Kogi Governorship Poll: Concerned Group Asks PDP To drop Wada To Avoid Defeat

A group within the Kogi state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Concerned Group, has appealed to the national leadership of the party and the PDP Governors’ Forum to prevail on the incumbent governor of the state, Capt. Idris Wada, not to contest the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
The group, in a nine-page petition to the PDP national secretariat and the party’s governors’ forum, warned that if Wada is fielded as the party’s candidate in the November 21 election, he would be defeated.
Details of the petition, which was made available to PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday, showed that the group’s argument against Wada was hinged on his poor performance in office, which it traced to his ill health, adding that so far, people of the state would definitely be wary about rewarding the governor with another term.
The group also attributed PDP’s failure in the recent general elections to the party’s inability to field credible people as flag-bearers.
The petition was signed by five members of the group; Husseni Idris, Mohammed Bello, Taiye Oshadare, Emanuel Sani and Ishaya Yusuf.
“Our party would have won convincingly and retained power in states like Benue Plateau, Adamawa, Niger and even Kwara state, and some other states if only we fielded more acceptable candidates for the said elections”, the petitioners said.
“If PDP loses in the forthcoming gubernatorial polls, the morale of many party faithful in this state will drop, and many might decamp to other parties”.
It also attributed the loss of the party in Dekina Local Government Area, where governor Wada hails from, during the recent National Assembly elections, as a clear indication of the people’s impression of their governor.
It also blamed the party’s failure in the recent elections on non-payment of salaries, infrastructural decay and stagnation of government projects, among others.
Fielding Mr. Wada as governorship candidate, the group argued, would mean a predictable defeat for the PDP and the full return of the All Progressives Congress to power in the state.
The petition also questioned the possibility of conducting credible primary elections in the state as the governor has the capacity of manipulating the process in his favour.
It alleged that the governor, during the recent ward congress in the state, bought over some party leaders with the sum of N2 million each, in addition to the exquisite treatment accorded them during the congress.
The petitioners, however, failed to provide any proof of their weighty allegations.
Nonetheless, they called on the national leadership of the PDP to investigate and take urgent steps to save the party from going into oblivion in the state.
However in a swift reaction to the allegations by the group, Mr. Wada’s spokesman, Jacob Edi, said the group did not have the sole rights to speak on behalf of the people of Kogi state, who he said are calling on the governor to throw his hat in the ring.
Mr. Edi told PREMIUM TIMES, “First of all, the group in question has no monopoly in speaking for the people of Kogi state.
“Also, just as they are saying the PDP will lose if Governor Wada contests; there are other groups that have also said that the only alternative for the PDP will be the emergence of Wada as the party’s flag-bearer.
“They include: the Kogi State Elders Forum, students, market women, okada riders and others”.
The governor’s spokesman added that the only possible reason for the group’s statement is malice, but noted that “In politics you can’t have everyone on your side”.