Ibikunle Amosun.
However, five aspirants, including an aide to Kaduna governor Nasir El-Rufai’s, Jimi Lawal, Senator Gbenga Kaka, former Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Bimbo Ashiru, oil magnate Dapo Abiodun and Abayomi Hunye surreptitiously formed alliance against Akinlade’s candidacy.
But apparently undeterred, state chairman of APC, Derin Adebiyi, went ahead and announced Akinlade as winner of the parallel governorship primaries conducted by the party.
And in opening another chapter for the crisis, the Muhammad Indabawa-led APC Electoral Committee panel sent from Abuja, declared Abiodun the oil merchant as winner of a different gubernatorial primary.
Indabawa flanked by other members of the panel added that Lawal polled 51,153 votes closely followed by Ashiru who scored 29,764 votes. The crisis is still festering there without a hindsight as to how it would end. Imo
It was high drama that attended the October 2 gubernatorial primaries of the APC in Imo State. This wasn’t unexpected given the political scenario that engulfed Imo when Governor Okorocha openly endorsed his Chief of Staff, Chief Uche Nwosu, who is married to his daughter, as preferred candidate for the 2019 governorship ticket of the state.
The development had led to the emergence of a splinter group within to the ruling with the sole intent of stopping him.
The APC Reformation Coalition or the ‘Allied Forces’ convened by Okorocha’s former Commissioner for Information, Dr. Theo Ekechi, since its famous ‘Imerienwe Declaration,’ has formed the most vicious and coordinated opposition to the aspiration of Okorocha to force his son-in-law as his successor.
It started with the May 5 ward congress of the party over who controls the party structure. This led to the emergence of parallel state executives of the party - one led by Chief Hillary Eke (for the Allied Forces) and the other led by Mr. Daniel Nwafor and controlled by the governor.
This opposition was buoyed up by the fact that Okorocha’s deputy, Prince Eze Madumere, gave tacit support to the ‘Allied Forces’ to truncate the dream of his boss. So it was not altogether strange when the governor orchestrated impeachment moves against him. The court judgment, which overruled that action, further gave impetus to the struggle.
Apart from stopping Okorocha from having his son-in-law succeeding, another desire of the coalition is to stop the governor from clinching the Imo West senatorial seat currently held by one of the strongest pillars of the coalition, Hope Uzodinma.
It was with the trepidation that political watchers expected the turnout of the much-awaited governorship primaries of the party. So it was not a tea party for Okorocha when the Ahmed Gulak-led APC governorship primary electoral committee returned Hope Uzodinma as the party’s flag bearer. A wounded Okorocha quickly rallied round about eight members of the committee to announce his sonin-law as candidate.
However, the drama is still unfolding. Uzodinma, having bought senatorial form, also has eyes on a return to the Senate. He, being from Orlu zone, same as the governor, is seen largely as the only person who could fight Okorocha and not only snatch the party machinery, but also extricate the governorship ticket. Insiders are of the view that Uzodinma might be holding that ticket in trust for the possible emergence of an Owerri man to fly the party’s flag in 2019. Still unfolding. Lagos
The concessionary speech by Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Wednesday, brought to a dramatic end, the intrigues that have defined the gubernatorial contest of the state’s chapter of the APC in the last few months. Aside using his speech to concede defeat to his main challenger, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Ambode also promised to work for his success.
Indeed, the scheming that culminated in making Ambode the first elected Governor of Lagos State unable to secure a second term ticket in the last two decades, was deep. At the centre of the power play were Ambode’s supposed offences against
the APC National Leader and his godfather, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on one hand, as well as Ambode’s beef with party stalwarts on another.
To edge Ambode out, Tinubu allegedly deployed the party structure by first using his loyal caucus within the Lagos APC, otherwise known as the Mandate Group to sponsor the candidacy of a former commissioner, Sanwo-Olu. After succeeding, Tinubu went on to use the most powerful decision-making body, otherwise known as the Governor Advisory Council (GAC) to seal Ambode’s fate by insisting on the conduct of direct primaries.
The primary was held on Tuesday with Sanwo-Olu defeating Ambode in a landslide, even as the processes of its conduct were initially faulted by members of the National Working Committee (NWC) monitoring team sent by the party’s national HQ. However, the monitoring team reversed itself and declared SanwoOlu as the duly elected gubernatorial candidate after intense behind-thescenes politicking. Zamfara
In Zamfara State, the date for the APC governorship primary election had been changed severally, including the most dramatic one on Wednesday. The panel sent by the national headquarters of the APC to conduct the governorship primary had cancelled the process midway.
Governor Abdulaziz Yari had disagreed with the Engr. Abba Fariled panel, saying the process must be concluded today. The primary started yesterday through Option A4 but was suspended midway due to violence in some polling centres across some local government areas.
The exercise earlier slated for 30 September had been shifted severally over disagreements between Yari who anointed his Commissioner of Finance, Alhaji Mukhtar Shehu Idris, as successor, and eight other aspirants.
The Zamfara chapter of the APC had earlier adopted indirect mode for the primary, but the national leadership of the party changed it to direct option following a petition by other aspirants who called themselves ‘Group 8.’
While the election could not be completed on Wednesday, the state chapter of the party, in defiance to the directive by the national headquarters said it would ahead with counting of ballots to declare winner. Still unfolding.
In Gombe, the PDP gubernatorial primary election that produced former deputy speaker of the House of Reps, Senator Usman Bayero Nafada, has created cracks in the state chapter of the party. Nafada, preferred candidate of Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, among 12 other aspirants, faced stiff opposition from party executives and other stakeholders before the election.
Daily Trust Saturday learnt that party elders and officials, who were more comfortable with Alhaji Jamil Isyaku Gwamna, pressured the governor who succumbed and staged the primaries at the Government House.
However, on Sunday when the election was about to start with delegates seated and Jamil Gwamna waiting for affirmation, Senator Nafada stormed the venue with hundreds of his supporters. He went straight to the governor’s seat and pulled him to an office inside the venue of the election. It was believed that the game changed during that brief discussion.
Bayero returned to the venue without the governor and informed the delegates that he made the governor to swear to him that he (Dankwambo) didn’t endorse any of the contestants. He then ordered his supporters to beat anybody that claims the governor was supporting any of his fellow contestants. About 30 minutes into the election, when delegates from Akko LGA were casting their votes, heated argument erupted among them which led political thugs to destroy ballot boxes and disrupt the election, and delegates and other aspirants had to scamper for safety.
The election was re-scheduled to Monday October 1 amidst tight security, and Bayero was declared winner after he scored 1,104 votes against his closest rival, Gwamna, who scored 147 votes. Not satisfied with the outcome, Gwamna has since decamped to the APC where he was welcomed with a grand rally. According to party sources, other contestants are also scheming for their exit from the PDP. Adamawa
The drama playing out in Adamawa State over the gubernatorial primary election of the APC is epic, between Governor Muhammad Jibrilla Bindow, and two other aspirants, former chairman of the EFCC Malam Nuhu Ribadu, and President Buhari’s brother-in-law, Mahmud Halilu. The two had earlier withdrawn from the race in protest of a plan to give the governor an edge. They have since returned to the race.
A purported alliance between Ribadu and Halilu for one to jettison his ambition in support of the other, had also failed. Mild drama even ensued Thursday when what could be described as “phantom election” was held in some LGAs.
The question on the lips of many Nigerians remains: Is this the drama, albeit on a much larger scale, that will typify the 2019 elections? A party insider replied: “When we get to that river, we’ll cross it.”