As the nation matches towards the 2015 general elections, political actors across the country have been busy jostling to get the nod of their respective parties to stand as the standard bearers at the various elections.
The race to secure the tickets has no doubt come with unique intrigues and exposed the political class as grossly selfish, self centred and overtly only concerned about their personal ambitions and not the good of the people they supposedly want to represent in governance.
The media is daily inundated with news of defections, crisis and law suits arising from the failure of aspirants to secure tickets of their political parties to contest at the general election. This has no doubt reduced the way Nigerians and indeed the world see our politicians and their motive for engaging in political contest.
If nothing has come to the fore in the mad rush for party tickets, the desperation of self serving political office seekers has become much more glaring without exception, calling to question the mantra “we want to give our people good representation”.
The above scenario is even more interesting in Kogi Central Senatorial District. The district comprising 5 local government is the home of the Ebira people of Kogi State. The district presents an interesting study in political intrigues, confusion and violent reactions to political developments.
Despite bits checkered political history, the Ebiras are blessed with great minds and political leaders who are eminently qualify to hold the torch and serve as a beckon of hope not just to the senatorial district but to the state in general.
Unfortunately, these same so called elites and political leaders have over the years constituted themselves to a major clog in the wheel of political and economic development.
Reports from the senatorial district suggest that both the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and the All Progressives Congress, APC have issues with the choice of Senatorial candidates to bear the flags of the party in the 2015 general elections. A situation that is said to be causing general unease for the leadership of the parties both at the state and the national levels, but that of APC makes for an interesting scenario.
According to reports, three aspirants purchased the expression of interest and nomination forms to contest the primaries. They are two former Senators, Mohammed Ohiare and Salisu House and a relatively new but sound Ebira indigene, Yakubu Adoke. Senators Ohiare and Ohise are known political power horses in Ebiraland but they are also believed to be at the centre of the violent eruptions that has bedevilled the politics of Kogi Central political firmament.
Ohiare and Ohise, who have been at each others jugular over the years, politics and the fight for political office can be nothing but a do or die affair. This mindset, analysts believe is responsible for the many political upheavals that has been the lot of Ebiraland as they have always combatively fought each other to get into office.
APC inside sources say Ohiare and Ohise are again on each others throat as both men are employing all known tricks to be named the senatorial candidate of the party. This, the sources may lead to another round of squabbles and cost the APC victory at the general elections next year.
A leader of APC in Kogi Central confided in this reporter that the present scenario portends dangers not just for the party in the area but for the senatorial district itself, adding that APC may be planning its own defeat if it fields any of the two. “What is happening now is a repeat of what we have always faced in Ebiraland. Kogi Central does not belong to Ohise and Ohiare. They have represented at the senate before and nothing tangible can be pointed to as the result of their representation of the area at the National Assembly. All that can be pointed to are the tales of woes brought upon Ebira by their inordinate ambition and the way they turned our youths to political thugs. We are tired of theit rivalry and its attendant problems. Ebira land needs a clean break from the past and I pray the national leadership of the APC will recognize this fact and act accordingly”, he said.
On the solution to the present imbroglio, the party leader suggested a neutral person, whose past political history is not tainted with violence and bad representation. This, he says will restore confidence in the APC and ensure that the party wins at the general elections. According to him, Yakubu Adoke, the third aspirant in the race for the senatorial ticket will be the ideal person to represent the area on the APC ticket.
“There is an urgent need to restore confidence in the party and the only way we can do this is for the leaders of the party at both the state and national levels to choose somebody who is neutral and acceptable to all. There is no way Ohiare or Ohise will sit back and gracefully support whoever is chosen between the two of them at the general election. The truth is that whoever is chosen between the two will loose the general election because the other will work against him.
“Yakubu Adoke is young, well educated and has massive support base across Ebiraland. He does not have unnecessary excess baggage hanging around his neck like the other older politicians. we have an opportunity of presenting somebody who will be acceptable to everybody; somebody with the required contacts and exposure that will translate to goodwill and development for Ebiraland.
That’s what we need and that’s what we are asking the APC leadership to do for us”, the party leader said.
The above sentiment notwithstanding, reports say the onus rests squarely on the leader of the party in Kogi State, Prince Abubakar Audu and the national leadership of the party to do the right thing. The right thing that will ensure quality representation of the people of Kogi Central Senatorial district, the kind of representation they always lacked!
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