The Kogi governorship election is only a few days away. It will hold on November 11, 2023, same day with the Imo and Bayelsa governorship elections. And make no mistake about it, the Kogi governorship election has been described as arguably the most anticipated of the three states. If you travel to Kogi State this very minute, the only subject on the lips of many Kogites is the coming governorship election. The people can’t wait to go to the polls to elect another governor. Governor Yaya Bello’s tenure is almost over, a new goverrnor will be elected into office. And as the clock ticks closer and closer to D-day, the gladiators involved in the election are sweating hard to ensure they have put in place every little strategic detail that will gurantee their emergence as the next governor of Kogi State.
Without a doubt, this will be possibly Kogi’s biggest governorship election showdown ever. It is going to be a two horse race between the PDP governorship candidate, former senator Dino Melaye and his APC counter part, the relatively unknown political rookie, Usman Ododo. He, Ododo, is the man favoured by the outgoing governor of the state, Yahaya Bello. Nobody saw his emergence coming. He was certainly not one of the big boys on the APC card. But the very crafty and wily Yahaya Bello played his joker when he put forward the last man no one thought would ever emerge the APC governorship candidate.
From the outcome of the governorship primaries held in April, this year, the race has devolved into ethnic contest with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) producing Alhaji Usman Ododo, from Kogi Central Senatorial District, which has the Ebira, as the dominant ethnic group, while the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ticket went to Senator Dino Melaye of Okun ethnic group of Kogi West Senatorial District.
The district also has a strong contender in Leke Abejide of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), whose party clinched two of the three Federal Constituencies in Kogi West and a seat in the Kogi State House of Assembly at the February/March polls. Also, in contention from Kogi West is the young, vibrant entrepreneur, Olayinka Braimoh of the Action Alliance (AA).
Although Alhaji Muri Ajaka, who represents the Social Democratic Party (SDP), is one of the seven candidates from Kogi East (Igala/Bassa), he is widely regarded as the ‘consensus’ candidate from the zone.
Before now, the election has always been between the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the People Democratic Party but a twist may occur in the election this time around. Two political parties; SDP and ADC are not willing to lie down and let the APC and PDP walk over them. They appear to have gotten fed up with just making up the numbers evewry election, now they want to be part of the front runners. And, so far, they have not done badly this time. They have also put forward pretty strong contenders for the seat of the Governor in Kogi State.
If it’s been a big surprise that the other political parties are contending strongly for the seat this year, the bigger surprise, according to pundits, is the fact that the biggest opposition party in the state, the PDP, has had a terribly weak campaign so far. The PDP used to be the second party after APC in the state even in terms of campaign but at the moment, the PDP, led by Senator Dino Melaye, the party’s gubernatorial candidate, has lost so much ground to the ADC and SDP in the state. And from reports reaching City People, the situation has caused a major friction within the party in the state.
In truth, nobody saw this coming. It was unexpected especially because the party’s candidate, Dino Melaye is perceived to be a hugely popular person within the political landscape of Nigeria. He has served as a senator and during his time, he was known as a strong man who tormented every opposition in the house. He is also known for his self-composed dramatic songs which were often used to taunt his political enemies, along with his stylish cars and his dramatic ways of addressing his audience. .
Dino Melaye who has contested for the governorship in Kogi state is perceived as one who has the experience, the sagacity, strength and money to battle APC’s candidate, Usman Ododo, but sadly, that is far from the reality now. For some reasons many political observers cannot fathom, Dino Melaye seems to be crippled in the fight against the ruling party in Kogi State and the PDP loyalists in the state are not the least pleased with him. In fact, many of them, going by their body language, appear to have given up on the possibility of Dino winning the election and wrestling the state from the APC. The leadership of the party, we hear, is divided as to what form of support should be given to their party’s gubernatorial candidate.
This situation can be described as a big setback because even the other parties that were not known appear stronger and better prepared than Dino Melaye as far as the governorship election.
According to one of the party leaders in the state, “while PDP may have its share of the blame, Senator Dino Melaye has the largest share in all of these because he has been accused severally by the party’s chieftain of running a one-man show in the campaign. He carries no one along in his campaign plans and does not believe anyone has better ideas than whatever he is proposing to do. This is why many of the party leaders and members have left him to run his show as he deems fit,” the party chieftain said.
The accusation by party members that Dino is running a one-man show can be confirmed to be true on account of Dino Melaye’s activities since he started the campaign. To begin with, there has been no serious or formal flag-off of the campaign, the campaign council created has not been active and it appears Dino does all the job by himself. Apparently, he does not trust anyone else to handle strategic responsibilities, he appoints only his close aides and allies into key positions.
Another reason why party loyalists are worried about the outcome of the election and the fact that they can no longer see Dino winning the race is the absence of Dino and the PDP in the media. The media is an important part of any campaign but on this occassion, it’s not evident that the PDP and its candidate has any media team running effective and efficient narratives for them in order for them to achieve some measure of visibility and stand some chance of being voted for in the election. While Dino has very little media exposure, the APC candidate, Alhajii Ododo can be seen everywhere.
There is no structure, no fundraising, no activation other than some very minute activities the candidate shares on his X (formerly twitter) account, and many wonder, how does one win an election by doing all these alone?
The APC, despite being the party in power, has done several flag-offs at different locations across Kogi State. The media exposure has been massive and there is only one thing that everyone can say about APC, they are dead serious about the coming election, they want to win it by all means possible. The party is giving it all it takes and requires to win the election as though it is the under dog, when in truth, it is the party to beat. So, what then is wrong with PDP and Dino Melaye?
The candidates of SDP and ADC on the other hand are doing all they can to measure up. They are pushing their limits and trying to match the APC grit for grit. Many political pundits have been impressed by their hunger for victory. But for PDP and Dino Melaye, they seem to be operating at an extremely slow pace.It is hard to see any hunger or genuine desire to win the elections in them. If elections are conducted today, APC surely will most likely win, while SDP or ADC will take the second position. And that is something the party leaders and loyalists don’t want to see happen, hence their displeasure with Dino Melaye.
Except Dino Melaye immediately begins to restrategise and get his campaign machinery up and running, he will most definitely not become the next governor of Kogi State, instead, he will only come a distant third.
-WALE LAWAL
(08037209290)
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