Kogi Ministerial Slot
The death of some of Kogi prominent sons has remained a source of confusion for the people of the state.
- Lawyer sues Buhari over vacant Kogi ministerial slot. He said failure to appoint a minister from Kogi “has denied the people of Kogi state representation at the statutory.
- The most notable name from Kogi East mentioned so far on the various social media platforms in connection with the Kogi State ministerial slot is the Igala Amazon and woman of substance whose name is synonymous to philanthropist activities, Hajiya Salamatu Baiwa Umar-Eluma, the current National Women Leader of the APC.
The inability of the presidency to fill the ministerial slot created by the death of James Ocholi about one year ago, has thrown Kogi State chapter of All Progressive Congress (APC) into a fresh. The vacant ministerial slot of Kogi State has pitched stakeholders in the State against President Muhammadu Buhari. Groups and individuals are lamenting that one year after the death of James.
They feel betrayed by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that they massively voted for in the last general elections due to the supposedly lackadaisical approach to issues affecting them by the government at the centre.
In particular, the people are aggrieved that since the death of Prince Abubakar Audu, on the verge of a governrship victory in November 2015, the once united APC in the state has known no peace; while the state has been excluded from the country’s cabinet since March last year when their son and minister of State for Labour and Productivity, James Ocholi died in a car crash.
They consider it double jeopardy for Kogi, as it did not just lose an illustrious son but also lost out in the ministerial slot for which a replacement to fill the vacuum one year after has been denied.
The magnitude of the tragedy of Ocholi’s death along with his wife, Blessing and son, Joshua, they argued, should have elicited sympathy for his family and the people on the vexed issue of his replacement, rather it has been enmeshed in political rigmarole.
Ocholi’s death one-year anniversary was marked yet with another tragedy in the demise of Adinoyi Ojo Onukaba, another aspirant on the platform of APC in the 2015 governorship election. He died same day exactly one year after Ocholi’s passing.
Though there has been renewal of the old rivalry among the three senatorial districts over who should be nominated to fill the vacuum, paramount in their quest is for the presidency to nominate a Kogi citizen no matter where he or she hails from.
The state chapter of APC has been engulfed in intra party tussle over who should replace Ocholi, the argument being that the late minister belonged to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) fold and should be replaced by another CPC person.
But the ‘New PDP (Peoples Democratic Party)’ members claimed that they formed the bulk of the population in the APC that gave the party victory at the state level, stressing that they should be given the opportunity because they have not been compensated at the federal level.
There is also the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) family and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), which are more numerically than the CPC unit alleged to have benefited immensely from the federal government. Both groups argued that as interested parties they should be considered this time around because it would amount to disregard for the major parties that formed the APC if it slips bye.
Nonetheless, Mr. Goodman Akwu who is the president of Ujache Igala Association, a pressure group, lamented that the cabinet of a country can function without the representative of a state for a period of one year.
“It is so sad. Can you imagine a President can work without a state, an important fragment of the federation, for a whole year? I cannot call this an act of omission. This is simply negligence on the side of the President. He has neglected a state with millions of people.
“It is sad we lost our person in a tragic accident but Buhari has added more pains to us in not announcing a replacement since his demise. We worked for his success and we should share in what is attached to it. Ministerial appointment is not a favor but a constitutional right,” Akwu stated.
Another group, Ojuju Agbadufu Igala also challenged the President on the grounds that all political appointments have eluded the Igala race so far in his administration.
The group in an open letter to President Buhari said: “We wish to remind your Excellency that we the Igala people lost our son; His Excellency, Prince Abubakar Audu who should have been governor of Kogi State. We also lost James Ocholi who was a dedicated member of your cabinet. They were both Igala sons, as they did not just come from any part of the State.
They recalled in the letter signed by the Clerk-in-Council, Christopher Ukwenya that “All political appointments thus far have eluded the Igalas. We look up to you that you will do the needful by ensuring that the appointment of minister to replace the late Ocholi would be done in such a way that the votes of the Igala people, who were in the majority during the presidential election victory in the State, are not wasted.
A former chairman of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in the State, Mr. William Aliwo said the people remembered with lots of regrets that one year after the death of Ocholi they are yet to have anybody in the federal executive council.
His words: “Kogi contributed to the victory of APC by voting massively for Buhari especially Kogi East and yet till now the President has not deemed it fit to make a replacement. It is unfortunate and we are highly disappointed. It is the height of insensitivity on the part of the President to have failed to understand that we have a vacuum that needs to be filled.”
A chieftain of the APC from Mopa Muro, William Agbaje Olusola said the Refusal to name a replacement for the late minister was becoming a source of concern especially as the State has lost six prominent citizens including their leader, Audu within a space of one year.
“We have lost chief Obadofin who was also a governorship aspirant; we have lost Chief James Ocholi; we lost Senator Ohize who was also senatorial aspirant and a chieftain of APC from the central. When the death of Ocholi was exactly one year, we celebrated it with the death of another strong man and a gubernatorial aspirant Dr. Onukaba.
“The area that touches us most is the fact that one year has also gone without having a representation in the cabinet which means that we don’t really have a mouthpiece in the federal executive council for that period. Not only is that legally against the spirit of the Constitution but also it is demoralizing for the entire State,” he bemoaned.
Olusola admitted that while some people want the ministerial slot to go to East senatorial district where Ocholi hailed from, other stakeholders from the West senatorial district have kicked against such move. He claimed that based on an unwritten rotation agreement, it is now the turn of the West.
Presently, the Central Senatorial district is holding sway at the state level having produced the governor while the East has deputy governor and the West, the speaker of the state House of Assembly.
For Senator Alex Kadiri, the Igalas have to learn bitter lessons from what is going on that they have virtually been schemed out of relevance.
