A new political dimension has been created in Yobe State following the recent decision by Senator Usman Albishir to dump the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and join the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
His decision to dump the ANPP was the outcome of a protracted legal tussle which started in 2007, when he was allegedly substituted by late Governor Mamman Ali, as the gubernatorial candidate of the party.
Before now, the ANPP had been sharply divided, with one camp loyal to Albishir and the other, to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam, who inherited the rivalry from late Senator Mamman Ali.
As part of efforts to retrieve what he called “a snatched mandate,” Albishir had gone to several courts including the High Courts in Maiduguri and Kaduna, the Election Petition Tribunal in Damaturu, the Appeal Court in Jos and the Supreme Court, without success; a development which culminated in his latest decision to leave the party.
Pundits say the decision of the ANPP to give Governor Gaidam an automatic ticket in 2011, further irked Albishir to move out of the party because his prospects are slim.
Albishir was a founding member of the ANPP and one of its strong financiers and political godfather who brought to limelight many politicians including former Governor Bukar Abba Ibrahim who was three time governor of Yobe State, first in 1992 under the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and then twice between 1999 and 2007, under the flagship of the ANPP.
His movement to the PDP came barely three weeks after the state chapter of the ANPP constituted a 32 member Reconciliation Committee under the chairmanship of Bukar Abba Ibrahim, now a Senator representing Yobe East in the National Assembly.
Governor Ibrahim Gaidam who spoke during the inauguration of the committee urged aggrieved members to take heart and join the mainstream ANPP under his leadership. “Government is such a big creation which can contain everybody,” he said.
Political pundits say the decision by Albishir is an indication that he is not ready to embrace the olive branch from the governor.
While defecting to the PDP at an elaborate ceremony in his Hausari ward in Nguru local government, Albishir said his exit is the best option for him and his teeming supporters.
“ANPP is a sinking ship which has lost its bearing,” he said, insisting that his defection was necessary in order to find a formidable platform. “I have to leave it (ANPP) before it finally collapse,” he said.
Asked whether members of the Reconciliation Committee of the ANPP have met with him, Albishir said they have not. “Nobody has met me and even if they had come, I wouldn’t have listened to them because they have nothing to tell me…those who were charged with the responsibility of resolving the problem were the architects of my problem”, he said.
Now that he is in the PDP, political pundits say a grand alliance has been formed because together with his supporters, Albishir has added weight to the PDP which if properly exploited, will snatch power from the ANPP.
Others hold different opinion insisting that his movement was a political miscalculation because it will be difficult for him to actualise his dream in the PDP.
Reports have it that many members of the national and Yobe State House of Assembly will move with Albishir to the PDP, however, the movement turned out to be different, as only Alhaji Zakari Ya’u Galadima, a member representing Bade/Jakusko in the House of Representatives picked the PDP membership card.
Dr. Ahmed Lawal, a diehard supporter of Albishir who is now a Senator representing Yobe North, was conspicuously absent at the defection venue. “He did not go there because he wants to remain in the ANPP”, one of the senior aides of the senator told Weekly Trust.
“The Senator was elected under the platform of the ANPP and he is not ready to betray that trust”, the source added.
The Yobe State chairman of the ANPP, Alhaji Sani Inuwa Nguru, described the defection of Albishir and some of his supporters as “the greatest political misadventure”.
According to him, “it is wrong for someone to build a house and destroy it simply because things did not work our according to his expectations.”
Nguru said the PDP may not be the best option for Albishir because Yobe State is the home of the ANPP since the advent of this democratic dispensation. “Traditionally, the people here only know the ANPP and they believe in it and are ready to vote for whoever is flying its flag,” Nguru said.
“Albishir wants to be governor by all means”, he said. “We feel he joined the PDP in order to try his luck and that is democracy at work even though he will surely meet a stiffer opposition there”, he said.
Weekly Trust gathered that Albishir’s camp and the PDP have held numerous meetings with a view to fashion out how the alliance will work for them. “Many people who had suffered for the PDP, especially the officials and some members who want to contest various offices in the next elections, were allegedly reluctant to welcome the new comers”, Mohammed Fika, a strong member of the PDP, said.
“Some of them felt that they will be outshined by the new comers and their relentless efforts in the past ten years will be in futility,” Fika said.
It was learnt that a consensus was reached when Albishir agreed that he will join the PDP, “unconditionally” and also agreed that they will merge and work together to ensure the success of the PDP in the 2011 elections.
A communiqué issued at the end of the merger talks held on Tuesday, March 23, between the two groups, said a level playing field will be provided for members of the Albishir group wishing to contest elective posts under the PDP without any hindrance and that election of delegates shall be held to integrate both old and new members.
The communiqué which was jointly signed by Alhaji Abba Gana Tata, chairman of the Yobe State PDP and Alhaji Lawan Mai Goroma, on behalf of the Albishir group, said “It will not be necessary or desirable to dissolve the state exco of the PDP because there is no compelling reason to do so”.
The PDP was however quick to add that there will be no automatic ticket for any new entrant, a development which many regard as counterproductive to Albishir.
Observers say the sudden reappearance of Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri into the political equation both at the national level and in Yobe will also pose a challenge to Albishir.
“Of course, if Waziri decides to allow Albishir contest the governorship race, the tendency is that the PDP will win, but, am not sure if he will do that because he is still nursing the ambition to become governor,” Danliti Ali, a supporter of Waziri, said.
Waziri has remained the PDP strongman in the state whose influence suffered a little set back when he was dropped as Minister of State for Agriculture by President Umaru Musa Yar’adua.
He was national coordinator of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) and the Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Training Development Fund (PTDF).
Now that Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, has reappointed him minister of police affairs, he is automatically the leader of the PDP in Yobe State (now under an ANPP government) and will naturally have a say on who becomes what.
It is believed that Waziri will equally work assiduously to actualize his dream to become governor and Albishir will have to work out a formula that will be favorable to him, probably by working closely together.
Apart from Waziri, the PDP has many contenders who are vigorously strategising to become its gubernatorial flagbearer in 2011 and Albishir will have to do a lot to dislodge them.
One of them is Engineer Yakubu Bello who was the gubernatorial candidate of the National Democratic Party (NDP) both in 2003 and 2007 before his defection to the PDP.
Engineer Bello retired as a permanent secretary in the Yobe State civil service and is presently a board member of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA).
Another contender is Alhaji Hassan Saleh who recently retired as the Director of the Customs, Immigration, Prisons Pension Office (CIPPO), in Abuja. He told journalists in Damaturu that the good people of the state were instrumental to his coming back in order to contest the governorship seat under the PDP.
It is now left to be seen how the PDP will reorganise its house, accommodate the new entrants without necessarily injuring the feelings of old members and then work towards a specified mission to capture power.
“For us in the ANPP, it will be much easier to remain in power in 2011 because the house is no longer divided. It is now one indivisible family. In the PDP however, they say there is no automatic ticket for anyone which means there are turbulent steps ahead of them”, Adamu Sani Musa, a supporter of the party predicted.
