Since the return to democratic governance in 1999, the dream of at least six senatorial zones to take a shot at the governorship seat in their respective states has remained an illusion. Daily Trust on Sunday examines the factors responsible for this.
By Fidelis Mac-Leva (Abuja), Hope Abah Emmanuel (Makurdi), Mumini Abdulkareem (Ilorin), Tijani Labaran (Lokoja), Kabiru Matazu (Maiduguri), Kabiru R. Anwar (Yola) & Habibu Idris (Damaturu)
Findings by Daily Trust on Sunday indicate that no fewer than six zones in the northern part of the country are yet to produce governors in their respective states since 1999. They are Benue South, Kwara North, Kogi West, Borno South, Adamawa Central and Yobe North.
The situation is, however, different in the southern parts of the country.
Although pundits largely attributed the issue to the practice of democracy where the majority carries the day, some stakeholders have called for a deliberate effort to reverse the trend in order to give the minority a sense of belonging.
Disunity working against Adamawa Central
The Adamawa Central zone comprises five local government areas, which are Madagali, Michika, Maiha, Mubi North and Mubi South.
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A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former aspirant, Senator Abubakar Halilu Girei, told Daily Trust on Sunday that lack of leadership and unity of purpose prevented the Adamawa Central senatorial zone from producing a governor.
“You can say that the zone is not lucky if you want to go spiritual, but we lack leadership, we are not united. We agreed to support whoever got a ticket from the zone and Binani won the primary election, yet aspirants from the zone fought against her.
“The time the zone came closest to producing a governor was when the late Major Aminu Tahir became the candidate of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC), but unfortunately, he died two weeks to the election. Saleh Michika from the northern zone took over the ticket and won the election.
“Binani is currently at the tribunal; if she wins, the Central zone gets its first governor, and if she handles the government well, we will rally around her to get a second term and the zone will consolidate on that. If she excludes us we will turn against her,” Girei said.
The senator representing the central zone, Aminu Iya Abbas, attributed the problem to sheer coincidence, fear of dominance by some ethnic and religious minorities in the state as well as lack of support from elders within the zone.
He explained that Adamu Bello would have become governor in 2023 and Ibrahim Bapetel in 2007 after winning elections if their mandates were not taken away by those in power.
Abbas, who is the immediate past speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly, believes the zone could break the jinx by presenting acceptable and credible candidates, saying the last election showed that the zone really meant business.
“The Fulani are the largest ethnic group and are seen as politically dominant, so other ethnic groups often gang up against them due to fear of dominance, except those concerned they see as part of them,” he said.
Mustapha Ribadu, the state organising secretary of the APC and one of the agitators, said the zone always lost out on governorship by coincidence, citing Nuhu Ribadu who lost in 2015 due to Buhari factor and Binani in 2023 as a result of Atiku’s influence and Fintiri’s incumbency factor.
Weak opposition deprives Yobe North
Since the return to democracy in 1999, the people of Yobe North senatorial zone has been lamenting over their inability to produce a governor in Yobe State. There have been several agitations by stakeholders from the zone over the years to produce a governor since 1999, but the result has remained unsuccessful.
The zone is made up of six local government areas: Jakusko, Bade, Yusufari, Karasuwa, Machina and Nguru.
A former candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Yusufari state constituency, Auwal Kaska Yusufari, said the party was very weak in the region
“The PDP as an opposition party has been trying to give governorship tickets to Yobe North, starting from Baba Gwani Machina, an engineer, in 1999, Usman Albishir in 2007 and Shareef Abdullahi in 2023. So there has been an opportunity for Yobe North to prove that they are serious, but none of them won the election.
“What I discovered is that people of Yobe State do not believe that it is only God that gives power. They think that if you did not secure the ticket from the ruling party you would never win the election. That is why, when the PDP gives them tickets, their commitment to winning the election is very little.
“They are not well civilised to vote based on their conscience, and even if they vote based on their rights, there are some people who might change the result to favour them.
‘‘If you look at the ruling APC, it has never tried this in the region. They used to give us (Yobe North) secretary to the state government and other appointments but not even deputy or governorship tickets.
“I, therefore, urge the people of the state and the region to vote for their candidates based on competence and capability to deliver the desired change the state needs,” he said.
Ethnicity, population working against Benue South
In Benue State, findings revealed that numerical strength and ethnicity are the major factors counting against the southern zone in producing the governorship.
