2015: PDP, APC test supremacy in Benue: With its registration, last week, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has swung into action in Benue State as it has started making waves across the country. The recent inauguration of the Benue State chapter is an indication that the party is determined to have its presence felt in the nooks and crannies of the state. The APC, which is a coalition of some opposition political parties in the state, has one of the strongest opposition parties in Benue – the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Even though the ACN lost the 2011 governorship elections in Benue state, it made a lot of waves during the elections which left an indelible mark on the political landscape of the state. This was a feat that only the Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP), led by Nnamdi Azikiwe, in the Second Republic, was able to enact when Second Republic Minister, Paul Unongo, contested the governorship elections against the first executive governor of the state, Aper Aku, in 1983. But observers are of the view that the much “dreaded” APC has started its campaign in Benue state on a wrong footing; a mistake that is probably to the advantage of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) unless it is addressed immediately. Though it is not as if the PDP in Benue is incapable of winning its elections without mistakes made by the APC, the mistakes would serve as an added advantage. This is not minding the political “heavy weights” that abound in the opposition parties in the state among them immediate past governor of the state, Senator George Akume; Senator Daniel Saror, Gen. Indyar Garba and Usman Abubakar aka Young Alhaji. And looking at the situation in the state critically these acclaimed heavy weights have always been there all the time and even though they have won elections on individual levels they had always lost the general elections to the PDP. There is no doubt that the PDP has become a household name in the state and the party is getting popular by the day. Taking a cursory look at the chieftains in all the opposition parties in the state, they have all been in the PDP at one time or the other; they had decided to leave the party for one interest or the other and in most cases because they were aggrieved. Chief among the aggrieved is Senator George Akume, the ACN leader in the state who left the PDP because he believed that it would not be possible to for him to realise his ambition to be senator on the platform of the PDP. Worse still is a situation where even as the state chapter of the APC has been inaugurated, in its infancy, it is faced with internal wrangling as some members of the APC have been discrediting one another. Even members of the opposition in the National Assembly among them Oker Jev, Buruku federal constituency; John Idyeh, Gboko/Tarka and Benjamin Aboho, Kwande/Ushongo and even Akume were absent at the inauguration. An aide to Senator Akume was quoted as saying that the gathering that brought about the inauguration of the chapter of the APC penultimate Wednesday was illegal. On the other hand, it was gathered that those that were present at the inauguration of the state chapter of APC had the intention of “clipping the wings” of Akume who they said was getting too powerful by the day and intentionally did not invite him for the inauguration. Their reason was that they may probably have been fed-up with the alleged imposition of candidates by Akume, prompting their warning against any form of discriminatory tendencies in picking candidates for the party (eons from 2015) on the day of the inauguration. They attributed this grouse (imposition of candidates) to why majority of them left the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for other political parties. Even though they called on members of the party to support the APC to succeed in all its endeavours as well as the 2015 general elections in the state, they believed that forming a formidable force that can be reckoned with in Benue is critical to the party winning elections in 2015. They were also of the view that the essence of the meeting would bring to bear on members the need to harmonise its records preparatory to the formal registration of the party at the national level. While Saror stressed the need for APC members to stand firm and be prepared to weather the storms preparatory to the 2015 elections, others believed that when the APC finally comes on board, it would carry all and sundry along in its programmes. But the talks at the supposed inauguration did not match the action of the principal actors of the APC in the state. The division in the party at this point in time is a clear testimony that the party may fail or even worse may lead to certain members of the opposition parties in the state decamping back to the PDP. However, when Daily Independent sought to speak with some of the opposition “heavy weights” that were involved, they rebuffed the reporter even as calls put through to them were ignored. But the hand writing is on the wall, because by this division they are likely taking the PDP in the state and, more importantly, the state governor, Gabriel Suswam, for granted. The opposition is not new to politics and should know that in every political situation it is dangerous to take your opponent for granted, moreso a strong opponent, because there is a price to pay. Governor Suswam has never been known to lose an election; the two-time member of the House of Representatives (1999 – 2003 and 2003 – 2007) and again a two-time governor of Benue state (2007 to 2015) is a dogged fighter and intends to keep a clean record of his winning streaks. Suswam is also likely to contest the senatorial election in 2015 to represent Benue North-East senatorial district at the Senate. That means he would have to beat former PDP national chairman, Barnabas Gemade. Sources said machinery has already been put in motion for the consummation of this task. But as the stage is set for campaign and 2015 election, it’s not quite clear how the new party would fare. A state that has the likes of the Senate President, David Mark, Akume, Former PDP national chairman, Chief Audu Ogbeh, Dr. Paul Unongo among others would no doubt be an interesting one to watch in a country where all factors would come into play as the all important 2015 poll gets closer. For now, the APC would want to prove skeptics wrong by coming together to provide a formidable platform to challenge the dominance of the state politics by the PDP. Only time would however tell if the state would determine the outcome of the next presidential election. #DAILYINDEPENDENT
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 19:45:54 +0000
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