Many All Progressives Congress (APC) faithful and stakeholders
must still be in a fog of disbelief over what analysts would call the
‘illogical’ outing of the Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani
Bello, in far away United States of America.
Bello had chosen a reputable Hausa media platform with listenership
spread across the world to vent his anger against the national
leadership of the party that brought him to limelight in a manner that
is condemnable even to an average opposition stalwart.
His grouse was the alleged and so-called “automatic tickets” given to
two serving senators from his state, David Umaru and
Abdullahi Sabi, as APC standard bearers in the 2019 senatorial
election. Umaru, Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human
Rights & Legal Matters and Sabi, Chairman, Senate Committee on Media
and Publicity, represent Niger East and Niger North, respectively at the
Senate.
As one of the party leaders in the state, Bello’s vituperation may
come as a shock to party faithful and observers but it no doubt
exposes the inner thinking and body language of those we are wont to
hinge our hopes on ahead of the impending contest.
But come to think of it, what is even “automatic” about the tickets?
Is Bello feigning ignorance of the process leading to the emergence of
the two candidates, or that the action of the national secretariat
negates the party’s constitution? Why is he crying more than the
bereaved in a matter that those directly affected have since initiated
legal proceedings to redress “supposed” wrong? Whether as one of the
aspirants in the just concluded exercise Bello is qualified to condemn
the same process which he was also a direct beneficiary? Or what moral
or legal justification has Bello to challenge the senatorial primary
election in which he did not participate as an aspirant? These are
questions that would ordinarily bog the minds of those who listened to
the said interview.
For the sake of those who may not have been so privileged to monitor
the development during the said primaries, there may be need for a
rewind for clarity purpose.
Before going into the party primaries, as a critical political prelude
to the 2019 general election, the national secretariat under the
leadership as of Adams Oshiomhole had spelt out the rules of
engagement in consonance with the party’s constitution.
Flowing from deliberations reached at a related meeting in Abuja, the
Oshiomhole-led National Executive Committee, NEC, settled for direct
primaries as the mode of choosing the party’s candidates, from the
president down. All registered members of the party were to
participate in the process of determining who their presidential
standard-bearer as well as other candidates would be. The APC
constitution provides indirect and direct primary election modes.
While many governors pushed for indirect primaries (the delegates
system), a few including that of Niger flowed with the direct primary
option.
The National Working Committee then went ahead to set up the various
committees to monitor the exercise in all the states. The committee
led by former deputy governor of Edo state, Mr Lucky Imasuen monitored
the process in Niger state.
For the records, the incumbent was not the only one interested in the
governorship on the platform of APC. Alhaji Abubakar Katcha and Malam
Mahmud Sani were literally forced to give up their aspirations in
order to give him a soft landing. Even an aspirant who had paid a
whooping N21 million to the party was refused forms to
enable earn an “automatic ticket”. Bello was to emerge as a sole
candidate in the exercise conducted on 30th October through the same
process he now condemns.
However, the unexpected but premeditated happened during the conduct
of the senatorial primary especially across Niger East senatorial
district. Acts of brigandage unprecedented in the political history of
the state especially as regard a primary which is an internal party
affair was unleashed on voters and supporters of candidates not
favoured by Gov. Bello.
Following the ugly development and backed by petition from Senator
Umaru and others, the national secretariat in its wisdom, acted
promptly by cancelling the exercise and thereby averting anarchy which
the ensuing crisis would have wrought on our dear state.
With the abortive first attempt, it was instructive that the national
leadership rescheduled the exercise, which it fixed for October 5,
while drafting a new team to conduct and/or monitor its outcome. Most
of the aspirants, especially those the party leadership in the state
and by extension, Gov Bello foisted on the people as expected, could
not even survive the screening. Yet the foot solders earlier unleashed
during the first exercise attacked the hotel where the new team lodged
on the eve of the main exercise brandishing weapons and compelling the
National Working Committee members to sign results in favour of their
principals.
The thugs were to force their way in later where they seized the
electoral materials including result sheets and the rest,as the saying
goes, is history.
The question is where was the chief security officer of
the state when those agents of destruction bare their fangs? Why
would the security apparatus in the state go to sleep on such an
important and delicate day when there were tell tale signs of violence
during the earlier exercise?
The governor even went ahead to endorse the illegality that
characterized the exercise when he averred that “it was wrong to come
out that the ticket is given to the incumbent Senators depriving the
winners the ticket”. Who were the winners he was actually referring
to?
Bello has every right to be aggrieved having lost out in the power
play to replace his lieutenant with Umaru. It was not a coincidence
that the recent onslaught against Umaru is coming three days after a
ragtag assemblage certain faceless persons under the aegis of
Coalition of Niger East Youth Organisation similarly attacked the
senator through a newspaper advertorial.
Now, what would be Bello’s next step, especially
that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has already
closed the window for substitution of candidates’ list by political
parties? There could only be one possibility-rallying around a
candidate of another party to spite Umaru and by extension the APC
which platform he rose to power.
Bello should be persuaded to purge himself of the arrant egocentrism
and individualism for the greater good because the battle ahead is
supposed to be a collective endeavour. It is only when bounded
together that the broom sweeps its way through obstacles. The outcome
of the primaries has already put him at a great disadvantage having
ostracized many party faithful by getting passionately involved in the
contest. Antagonizing Umaru, a politician with cult followers across
the nine local government areas in Zone ‘B’ and beyond would be the
last straw for him. A word is enough for the wise.
Dr Mahmud writes from Minna