Also known as Zone C, the Benue South zone comprises nine local government areas, mainly of the Idoma-speaking ethnic group. They are Otukpo, Ohimini. Okpokwu, Agatu. Apa, Oju, Obi and Ogbadibo.
Despite agitations from highly placed individuals and groups from the area for power to shift to them, the dream of the zone has remained unrealised.
Our correspondent reports that in the build-up to the recent general elections, precisely in March 2022, the people of the zone trooped out into the streets of Makurdi in a solidarity rally, requesting for the position of governorship.
The coveted seat of power in the state has over the years rotated among the Tiv-speaking people of zones ‘A’ and ‘B.
Ahead of the last general elections, the leader of the Benue Rebirth Movement (BRM), Air Vice Marshall Monday Morgan (retd), told ex-Governor Samuel Ortom when he led a march to Government House, that the time had come for someone from the zone to mount the seat of power in the state.
He cited states in the country where the governorship seat is rotated among the three senatorial zones and wondered why Benue State refused to toe the same path.
“That is why we agitate, and the time has come that from 2023, our own man from Zone ‘C’ should mount the instrument of power in Benue State. We know you as a man of conscience, the man that has the uncommon courage to do the things that bring people together.
“We know you to stand for integrity and fairness. We believe that no matter the pressure, you will not bow to some forces that think that one tribe should continue to rule in perpetuity,” Morgan said.
The Idoma at various times had begged their Tiv-speaking brothers from the remaining two senatorial districts of the state to support them to actualise their aspiration to the number one position of the state.
But the Tiv, who are over half of the population of the state, had never considered ceding power to Benue South. This, in the thinking of political watchers, means that the Idoma would never realise their dream as their only hope depends on roundtable discussions.
It’s been frustrating for Kwara North
Except for the brief tenure of former Governor Shaaba Lafiagi, who was elected governor of Kwara State in January 1992 on the Social Democratic Party (SDP) platform, it has been a frustrating experience for the people of Kwara North.
This is despite the fact that Shaaba was removed from office by the administration of General Sani Abacha in November 1993.
Since then, the political crown has eluded the region despite intense agitation from stakeholders. The zone has five local government areas, namely, Patigi, Edu, Baruten, Kaiama and Moro.
Leaders from the zone have long insisted that it was is turn, but lack of unity and political differences have not ensured the realisation of that project.
They have complained that Kwara Central and South have occupied the coveted seat through the late Governor Mohammed Lawal, Dr Bukola Saraki, Alhaji Abdul Fatah Ahmed and current Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
It was gathered that at a point in the struggle, the leadership of the former Senate president, Dr Bukola Saraki, got the support of traditional rulers and stakeholders from the zone to sign a document to this effect during the 2019 elections.
Their ‘finest’ moment, however, came ahead of the 2023 elections when the PDP zoned its governorship ticket to the district and went ahead to pick Alhaji Shuaib Yaman from Edu to represent them. But he lost the election.
Prior to that decision, political leaders from the senatorial zone drawn from the five local government areas, in a communique urged the two major political parties – the APC and the PDP in the state – to pick their governorship candidates from the district.
Speaking on the issue, a retired permanent secretary in the state from Patigi and frontline voice in the agitation for Kwara North governorship, Alhaji Mohammed Dabarako, told Daily Trust on Sunday that the issue was very painful.
“Central and southern parts of the state have not been fair to the district. Since 1999 till date, despite several promises from other regions, we have not been able to get the ticket again.
“We must be united to achieve this cause and that is why I don’t have any party now. My only party is Kwara North; and any party that fields a candidate from the district is my party even though I am now a PDP card-carrying member,” he said.
On his part, a former senator in Kwara North district and member of the APC, Ahmed Mohammed, said 2027 should be the turn of the region.
“The problem has been majorly that of politics, which I don’t want to go into now. But the way it is now, there is no way anybody can deny us that opportunity.
“The state should be fair to us in 2027, but that won’t be given on a platter of gold, we have to work hard to get it right.”
Kogi
Like any other state in the country, Kogi is divided into Central, East, and West senatorial districts where each of the three major ethnic tribes, Ebira, Igala and Yoruba-Okun are predominantly located respectively.
The state comprises 21 local governments, with the central district having five while the eastern district has 9, leaving the western district with the remaining seven.
Five out of the seven local governments in the west senatorial district are Okun -Yoruba speaking, while the remaining two councils are dominated by minority tribes: Igbura Koton, Nupe and Kankanda, among others.
Similarly, the Bassa Nge, Bassa Komo and Igbura-Mozum tribes occupy a local government in the east senatorial district, just as Ogori and Magogo tribes have one local government area in the central district.
