Kogi Governorship Poll: Group asks PDP to drop Gov. 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, Idris Wada, not to run in 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, said Mr. Wada’s candidature would bring defeat on the party at the election.

In the petition, made available to PREMIUM TIMES Tuesday, the group said Mr. Wada, perhaps bogged down by ill health, has performed woefully so far and that Kogi people would definitely be wary about rewarding him with another tenure.

The group attributed PDP’s failure in the recent general elections to the party’s inability to field credible people as flag-bearers.

The statement 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 nonpayment 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 Party to power in the state.

The petition claimed that the conduct of credible primary elections in the state was in doubt as the governor has the capacity of manipulating the election 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 did not provide any evidence to back the allegation.

They however called on the national leadership of the PDP to investigate, and take urgent steps to save the party from going into extinction in the state.

However in a swift reaction to the allegations by the group, Jacob Edi, the special adviser to the Kogi Governor on media and strategy, said the group has no locus to speak for the people of Kogi state.

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.”

Mr. Edi 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”.

DOWNLOAD FULL PETITION HERE.