Kogi senatorial race: The renewal of old rivalry

In Kogi State, 26 senatorial candidates from 12 political parties have been cleared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the April general polls.  At present, the tempo of electioneering campaigns in the state underscores that some of the candidates are indeed set to lock horns in the race.

From Kogi West, incumbent Senator Smart Adeyemi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), would be slugging it out with the state’s former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs Chief Joseph Faniyi of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Adewale Abel (Action Congress of Nigeria), Sulaiman Mohammed (All Nigeria Peoples Party), Nweke Benjamin Ikechukwu (All People’s Grand Alliance) and Hajiya Zaynab Ibrahim (Labour Party).

From Kogi Central, incumbent Senator Salihu Otairu Ohize (ANPP) is in the race with 11 other candidates such as Nurudeen Usman Abatemi (PDP), Dahiru Abdullahi (CPC), Abdulazeez Bello (ACN), Abdullahi Tanko (African Democratic Congress), Marcellus Fadipe (African Liberation Party), Suleiman Ojo (APGA), Abdulhamid Lawal (African Political System), Abdulrahman Sadiq (DPP), Hajiya Bilkisu Jimoh (LP), Tijani Momoh (National Transformation Party) and Aliyu Nana Aisha (United Nigerian Peoples Party).

From Kogi East, the incumbent Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Attai Aidoko (ANPP) will be challenged by seven others including Ocheja Dangana (PDP), Edmond Alewo Tanor (CPC), Abdulmalik Abdulmalik (ACN), Abah Agene (APS), Sule Salifu (NTP), Uwani Ibrahim (ADC) and Adaji Ukwubile (LP).

Despite the multitude of candidates in the race, analysts say if the wheat should be separated from the chaff, Smart Adeyemi and Joseph Faniyi are candidates to beat in the west, Nurudeen Abatemi and Salihu Ohize are frontline contestants in the central and Ocheja Dangana and Attai Aidoko are wave-makers in the east.

Analysts also see the senatorial race as a renewal of old rivalries as defectors are bent on giving their former party, the PDP, a hard fight in the general elections. In the west, Joseph Faniyi decamped to the CPC having lost the PDP ticket. In the east, Attai Aidoko defected to the ANPP having crashed out in the PDP primary. Similarly, in the central, Salihu Ohize dumped the PDP after being knocked out in its primary.

Smart Adeyemi’s political friends and foes agree on the quality representation he has given Kogi West in the current dispensation.  They say they are impressed by what they describe as Adeyemi’s outstanding performances which, according to them, include the execution of people-oriented projects and attracting much federal presence to the district. Fresh in people’s memories is the new federal university which he is believed to have facilitated for the state.

The incumbent Chairman of the Senate Committee on Federal Character also seems to enjoy the support of the PDP bigwigs from his district. The generalissimo of Okun politics and former Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Chief Abiodun Ojo and a grassroots mobilizer and  former Deputy Chief of Staff in the Presidency, Prince Olusola Akanmode, have openly pledged their commitment to the party’s victory at the polls. Adeyemi may, however, need to urgently woo some politicians from Lokoja and Kogi Local Government Areas who believe that electing a new person as senator would bring about new development of the district in the next dispensation.

The CPC candidate and Adeyemi’s main challenger, Faniyi, has vowed to deploy all arsenals at his disposal in the race. He is seen as one of the PDP old members that are popularizing CPC in the state. While many of his supporters think his four-year legislative experience at the House of Representatives between 2003 and 2007 qualifies him for the senatorial job he is currently eyeing, others maintain that he has, through his three-and-half-year stewardship as a member of Governor Ibrahim Idris’ cabinet, demonstrated his capability for a higher responsibility. He may also be supported by some of the local government chairmen he has had a good working relationship with as a commissioner. But observers are curious to know if these council chairmen, in spite of their PDP membership, will genuinely work for him.

Amidst the speculations in some quarters that Faniyi was advised by the governor to defect to the CPC and probably return to the PDP after he may have won the senatorial election, many argue that the governor has a moral burden of sacrificing whatever fraternity he may be alleged to have with any opposition candidate for the victory of his own party candidates at the polls. There are also views in certain quarters that Faniyi needs to convince the electorate on why his defection to the CPC should not be seen as act of political prostitution. Observers equally say he would be risking a defeat if he fails to garner enough support from Okunland, the majority tribe within the Kogi West Senatorial District, before the polls.

In the east, the ANPP candidate, Aidoko, seems to be preferred by those who fanatically believe that he has proved his mettle in the past eight years at the House of Representatives. His supporters also believe he has used his position as the Chairman of the House committee on Federal Capital Territory to open a window of employment opportunities for the people of his district. But he may have to be ready to battle with the PDP supermen in the district, including Governor Ibrahim Idris and some members of his cabinet all of whom are bent on working for the victory of all the PDP candidates in the general elections.

Aidoko’s greatest rival, Ocheja Dangana of the PDP is much ready to give his all to the race. Aside from being a legal luminary, he was formerly an acting state chairman of the PDP and until recently, the chairman of the Local Government Service Commission. He was also among the 29 PDP governorship aspirants in the state in 2003. All these may portray him as an experienced candidate for the senatorial job, but many say he needs to convince the electorate that he is being misunderstood by those who think he is inaccessible.

In the central senatorial district, while some assume that the tactical politician, Senator Ohize, is experienced and should be given a second chance, others seem to be apprehensive of the manner he has twice jumped from one party to another within three-and-half years. In 2007, he was elected senator on the platform of the then Action Congress (AC). In 2009, he defected to the PDP, and lately, ANPP. At the moment, there are those who keep asking how much federal presence he has so far attracted to his senatorial district in the past few years to deserve a second chance?

The PDP candidate in the central district, 39-year-old Nurudeen Abatemi, a graduate of Agricultural Engineering and son of former Deputy Governor of old Kwara State, the late Umar Abatemi may, as widely observed, surprise those underrating him. His admirers believe his detachment from past communal crises in the district will give him an edge at the polls. Observers also argue that the growing yearning for the involvement of youths in nation’ building will work in Abatemi’s favour at the polls. While some are skeptical of his experience, many contend that his academic credentials, professional experience and knowledge of the workings of the National Assembly while serving as Special Adviser on Political Matters to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, qualify him for the senatorial job.

.