Melaye’s defection and Kogi politics

The battle for 2019 is becoming tense with political parties and politicians engaging in realignments and maneuvering to strategically place themselves and outwit one another in the coming election. One of the major political moves of the year preceding the election was the defection of 14 senators from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) last Tuesday. Thirteen of the senators left for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), while the remaining one decamped to the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

The defection, which was the first phase, according to those involved, was concluded with the dropping of the broom for the umbrella by the governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom. No doubt the actions of the lawmakers and the governor will affect political calculations in their various states as the nation looks forward to the 2019 general election.

In Kogi State, the arrival of the senator representing the western senatorial district of the state back in PDP is already one of the talking points among politicians, particularly as it was believed that one of the conditions accepted by the leadership of the party was to give automatic tickets to the defectors.

Before Melaye finally jumped out of the ship of the APC to the PDP, the issue of who to represent the senatorial district in 2019 has been agitating the minds of the people with preponderance of opinions settling for the Yagba federal constituency of the district. Kogi West has seven local government areas with three federal constituencies, which are Yagba with three local government areas, Lokoja/Kogi and Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu.

When democracy returned to the country in 1999, the senatorial district was represented by Senator Tunde Ogbeha, from Lokoja/Kogi federal constituency for two terms, from 1999 to 2007. He was replaced by Senator Smart Adeyemi, from Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu and also spent eight years, from 2007 to 2015. The development heightened the agitation for Yagba to produce the next senator in 2015, which led to a large number of aspirants from the area for the seat, in the build up to the 2015 election. However, none of the two major political parties in the area that participated in the election fielded a Yagba candidate. While the PDP had Adeyemi as its candidate for a third term, the APC presented Melaye, also from the same Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency, who eventually won the election.

However, after the election and the legal battles that followed between Adeyemi and Melaye, the former defected from the PDP and joined the camp of the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who as at that time was already having a running battle with Melaye.

With Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency having the seat for an uninterrupted 12 years, the two main political parties had had majority of their aspirants for the seat towards the 2019 election from Yagba federal constituency. The PDP had aspirants like the member representing Yagba federal constituency, Sunday Karimi and a former acting governor of the state, Clarence Olafemi, while the APC had Toyin Akanle, Bamidele Aro, Mrs Adedoyin Ibikunle, with the name of the incumbent commissioner for finance, Idris Ashiru, also being touted for the seat.

But the change in the political base of Adeyemi and Melaye appeared to have changed the permutations. Although, Adeyemi has not declared his intention to contest the seat again, he has, however, been engaging in consultations which may eventually lead to his taking another shot at the seat. Already,  his entrance into the race is said to be causing ripples among the other aspirants, who felt that some powers that be in the party had shown preference for the former national president of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).

In the same vein, the return of Melaye, who was elected into the House of Representatives in 2007 on the platform of the PDP, back in to the party is generating controversies in the district as some party members felt the move would later amount to robbing Peter to pay Paul. The first salvo that hard times awaits the senator in the PDP was thrown by the Elders’ Forum of the party in the area. The people said while they were not against the coming of the vocal senator since politics is a game of numbers, they would, however, be vehemently against handing over the ticket of the party to him automatically.

The Kogi West Elders Forum (KWEF) and members of the party had in the last three years, been working to ensure the emergence of a credible candidate from the Yagba federal constituency of the senatorial district. The chairman of KWEF, Shaibu Momoh, who said this at a meeting of the group held in Lokoja, the state capital, said imposition in any from would be resisted by the group. The group noted that it would be wrong to again impose somebody from Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency that had occupied the seat in the last 12 years as an automatic candidate in 2019.

Momoh pointed out: “PDP leadership in Kogi West endorsed by the state leadership, was the first party to take a firm decision to shift or zone the position to other federal constituency of the state for equity and justice, since over a year now. Known aspirants have emerged from other areas, excluding Ijumu, in PDP and they have been on the field carrying out their consultations and preparing their structures in preparation for the party senatorial primaries, expending huge amount of resources and time for the past 12 months.

“To now impose a strange candidate under questionable reasons will not only be wrong, unjust and unfair, but it will totally collapse all efforts by our highly respected leaders at rebuilding and rebranding the party in the state, thereby, giving an opportunity and undue advantage to the opposition party, APC, that is in government.

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But the PDP swiftly reacted and doused the tension generated by the controversies over the alleged grant of automatic ticket. It said at no time was it agreed that automatic tickets should be granted to the defectors. The party said the claim was a rumour that was being spread by those afraid of its rising status and unity among party members.

The director of research and documentation of the party in the state, Achadu Dickson, described as false and misleading, such information, calling on its members to disregard the rumour. While the party admitted that it was already receiving into its fold some members who left the party and new members who are defecting, it however said there was no such directive from the national body for an automatic ticket to any aspirant.

The PDP in Kogi State said although it was happy to welcome new members to it fold, all its candidates would emerge through free, fair and transparent primaries. The party called on members to disregard the information making the rounds about an imaginary automatic ticket, saying mischief makers having seen that the future of the PDP, both at the national and in Kogi State levels, is bright and would take over government in 2019, is leaving nothing to chance towards creating disaffection amongst its members.

However, in an apparent move to continue to drum it to the hears of the leaders of the party, another leader of the PDP from the zone also recently demanded for level playing ground for the aspirants. Speaking when the member representing Kabba-Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency, Tajudeen Yusuf, collected his expression of interest form for the Kogi west senatorial seat, Hon Bayo Yusuf, said it would be wrong to offer automatic ticket to aspirants that are defecting into the party.

It was however learnt that that the leadership of the PDP has entered into talk with the major contenders for the Kogi west senatorial ticket with a view to ensuring that the entrance of Melaye does not cause crisis. The belief among party faithful is that since Yusuf and Karimi are Christians, they could be placated with the deputy governorship ticket as it is almost certain that the zone will clinch the ticket.

However, at the level of the state, the realignment of forces by politicians, Melaye inclusive will change the face of politics and the already established permutations. One of the possible new orders is that if Adeyemi and Melaye eventually pick the tickets of their parties, they will reenact the 2015 episode but now on different platforms which had been swapped. Melaye, 2ho was an APC candidate in 2015 may be the flag bearer of the PDP in 2019, while Adeyemi that who represented PDP during the last general election will be flying the flag of the APC.