He said: “We are not in the scheme of things in the country at the moment; we don’t have a minister, we don’t have a Federal permanent secretary, we don’t have any Igala man who is chairman of a board at the Federal level, we don’t have Governor, we don’t have a Chief Judge at the State level. We should brace up to see if we could assume our rightful place in the Nigerian nation.”
A constitutional lawyer based in the state capital, Lokoja, Mr. Barrister Joel Usman warned that should the matter be taken up legally most of the decisions of government at the federal level since the death of Ocholi might be called to question. “I think is absolutely wrong and it is illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional.”
A rights activist and executive director of Centre for Human Rights and Conflicts Resolution, Idris Miliki, is concerned that the President has violated the Constitution, which he swore to uphold by failing to appoint a minister from the State for over one year.
He maintained that the appointment of a minister from Kogi State was neither a favor nor privilege for the people but a constitutional requirement, which is incumbent on President Buhari to adhere to in line with the principle of rule of law, which his government pledged to uphold.
“We condemn it in totality, the lack of respect for provisions of the Constitution with regards to the appointment of a substantive minister from Kogi State … it is condemnable.”
Miliki argued that the non-appointment of a minister from the state has negatively impacted on the progress and development of the state since it has no representation in the federal executive council where “far reaching” decisions and policies that affect the entire country are taken.
Members kick against Faleke as possible substitute, party disown them
The inability of the presidency to fill the ministerial slot created by the death of James Ocholi about one year ago, has thrown Kogi State chapter of All Progressive Congress (APC) into a fresh round of crisis.
Ocholi who was minister of State for Employment, was an indigene of Kogi. His party, APC has been bedeviled by internal wrangling since the governorship election that saw the emergence of Yahaya Bello as governor in place of Prince Abubakar Audu who died on the verge of victory.
James Faleke, running mate to late Audu, had expected that Audu’a name will be substituted with his but the party leadership settled for Bello, the second runner up in the primary, to the chagrin of many members.
Though the Supreme Court has since laid the matter to rest when it affirmed the validity of Bello’s election, the Audu/Faleke’s group are still sour and it has not been well with the party ever since.
The dust raised by the choice of Bello has not settled when the issue of Ocholi’s substitution cropped up further deepening the crack in the APC.
Faleke’s name has been bandied as possible nominee to fill the vacancy created by Ocholi’s exit. Sources claimed that it was part of the rapprochements to get APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and President Muhammadu Buhari back on one page in the party affairs.
In fact, it is believed to be one of the numerous appointments that have been lined up by the presidency to massage the ego of Tinubu who many consider relegated to the background by the central government.
Kogi Ministerial Slot Machines
But rather than pacify the people and bring cohesion to the party, the move has further stoked the acrimony in the state chapter of APC.
The Kogi East zone where the late minister hailed from, had before now complained over the presidency’s delay in picking one of them to replace their brother that died, insisting that it was their slot. According to them, it would be a grave disservice for another to produce the minister since their son died in service.
Similarly, the APC in Kogi West warned against the choice of Faleke as it would exacerbate the crisis within the party. In a statement jointly endorsed by Alhaji Suleiman Ejibunu and Chief Richard Asaje, they contended that if Faleke and his godfather deserve any ministerial slot it couldn’t be that meant for Kogi.
They cautioned such move would lead to exit of prominent, loyal and committed members of the party as well as aggravate the fractionalized party along many divides.
“We are also unequivocally resolute to stop Tinubu’s expansion into Kogi State or any state in the North Central, we are determined to push out all his consults from Kogi come 2018/2019. It is a task that must be done through all legal/political means. They have failed and they will continue to fail,” the Kogi West APC asserted.
They claimed that Kogi APC knew Faleke that represents a Lagos State constituency in the National Assembly only during the governorship struggle when the Tinubu purportedly imposed him on them as the deputy governorship candidate to late Prince Abubakar Audu.
According to them, it generated a lot of distress to the founding members of APC in the state who built the party, battled the then sitting government in all national elections and won.
Furthermore they asked: “Faleke took the party to court up to Supreme Court and lost while some leaders have remained beggars after the massive support to build APC in the state; if those leader’s effort are left to this ugly power play with humiliation of this nature, what type of party and country are we building?”
They alleged that reconciliation was proposed, which Faleke rejected on the grounds that he cannot be reconciled with the Governor until the ‘injustice’ of taking the governorship from him is redressed, adding: “Giving him such an appointment will amount to providing him fuel to fire the breakup of APC in the state.”
But in a dramatic turn, the State executive council of APC berated Ejibunu, Asaje and their associates described them as fifth columnists in the party.
Kogi Ministerial Slots
A statement signed by the entire membership of the executive including the chairman, Alhaji Haddy A. Ametuo, said that the people lacked the locus standi to speak for it stressing that it was meant to cause disharmony among members.
“We the entire members of the state exco respect the power of the President to freely choose whoever he wants to serve in his cabinet, Hon. Faleke inclusive. We also respect the national leadership of Asinaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose support and influence traverses the national structures of the party.
However, Faleke in a swift reaction said that the opposition against his purported nomination was coming from “empty vessels,” noting that it was strange that the people were campaigning against a nomination that was yet to be made by the President.
The House of Representatives’ member, who denied knowledge of any such nomination, however, said those ganging up against him were working for a particular interest.
“My purported nomination as a minister is even unknown to me, but it is a fact that the choice of a minister from any state rest with the President. I will ignore the duo that spoke against my purported nomination,” he stated.
Also, he said that it was wrong for the people to have spoken against Tinubu, whom he noted, worked for the development and the victory of the APC, adding: “Tinubu is a national leader who also has followers in the North. He has nothing to benefit him in Kogi for them to view it as trying to infiltrate the state or northern politics.”