Power, especially political, is transient. Yet, it is also sweet.
If Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has willfully chosen not to recognise the transient nature of power, he has tasted its proverbial sweetness so much so that he wants to continue to gorge himself on it.
Perhaps, this explains his renewed aggressive moves to retain his current seat, as the next governorship election in the state approaches. He is, no doubt, doing everything within his power to actualise his dream – he is an incurable dreamer.
Though he is motivated by the support coming from some top-notch politicians across the state, recent developments indicate he still has a lot of hurdles to cross, as the odds against him are literally mountainous. In other words, recent happenings in the state are a pointer to the fact that the much-desired power will not be thrust on his lap on a platter of gold.
A source revealed that despite the endorsement from a section of the people of his immediate constituency, many are still opposed to his ambition.
His dwindling popularity is attributed to his alleged non-performance in the state.
An indication to his potential defeat emerged, last week, when stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, called on the National Working Committee of the party to ensure that the party’s candidate for the November 16 governorship election in the state emerge from a direct primary poll.
The stakeholders made the call at a meeting attended by 17 out of the 20 governorship aspirants.
Addressing reporters after the meeting, Sen. Alex Kadiri alleged that an “illegal committee” loyal to Bello was planning to use an indirect primary election to pick the party’s candidate for the polls.
He said: “We want to reiterate that APC Kogi State is divided and because of the division, we went to court. The case is still in court and we have not been able to fast-track the judgment like the one in Zamfara State.
“What Governor Yahaya Bello and his people are doing now is illegal because the Committee they are working with has no legal standing.
But as we are preparing for the primary, we want it known that we the leaders of the APC and the 20 aspirants of our party are opposed to Yahaya Bello’s contrived method of doing the primary. “e cannot be a judge of himself; this is irresponsible. We are saying that the Kogi State primary must be a direct primary, where all members of the party from all the local government areas will choose who they want as their candidate.”
The stakeholders warned that the party could lose the state to the opposition with Bello as its candidate, claiming the governor was not popular in the state.
The group further said: “We have tried to bend over backwards to accommodate Yahaya Bello. This is a man who, after losing the 2015 primary, abandoned the party and we have evidence that he actually worked for the PDP in that election. But because of the death of Alhaji Abubakar Audu, he was posted to Kogi as the sole administrator to the state government.
