Indications emerged last night that the gubernatorial flag bearer of
the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Benue State, Terhemen Tarzoor
might have settled for top EFCC lawyer, Paul Harris Ogbole as his
running mate in the 2015 election.
His name was reportedly sent
last night to beat the deadline given by INEC that all primaries should
end yesterday and names of successful candidates submitted before
11:59pm. With this, the Idomas have once again accepted to play the second class role in Benue State after 38 years.
It
was gathered that Ogbole, who initially indicated interest in the
governorship ticket later pulled out when Idoma elders prevailed upon
him to step down for a sole candidate. Insiders hinted this
reporter that Ogbole became the anointed one among several names penned
down after a close door meeting between the big wigs of the party in the
state. However, his emergence has been greeted with mixed
feelings as many indigenes are not okay with the development bearing in
mind that Ogbole is a native of Otukpo LGA, where the Senate seat for
Benue south has remained for the past 15 years.
Analysts
have submitted that since the Senate President has emerged as the flag
bearer of PDP for senate, it would be wrong to have Ogbole as the Deputy
Governor of the state. Ogbole’s emergence has since put to rest the struggle by other politicians for the number two seat.
DAILY
POST observed that one of the aspirants in the election, Sam Ode had in
a full page advertorial in ThisDay newspaper congratulated Tarzoor for
winning the keenly contested election, an action many observer see as a
campaign for the deputy governorship slot.
Other
persons such as Mathias Oyigeya, Emmanuel Agbo and John Ngbede were
also considered for the seat but political calculations did not favour
them. Reacting to the development, coordinator of Idoma Governors
Support Group, IGSG, Peterhot Apeh insists that the Idomas would not
accept the number two seat again. “We should disown him and
continue with our stand on ‘no Idoma candidate, no election’ as we
advocate for boycott.
We are calling on Idoma to shun PDP and give APC a
blocked vote as protest,” he told DAILY POST on phone. Similarly,
Social analyst and Coordinator of Idoma People of Nigeria, IPN,
Josephine Akioyamen described the development as ‘unfortunate’. The
outspoken activist wondered how long the Idoma would continue to betray
themselves for personal interest, saying that time has come for the
younger ones to dislodge the ‘old men’ from the Idoma political terrain.
On
his part, journalist-cum-activist, Prince Yemi Itodo maintained that it
is unfair that Otukpo LGA still produces the deputy governor having
occupied the Senate seat for 15 years. While describing the development as a ‘political robbery’, he called on all Idomas to come and kick against the decision.
“It
would amount to political suicide if all other LGAs if Otukpo is
allowed to produce deputy Governor in this dispensation. We are not
party to any Deputy Governorship arrangement. This is pure political
robbery,” he said.
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