For a second time, her ambition of becoming the first female governor in Nigeria’s political history on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has been dashed thus raising the question as to what becomes the next political move of the embattled politician who has defected to the UDP after resigning from the executive cabinet of the APC-led government.
She had contested for the governorship of Taraba State in 2015 and challenged incumbent Governor Darius Ishaku up to the Appeal Court where she lost out. Not done with her ambition, Aisha earlier this year indicated her intention to throw her hat in the ring on the platform of the APC to slug it out again with Governor Ishaku. But even this time around she could not make it to the primary election as the APC disqualified the Women Affairs minister based on the report of the party’s Governorship Aspirants Screening Committee.
Giving reasons for her disqualification, national chairman of the APC, comrade Adams Oshiomhole, said Aisha Alhassan was disqualified from running for Taraba governor because the ruling party doubts her loyalty.
Oshiomhole, while speaking with journalists in Abuja at the weekend said: “As for the Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, she has issues that have to do with party loyalty. Our constitution is clear and it dictates that to contest elections or even hold office in the APC, you must be loyal to the party in every material concern.
“From all she had said in the past and even her comments and general attitude during the screening, the NWC reviewed everything taken together and we arrived at the conclusion that she does not possess the level of loyalty that the APC requires for her to contest elections on our platform.
“The Electoral Act and the APC constitution forbid anyone from being a member of more than one political party at a time. You cannot be a member of APC and be a card carrying member of another party but when you have a situation where it would appear, based on what you know and based on what I know that someone is probably APC in the day time maybe for the purpose of retaining certain offices and they are PDP at heart
“Or if they are not PDP at heart, they are actually and simply a follower of a one-man permanent presidential candidate…then we have the right to ask ourselves if these attitudes and qualities are characteristics of an ideal member of APC,” Oshiomhole said apparently referring to Mrs. Alhassan’s past public declaration of support for Atiku Abubakar.
But it seems ‘Mama Taraba’ is not done with politics she is said to have dumped the APC and joined the United Democratic Party, UDP. Announcing her defection on her twitter handle, she said: “I have officially JOINED my next POLITICAL PARTY with 7 state Assembly Members, all @APCNigeria executives from 169 wards of Taraba State. All 16 local Government exco’s of APC. All states executives of APC, we are now in UDP.”
She claimed that seven members of the Taraba state Assembly, 169 ward executives and 16 local government and all state executive members of the APC decamped with her to UDP. Mrs. Alhassan who also resigned her position as women affairs minister said: “If I am not qualified to contest election in the APC, I feel I am also not qualified to remain a minister in an APC government,” she said in her letter.
The embattled Women Affairs minister had earlier notified President Muhammadu Buhari of her plans to join the race for the Taraba State governorship next year. She made her intention known in a letter dated July 27, in which he informed Buhari she would vie for the governorship of Taraba under the platform of the APC.
President Buhari had responded to Mama Taraba’s request saying he was committed to free and fair election. In a reply titled ‘Re: Request for permission to contest for the governorship of Taraba State in the 2019 general elections under our great party, the APC,’ President Buhari said: “Let me thank you on behalf of the Federal Executive Council and Nigerians for your services as minister under this administration.
“I note with passion your past contributions to our great party APC during and after the 2015 general elections. As you are aware, I am totally committed to free and fair elections. Our policy is to support all APC candidates. I wish you well in your ambition to be governor of your state. Rest assured that all the security agencies as well as INEC will have my support to conduct free, fair and transparent elections in 2019.”
To many political watchers, the journey towards the end of Mrs. Alhassan’s honeymoon with the ruling APC began last year following her declaration of support for a former vice President, Atiku Abubakar.
In her controversial interview with the BBC in July last year, Mrs. Alhassan said she would resign from the cabinet of President Buhari if the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar contests the 2019 elections.
“I can assure you that if Baba Buhari tells us today that he wants to re-contest, I swear to God I will go to him and tell him that ‘Baba, I thank you for giving me the opportunity to work under you as a minister. But Baba as you know, Atiku is my godfather and if he wants to contest, I will give him my support but as we speak, he (Atiku) hasn’t told us he wants to contest,” she said.
The minister also said she would resign her position as a minister if Atiku declares his intention to run because she would be a “hypocrite” if she remains part of the federal cabinet as her loyalty is still with the former vice president, being her godfather.
Based on her submissions in this interview many had called for her sack, warning that her continued retention by President Buhari was no longer in the best interest of the party.
Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, had criticized Mrs. Alhassan saying he was not surprised that she openly endorsed former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar. El-Rufai also maintained that the Minister was not in Buhari’s camp during the 2015 presidential primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and had never supported the president’s ideology. According to him, Buhari ignored reservations expressed by party members, when he decided to pick her as Minister.
Similarly the minister of sports, Solomon Dalung, had reportedly asked President Buhari to sack Mrs. Alhassan over her support for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar 2019 presidential bid saying, Alhassan should quit the cabinet before working against President Buhari. Dalung was quoted as saying that Alhassan’s action was an attempt to sink the ship of Buhari’s administration with all the people on board.
In the same vein, a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Mohammed Kurfi Danlami, had condemned in strong terms Mrs. Alhassan’s declaration of support for a former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, in 2019.
The APC lawmaker representing Dutsin-ma/Kurfi Federal Constituency of Katsina State reportedly said: ”I still cannot understand why Aisha Al-Hassan a serving minister, will say if her principal, President Buhari contests in 2019, she will not support him and that her support will be for former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. This is most reckless statement I have ever heard.
“This means even if Atiku dumps APC, she will as well follow him. I thought her BBC interview should have been about the progress she recorded in her ministry or innovation she has introduced thus far, but what she could only do was to create unnecessary distraction and embarrass the government. This is ridiculous and most unfortunate,” Kurfi stated.
Mrs. Alhassan is not new to controversial political statements. When in 2015 the Supreme Court delivered a judgment that first dashed her dream to become the first elected female governor of Taraba state and indeed in Nigeria, the quintessential politician responded by saying the game was not over as she was getting ready for the next round of her political battle ahead of 2019.
“I heard that some people have said I will not continue as a politician and that I am worried. Why should I be worried? President Buhari contested three times and became the President after the fourth contest. Not because he lost the first three, but because the fourth time was God’s time”, she reportedly said in response to the Supreme Court’s verdict which upheld the election of her main challenger, Architect Darius Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
On November 11, 2015 the Taraba State Governorship Election Tribunal had declared Senator Aisha Alhassan winner of the election after holding that Ishaku was not validly nominated. The Tribunal, sitting in Abuja, had held that Darius Ishaku was not validly nominated as candidate of the PDP and therefore declared Aisha as the winner of the April 11 governorship election in the state.
Determined to actualize her dream of becoming the first democratically elected female governor, Senator Aisha Alhassan proceeded to the Supreme Court to test the decision of the Court of Appeal. “Our position still remained that he (Governor Ishaku) was not validly sponsored as required by section 177 (c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that we want to test again in Supreme Court”, Mahmud (SAN) Counsel to Aisha reportedly said after the Appeal Court ruling.
With the recent decision by the APC which put another seal on the governorship ambition of Mama Taraba on the platform of the APC and her resignation from the cabinet of the APC led government, many political observers are watching out for next political move of the female Taraba politician.
