Post-Audu Kogi And Matters Of Indiscipline -By Oladipo Sanusi

With the unfortunate death of former Kogi governor and candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the last governorship poll, Abubakar Audu, it is crystal clear that the party is no more in safe hands in the state. Undeservedly, the late Audu has received flaks from several quarters for what was rightly or wrongly seen as his stranglehold on the politics of the state. But for his death, no one would have known to what extent Audu had provided life support for the old All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), one of the legacy parties of the present All Progressives Congress (APC). Your guess is therefore as good as mine on what becomes of the APC following the demise of the man who had sustained the opposition in the state all the while.

Without circumlocution on the events leading to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s decision to declare the November 21, 2015 governorship election in Kogi State inconclusive; Abubakar Audu’s death, substitution of candidate by the APC and the choice of Alhaji Yahaya Bello; the supplementary election of December 5; and eventual declaration of APC’s candidate, Yahaya Bello as governor-elect, I genuinely fear for the immediate future of the state.

With a Yahaya Bello who found it difficult to swallow the bitter pill of losing a primary election to the late Abubakar Audu, now at the helm of affairs, I dare say the future is bleak for Kogites. Unconfirmed reports held that the governor-elect, like an average Nigerian politician, worked against the interest of his party in the run up to the November 21 election. If I can speak to Bello one-on-one, I will ask him how he feels now that providence has turned the table in his favour looking back at all his alleged anti-party activities.

The second leg of this argument is the unwilling deputy governor-elect, Hon James Faleke who has also fought dirty to claim the ownership of the party’s victory. Faleke has kicked against his party’s pronouncement to pair with Yahaya Bello as the latter’s deputy. It is his right to try his luck. To date, the APC’s victory at the poll has Yahaya Bello and James Faleke as governor and deputy-governor elect. However, Faleke’s open declaration that he would never be deputy to Bello has compelled the party to start scouting for a replacement if reason fails to prevail on their deputy governor-elect.

Where is party discipline in all of this? It is unfortunate that our democracy has failed to yield appreciable dividends due to weakness in party structure. Party discipline has been known to be strong in a parliamentary system (the Westminster system) in which party leaders reserve the right to suspend a disloyal and undisciplined member while members are expected to always carry out the wishes of their political party. However, party discipline is important for all systems of government as it determines how government functions for the good of the people. The party provides the template on which the government builds its infrastructure.

Writing on the assumption that Faleke remains the deputy to Yahaya Bello, the APC does not look like a better option for the Kogites with the combination of the duo who have proved to be highly disrespectful of their political party. Faleke’s open confrontation of his party’s decision to take Yahaya Bello, himself a traitor of his party, as its governorship candidate in the supplementary election smacks of a reckless conduct borne out of inordinate ambition. I am not aware that independent candidacy is permitted yet in our elections. Hence the political party which offers its platform for a candidate to realize his ambition deserves more than the APC men have offered.

…And the arms deal revelations

From all that we have heard so far concerning the scandalous manner in which money meant for prosecution of the war against insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country was diverted for other uses among the privileged few, it is obvious that some of our folks live as if there is no tomorrow. I need not hear more than I have heard already. It is sickening, nauseating. Those who have used their proximity to the corridors of power to negotiate on the graves of innocent Nigerians who are slaughtered daily by Boko Haram terrorists, and yet brazenly argue that they have only transacted business with the lives of our military who were denied necessary arms and ammunition are only marking time before the supreme judgement for murder catches up against them.

It is not enough to put up a shameless bravado in court claiming “absolutely not guilty”. Where is the conscience of some of Nigeria’s elites and politicians? We are all victims of the network of Sambo Dasuki, Raymond Dokpesi, Bafarawa et al. The loss of lives and property in the North East has far reaching multiplier effects on the free fall which our collective endeavours, North or South, have experienced since 2009. I wonder what goes on in the minds of families who have lost their children, husbands, wives to the killing spree which has been witnessed these past years whenever they listen to the Mike Ozekhomes of this world defending those who have been fingered to have indirectly collaborated with the blood-thirsty Boko Haram to make our lives miserable.

In one breath, Nigerians salute China for her zero tolerance to corruption. In another breath, some of our folks are here finding fault in how government treats suspects of the same offence. This is Nigeria’s best opportunity to change the dangerous orientation of primitive accumulation of wealth as if tomorrow will never come. But for the resoluteness of this administration to change the trend, the looters of our commonwealth in the immediate past would have been walking around free, harassing the true owners of the wealth they have amassed. Corruption charges, if you ask me, should henceforth be treated like a murder. After all, corruption kills en masse.