The strength of each district majorly lies in their respective population and relationship with the minority tribes in their domain.
For instance, the recent release of the updated voters register by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) indicated that 474,554 eligible voters were registered in Kogi Central, while 952,369 and 505,731 were registered in Kogi East and West respectively.
As the current governor, Bello prepares to exit office in 2024, the process of power transition has again come to the front burner.
Consequently, the stakeholders in the west senatorial district and other interest groups are clamouring for power rotation to the zone yet to produce a governor since the state’s creation.
The proponents of the power shift to the West came out in full force to ensure that the frontline political parties pick their governorship candidate from the West region during the party primaries.
Among them are Abiodun James Faleke, the running mate to the late Audu in the 2015 governorship election, Dr Tom Ohikere, an elder statesman and former commissioner for information.
Also lending their voice are youth associations like Kogi Youth Ambassadors (KYA), including prominent leaders and tribal associations in the state.
The KYA, led by Prince Abdulsalaam Abdulraheem Ozianda, argued that the present arrangement where other ethnic groups are not allowed to have a taste of power in the state was against the spirit of equity, fairness, and justice.
In the same vein, Dr Tom Ohikere said the west district should be considered for leadership, saying, “Since Kogi State was created in 1991, Kogi East has governed the state at different times for 20 years uninterrupted.”
On his part, Faleke said, “For a heterogeneous state such as Kogi, giving all parts sense of belonging is key to peaceful coexistence among the several ethnic groups in the state.”
A lawmaker in the state House of Assembly who craved anonymity believed that the west district can actualise their dream if they can go into realignment with other regions of the state in the coming governorship election.
“The November 11 governorship election has been turned to ethnic agenda, with each of the major ethnic tribes defending its territory and interest.
“The eastern district that felt shortchanged by the present administration is out to use its high population strength to return power to their region; the central, having tasted power, is putting everything into the game to retain it for another eight years; both are not considering the feeling of their brothers in the western district.
“The best option for the West is to align with each of the other regions and act as a political bride with a caveat,” the lawmaker stated.
Borno South
In Borno State, stalwarts of the PDP and the APC, and other neutral politicians have all agreed that ethnicity, religion and population play vital roles in the choice of governorship candidates across party divide.
Speaking to Daily Trust on Sunday, one of the APC stalwarts in southern Borno, said two factors would play out when it comes to the decision of who becomes governor.
He said that out of the total number of 2,315,956 eligible voters, the north and central parts had a large chunk of the votes.
“Out of the 27 local government areas of the state, the South has only 9, namely, Askira Uba, Bayo, Biu, Chikok, Damboa, Gwoza, Hawul, Kwaya Kusar and Shani. The North and Central parts that always work together because of certain interests, share the remaining 18.
“Also, out of the 9 local government areas in the southern zone, Chibok and Damboa are not with us, their loyalty and political interest are with the Kanuri because they are under the emirate of the Shehu of Borno.
“Again, it is a must for a governorship candidate of any political party to have majority votes of delegates in the state.
“They are generated from the political wards, and each ward has 27 party executives.
“Now, you can see where the election structure does not favour us because it is always 9 against 18, or at worst, 15 when five local government areas decide to cast protest votes.
“They always subdue our aspirants at the level of primary elections, preventing us from reaching the finish line,” he said.
The state chairman of the PDP, Zanna Gazama, said that due to the population of the northern and central parts, and how they dominate most of the local government areas and a chunk of delegates, it is difficult for aspirants from the South to win the governorship election.
“On the other hand, the northern and central parts are inhabited by Muslims, while the southern part is a mixture of Christians and Muslims.
“And the issue of emirates must be factored in because Borno North, Central and the two local government areas in the South are under the emirate of the Shehu of Borno, Dikwa and Bama, while the South is divided into five emirates, including Biu, Shani, Gwoza and Askira,” he said.
“So, by analysis, if the South would produce a candidate, where would he come from – Gwoza, Chibok, Damboa, Askira Uba? They share different tribes and that disposition is preventing them from coming together with a formidable candidate?”
It’s democracy in action, but… – Lawyer
Hameed Ajinola Jimoh, an Abuja-based human rights lawyer, attributed the trend to the democracy we run, where the majority always have their way.
He, however, called on zones yet to produce governors to initiate dialogues with other zones in their respective states to address the issue.
Jimoh also expressed support for a constructional amendment that would recognise power rotation among the zones in each state.
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