DIMENSIONS OF THE POLITICAL LOG JAM IN KOGI STATE

If I am God or has a flinch of His power, I will surely introduce another dimension to the political log jam in Kogi state by raising late Abubarka Audu from the tomb. I known for real that such phenomenon will certainly create a rude shock to all and sundry, and I will comfortably relax and enjoy the concussion, though in the extreme, the astonishments, the disappointments and possibly joy that will accompany what could be tagged ” the miracle of the age.”

Why do I have to go philosophical? Why do I have to stretch my mind and explore down deep my sense of wonder? The death of Prince Abubarka Audu has generated a lot of tension and the vacuum created has provoked our sense of reasoning and as well unleashed human tendencies for greed, dominance, vengeance and avarice.
At a point, the situation drifted to ethnic dimension with the incumbent Governor Idris Wada and Mohammed Audu, championing the cause of the Eastern senatorial district though on a parallel platforms. While Chief James Faleke and Alhaji Yahaya Bello fronting for the western and central senatorial district respectively.
Sadly enough, each of the three contenders and their supporters have a rational arguments to bulwark their various claims.

Governor wada and the Peoples Democratic Party’s supporters are of the opinion that power should ideally remain with the PDP after the sad and shocking death of Audu who was a manor contender in the governorship election. They went athletic in their pattern of reasoning and equate politics with race which of 100, 400, meter and marathon categories. They are of the opinion that every race is guided by rules and political race is not an exception.

According to the group, once the gun has been fired to signal the commencement of the race, a leading athlete who fall in action either accidentally or due to fatigue but failed to cross the final line can never be replaced and his misfortune will automatically pave way for the one closing in behind.
In such situation, there is no room for substitution, not even in four by four hundred metre relay that requires a collaborative efforts. The best the member of the tram can do to assist an ailing colleague is to run back to the position where such fellow collapsed and pick the Barton and continue the race. That would have wasted a lot of time anyway. To sum up their points, Audi’s death in the race automatically pave way for Wada who is the living contender with the highest vote.

They went further and faulted the decision of INEC and that of the Attorney General of the Federation which affirmed that the vote cast during the election belongs to the party and not its flag bearer and that the results of the primary election of the APC is valid before the law; a position which favoured Yahaya Bello and now made him to inherit Audu’s vote, having emerged as the second best in the APC primary election.

This point of view was a big headache to the supporters of the PDP who described the situation as an aberration and a thwarted parameter for judgement. They based their argument on the fact that quite a lot of governors who were previously elected on the platform of PDP later decamped to APC and still retain their governorship positions. They posited that if the vote truly belongs to the party, the law should have taken its cause and boot them out of power immediately they decamped from the party from which they were elected.
To them, the vote belongs to late Audu and since he is no more, it will be wrong to foist Bello on the people of the state.

The other agitators are those in favour of the monarchical pattern of reasoning. Though subtly in approach, they canvassed for the substitution of Audu with his son Mohammed. Having discovered that the proximity for success in their west is low, they silently chicken out of the race.

The third group are Faleke and his supporters. Faleke being Audu’s running mate possessed a joint ticket with the deaseased and in the right sense of it, should have been the most qualified to step into Audu’s shoe as attested to by the die hard supporters of the political sage who revealed that Audu, shortly before his death instructed them to support Faleke to succeed as he has learnt his political structure and was with him through out the campaigns.

According to them, during the campaign, promises were made to variousHeads of the communities visited and bond were cealed in regards of the the pressing needs of each community.
To them, YAHAYA Bello will surely be grossly inadequate fit in to Audi’s shoe since he was conspicuously absent in all the APC’s rally. A position that is quite logical because Bello reclined from the party immediately he lost out in the primary election. Hr took late Audu to court claiming that he did not resign as the APC’s chairman, Board of Trustee and was as well indited by rge EFCC over financial crime. It was even rumoured that Yahaya Bello no PVC of Kogi state origin and that he openly worked against the unrest of the party in the last election.

It is from this same supporters of Audu that pointed accusing finger on president Buhari of planning to enthrone Moslem governors in the nineteen northern state of the federation.
With the whole controversies tailing the top job, we cannot but embrace the use of common sense in addressing our challenges especially now that our constitution has never envisaged such development. To be perfectly honest I have piled up of relevant aspect of the constitution the moment I conceived this write up. But the more I delve into it the confused I become because what is true in page will be negated in b.

Paramount on the issue to be considered is INEC’s hasty decision in declaring the election inconclusive due to the cancellation of about 90 polling units discovered to have been marred by electoral malpractices and in some cases intimidation.

Supposed God delayed Audu’s death for two weeks further, the people would have settled for Falekr without any hindrance and take the situation as an imposition of destiny. But San holistic perception of the situation will knock INEC off balance considering the fact that only 22000 out of 54,000 people who registered in the 90 polling units are eligible to vote. Some of them only registered but did not collect their voters card. Why do we study ratio, why do we approximate, can’t INEC ascertain the total numbers of registered voters in the state, the percentage of those who actually participated in the election and come our plain about their mistake. Why will a pilot heed the warnings of the metrological agencies on bad weather condition? Why won’t they risk the journey with the hope that the the trouble had not started. If we look down deed and burry ethnic and religions affiliations the truth is at the tips of our fingers. Constitution are not written by angels. If ours is creating concussion on a specific phenomenon can’t we be decisive and revert back to referendum and ascertain the ultimate will of the people which is the hallmark of democracy. Am sure if Nigeria enact a constitution that barred us from our homes and instead sleep on the trees, we will surely kick against that except their is a clear cut reason for such development. If Faleke and Bello are placed side by side, the lower brokers who foisted the latter on the people of Kogi will surely be ashamed of their decision. Anything less than that or the reversal of the whole process will not go down well in the mind of the people and would painfully validate the negative Eurocentric view on Africa as a race plague d with imbecility which is obvious in our lacking in technological accomplishments. In all these, one thing remains sure and that is the fact that, Kogi state has remained a spectacular state occasioned by the demise of Audu, a political icon which by extension has created a global argument among legal luminaries. The people of the state are waiting .