Why Gombe PDP chieftains are leaving in droves
From Haruna Gimba Gombe
LYaya, ast week, a two-time member of the House of Representatives, one-time senator and the immediate minister of transport, Senator Abdullahi Idris Umar, joined several others to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State.
Their departure from the PDP, which is the ruling party in the state, to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), was seen by political observers as unprecedented.
Unlike what obtained in the past in Gombe, where members of the opposition decamped to the ruling party, the reverse is now the case.
The PDP has been the ruling party in Gombe since 2003 when the former governor, Muhammad Danjuma Goje, wrested power from Abubakar Habu Hashidu of the then All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).
According to political pundits, all the defectors had played vital roles in bringing Goje to power in 2003. It is said that they are now moving to the APC to dislodge the PDP in 2019.
In their respective speeches after collecting their membership cards, all the defectors cited internal crisis and lack of leadership in the state chapter of the PDP as their reason for dumping it.
However, our correspondent gathered that most of the defectors held one government position or another since 1999 when the country returned to civil rule.
But with the unexpected defeat of the PDP during the 2015 presidential election, they felt there was the need to join the APC, which now controls power at the centre. They felt there was the need to belong to a party that would give them some sense of belonging and the chance to pursue their respective political ambitions, which may not materialise in the PDP due to the power of incumbency wielded by Governor Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo.
The former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, was the first to defect to the APC.
Modibbo was a threetime minister under the PDP government. He first served as minister of state for power and steel between December 2002 and May 2013. He was also appointed minister of commerce and served from May 2006 to May 2007, all during former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.
With the election of the late President Umaru Musa ‘Yar’Adua in 2007, Modibbo was, again appointed as minister of the FCT in June 2007. He served till November 2008 when he was dropped during a cabinet reshuffle.
Modibbo had worked for over 10 years at the Aso Rock Villa in the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President.
After collecting his membership card, Dr. Modibbo said he had never openly registered as a member of any political party, nor had he contested for any political position.
His defection was, therefore, seen by many as a move to get a juicy appointment at the federal level, considering his track record and vast experience in the Presidential Villa.
Another politician who defected was Alhaji Abubakar Habu Muazu Hassan, who was the PDP youth leader during Goje’s first tenure in 2003.
Habu Muazu played a vital role in the campaign that brought the administration of Danjuma Goje in 2003 and was believed to be a contributor to many of the successes recorded by Goje’s administration.
They, however, parted ways in 2007 after the latter was re-elected for a second term. There are speculations that Muazu parted ways with Goje over his ambition to succeed him.
Since 2007 when he parted ways with Goje, Youth Leader, as he was popularly called, played his politics at the PDP headquarters in Abuja. He was so close to former President Goodluck Jonathan that he was made the PDP presidential campaign coordinator in the 2011 elections. But with the unexpected defeat of Jonathan during the 2015 polls, he was left with no option than to ditch the party.
Prior to his defection to the APC recently in his hometown, Kashere, where a mini rally was held, posters bearing his picture appeared all over the place, especially during the 20th anniversary of the creation of the state.
Other big shots who ditched the PDP include Senator Saidu Ahmed Alkali, who represented Gombe North senatorial district in the sixth and seventh Senate.
He came to prominence in 2007 when he was appointed into the Goje cabinet as commissioner for information, a position he held until 2010 when he was nominated for a by-election to replace the late Senator Kawu Peto Dukku, who died while representing Gombe North.
He was re-elected in 2011 under the PDP and served as the chairman, Senate Committee on the Nigeria Air Force.
In 2015, he attempted to seek for governorship ticket under the PDP, but changed his mind. He also didn’t seek to return to the Senate. Although he is not popular in the state politics, Senator Alkali is believed to be in the APC to vie for the gubernatorial ticket in 2019.
Mr. John Lazarus Yoriyo came to limelight in 2003 when he emerged as running mate and subsequently a deputy to former Governor Goje. He was a member of the State House of Assembly before his emergence as running mate to Goje. He was said to be a loyal deputy to Goje for eight years. He chose to remain in the PDP until recently when the internal crisis in the party forced him out.
Yoriyo vied for the Gombe South senatorial ticket in 2011, but he was denied the ticket for the incumbent, Senator Joshua Lidani. He pitched his tent with Governor Dankwambo after his erstwhile boss, Danjuma Goje, parted ways with him.
After the 2015 elections, he vied for the state chairmanship of the party, but lost to his kinsman, Mr. Joel Adamu Jagafa.
“I had shown interest in contesting for the state chairmanship of the party. I am not saying I must be the chairman, but let a level-playing ground be allowed. But they did not even sell the form to me. I cannot continue in this way unless people want to destroy democracy in the country,” Mr. Yoriyo stated while addressing his supporters to formerly declare and register for the APC in his Degri-Kulani-Sikkam ward of Balanga Local Government Area.
As the most prominent member of the APC from Gombe South, which is believed to be a stronghold of the PDP in the state, Yoriyo is expecting a smooth ride to getting the senatorial ticket to represent the zone come 2019.
Furthermore, Senator Abdullahi Idris Umar, the immediate past minister of transport, who represented Yamaltu Deba federal constituency in the House of Representatives for eight years on the platform of the PDP, also defected. He was also elected to the Senate on the PDP platform. He represented the Gombe Central senatorial district between 2007 and 2011.
In 2011, he didn’t seek re-election to return to the Senate, having come from the same senatorial district with Goje, who was rounding off his second tenure. Umar surrendered the ticket to Goje. He was compensated with a ministerial position after the victory of the PDP at the 2011 polls.
Senator Umar, who is popularly known as Barrister, was said to have a long term ambition of calling the shot at the Gombe Government House. He was rumoured to replace the 2015 gubernatorial candidate of the party, Alhaji Muhammad Inuwa Yahaya as the new anointed candidate of Senator Goje.
Until his recent defection to the APC, Idris was said to be very close to former President Jonathan. Recently, he reportedly accompanied him to Oxford in the United Kingdom.
It was said that Idris was reluctant to leave the PDP, but because of irreconcilable differences with Dankwambo, he was left with no option than to leave the party in order to achieve his political goals.