RIGHT Honourable Simon Achuba is a lucky man as far as politics of Kogi State is concerned. Against all calculations, permutations and expectations, he emerged as the deputy governor of the Confluence State when nobody ever thought he could be. His case as at that time could be likened to the popular saying “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”.
The history of Kogi State governorship election of 2015 was a watershed in the political history of the entity called Nigeria, and every political observer and follower is familiar with the issues surrounding the emergence of the youthful Alhaji Yahaya Bello as the governor of the 27-year-old state.
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The real owner of the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Abubakar Audu, who happened to be the first governor of the state had died during the collation of the results of the election held on November 21, 2015.
After his death came the crises that tested the jurisprudence of the country as there were arguments and counter-arguments as to who should step into the shoes left by Adoja, as Audu was fondly called, as the governorship candidate of the ruling party.
The deputy governorship candidate, James Faleke, a member of the House of Representatives from Ikeja federal constituency, believed he should naturally step into the shoes, arguing that he had a joint ticket with the late Audu. However, the party hierarchy thought otherwise, saying it was the person that came second in the primary election that produced Audu that should be allowed to step in and complete the election that had been earlier declared inconclusive. And that was the beginning of Bello era in Kogi State.
Upon the entrance of the Ebira-born politician into the race, entreaties were made to Faleke to continue as the deputy governorship candidate, but the Ekinrinade-born lawmaker vehemently rejected the offer and headed to the court insisting that he should be made the governorship candidate.
Speaking to journalists after hours of meeting with the then Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led APC National Working Committee (NWC), Faleke said he could not accept the offer to be Bello’s running mate because he was already governor-elect. He explained that a governor-elect cannot yet become another deputy governorship candidate.
He said: “We discovered that the meeting that we were invited for was just a mere briefing rather than it being where we could have deliberated and solved the quagmire we found ourselves in. We were only briefed about the position of the party. The party told us that we have nominated Alhaji Yahaya Bello. Of course, we made it clear as the political family of Prince Abubakar Audu. We told them that it is not acceptable. We will not go with it. I personally observed that my name has been submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as deputy governorship candidate to pair with Alhaji Bello. I told the national chairman in clear words that ‘Mr Chairman, I have submitted a letter this morning (yesterday) distancing myself from that decision that on no ground will I want to be associated with the decision of the party to pair me with Alhaji Bello because I am already a governor-elect
“I also told him, ‘Mr. Chairman for us as a family, Kogi State political family, we are not taking part in that election. My name cannot be submitted because I was not even consulted in the first instance.
The development led to legal battles up to the apex court in the land after which Faleke lost out and the APC had its way. The vacuum created by Faleke’s decision had to be filled as there cannot be a governor without a deputy as provided for by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended. However, in order not to make the Igala people of Kogi East lose out completely following the death of Audu, somebody from the zone had to be picked as the number two man in the state. But nobody from the main Audu political family was ready to accept the offer and for the first time in the history of Nigeria, a governor was inaugurated without a deputy.
After the inauguration of Bello as the fourth governor of the state, the search for a deputy continued and eventually Achuba, a former deputy speaker of the house of assembly from the riverine Ibaji local government area of the state stepped into the shoes by Faleke.
Achuba had all along been a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).He served as the deputy speaker as a PDP member and was actually a special adviser to the immediate past governor, Captain Idris Wada. As at August 29, 2015 that the governorship primary of the APC was held, Achuba was still a card-carrying member of the PDP. He later defected to team up with Audu against his former party.
Achuba had a smooth sail at the state House of Assembly where he was to be screened and cleared before being confirmed as deputy governor. He enjoyed the privilege of a former lawmaker and a principal officer and had accelerated confirmation and was subsequently inaugurated as the deputy to Bello on February 10, 2016, barely 14 days after the governor had been in the saddle without a deputy.
Achuba, who was 52 years old as at the time he was appointed, was expected to contribute to the attempt at balancing power between the new and the old generation in the state as majority of those in power were around 40 years old, including the governor. Apart from his age, he appeared to be about the only one with political experience which the new order was expected to tap from. Bello was then a retired civil servant, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mrs Folasade Ayoade, was also a civil servant from the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), and the Chief of Staff (COS) to the governor, Edward Onoja, came from the banking sector. So none of them had held any political office prior to their present positions.
But the deputy governor had barely settled down when it became obvious that there would be clash of interests between him and the COS, who the governor had never hidden as his ‘Siamese twins’. The governor has so much trust in Onoja that he gave him free hand to operate and the COS has never for once disappointed Bello in the last three years they have been running the affairs of the state. It is an open secret that Onoja is the chief strategist of the “New Direction” administration of Bello. Achuba and Onoja are of the same Igala extraction of the Kogi East senatorial district.
Although, the two gladiators have been carrying on as if all is well, insiders’ reports are, however, suggesting the contrary. Achuba wants to entrench himself as the leader from Kogi East, being the highest political office holder from the zone. But Onoja who was instrumental to his appointment feels otherwise and would not be ready to release the leadership of the area. Apart from the chairmanship of some committees and councils that are provided for in the constitution, like the National Boundaries Commission, among others, Achuba has not been given any other official role that should have been at the discretion of the governor. The only role he has been performing in the last three years is ceremonial, which has been seeing him representing the governor at social functions.
Investigations by Nigerian Tribune however showed that the origin of Achuba’s travails could be traced to the first time the governor had a health challenge and was flown out of the country for medical attention. In the course of his medical vacation, news broke out in the state that the governor was dead. The news came as a shock and everybody, including media practitioners, scampered to ascertain the authenticity of the story. The deputy governor was also said to have been caught in the web and in the process of finding out what happened, he was accused of being happy over the supposed misfortune of the governor. His opponents in government said he was happy with the news, knowing that he would be a major beneficiary if the news turned out to be true. That happened to be the beginning of the end for the deputy governor in the scheme of things in the state.
That there is no love lost between the deputy governor and his boss started becoming the subject of public discussion in Kogi State early this year. Frantic efforts were made from both camps to make the people believe that the relationship was cordial but the people of the state soon found out that those efforts were just mere cover-ups.
About two months ago, it was widely reported that the source of power to the deputy governor’s office, which was directly from the dedicated line of the governor’s office, had been cut off for months. Apart from this, water supply into the office was also said to be having problems, making the number two man and the workers to have a hectic time using the office.
Sources also say that the salary of the deputy governor was last paid in February, while his wife’s salary was stopped the following month. The development, according to sources, has made him to appear in the office once in a while as he also has not been attending public functions. Indications that all may not be well with the deputy governor continued as the administrator of his local government area of Ibaji, Hon Tom Offor, was removed allegedly without Achuba’s knowledge.
The local government boss was said to be holding an official function with the wife of the governor, Rashida Bello, in attendance in Ibaji when his removal was announced in the media. It was further gathered that the deputy governor attempted to inquire from the governor about the removal of the chairman but the governor denied any knowledge of the development. He was said to have told Achuba to give him some time to confirm, and after a while he got back to his deputy to tell him the news was true.
The latest treatments being meted out to Achuba also not be unconnected with the political realignment across the country. The ‘punishment’ being given him was said to have increased since the emergence of former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, as the presidential candidate of the PDP for the 2019 general election. Achuba is known to have close contact with Atiku and the state government is said to be uncomfortable, as he may either dump them or stay put and work against the interest of the APC.
Government was said to have at a point considered an idea of an impeachment proceeding against him, a step to be later denied by the state house of assembly.
However, another dimension that came with a rude shock was introduced into the crisis late November when the deputy governor was said to have proceeded on a two-month leave. In a letter dated November 19, 2018, and addressed to the governor, Achuba was said to have applied for leave. But when it was discovered that he was out of circulation and people were asking questions about his whereabouts, his Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Sylvester Akoh, in a terse statement, said Achuba had proceeded on a two-month leave from November 26, 2018 to January 26, 2019.
“This information is necessary to clear the air on the rumour being peddled that the deputy governor is not on leave,” the statement said.
Many questions were however begging for answers over the “leave” embarked upon by the deputy governor. Why would a deputy governor be allowed to go on leave when the governor was also not available, which necessitated the speaker of the house of assembly, Matthew Kolawole, to become the acting governor?
Why is the ‘leave’ expected to terminate on the eve of the third anniversary of the state government? Why would a deputy governor be allowed to proceed on leave during an electioneering period and return to office barely two weeks to an all-important presidential election?
It is crystal clear that the relationship between Achuba and Bello is frosty and the two camps are only waiting for the best opportunity to strike. It is either the embattled deputy governor resigns and gets himself off the hook or the state government starts an impeachment process against him, because none of the camps would want to be seen as a loser at the end of the day.
Whatever happens, the state is further contributing to the rich political history of Nigeria.
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