Yahaya Bello Reaping From What He Did Not Sow By Adnan Mukhtar Adam TudunWada

The tragic death of Prince Abubakar Audu just when he was about to clinch the peoples mandate has without a doubt opened up potentials for political opportunists who otherwise have no political cloud to claim the trust and confidence of Kogites. The death of Prince Audu has given such political parasites the opportunity to reap from the political vacuum created by his death.

In as much as Prince Audu’s political associates and their teaming supporters owe it a duty to keep the memory of the late politician by standing with the APC all the way towards ensuring that the party finishes what he started. It has now become glaring that persons that are political foes to the late politician are clamoring to ride on his political structure to claim what is rightfully not theirs as beneficiaries of his political fortunes at the November 21st gubernatorial elections which has already been won and lost.

Among the top contenders of inheritors of the position is a former civil servant who left the Federal Service as a level 12 officer, who through his position has amassed an inexplicable amount of wealth which makes him think he can unfairly secure for himself the consciousness and votes of Kogites. The same person is now parading himself as being the anointed candidate of the presidency, even after working against the party and it’s late candidate.

It is a known fact that one of such politicians in person of Yahaya Bello has surreptitiously worked against the success of the party by romancing with the PDP since his defeat at the primary polls and has authored malicious and damaging petition against the late candidate. He publicly refused to collapse his campaign structure into that of the party’s late candidate and has refused to attend any of the party’s campaign rallies in his hometown of Okene and the grand finale of the campaign in Lokoja under the leadership of the Vice President. It is therefore baffling that the same person backed by some unscrupulous politicians wants to shamelessly reap where he did not sow by riding on the political goodwill of late Audu, which he has garnered for over 20 years as a result of his selfless service to Kogites. This to me is the highest form of political desperation and greediness personified.

This is a man that has led a vicious and treacherous reactionary agenda of acquiring power at all cost, a man who even after loosing a free and fairly contested primary election decided to embark on an onslaught of campaign of calumny in the print and social media to rubbish the APC and the choice of the people through frivolous petitions and public outburst of dumping the party and picking up the ticket of another political party as evident in his public statements by saying “my determination to give leadership to the state can no longer be delayed” and “I Alhaji Yahaya Bello shall be on the ballot in the forthcoming Governorship election of Kogi State, the coast is clear and the time is now!” He was also quoted to have vowed to challenge the victory of the party in court so as to give the PDP a chance to claim the APC mandate.

It is therefore surprising that the same person that has berated the success and political prowess of Late Prince Abubakar Audu will today want to lay claim to his mandate, this is the highest form of political immorality.

If Yahaya Bello and his collaborators feel they can take advantage of the death of Prince Audu to secure a mandate, which they couldn’t through the ballot and their clandestine campaign of calumny against the people’s choice by capitalizing on the political logjam created by INEC and the leadership of the APC; then the confusion deliberately created by the political vacuum is long from over as the 240,867 votes where scored under the Audu/Faleke ticket and as such introducing Bello late Prince Audu’s political adversary to inherit these votes as the party’s candidate amounts to a travesty of democracy.

The party must do the right thing by reversing its decision to forward Yahaya Bello’s name in order to avoid instigating a political logjam that could affect the fortunes of the party. The only two logical and legal options available is either the party gives Audu’s running mate they’re rightful mandate or they conduct a fresh primary elections. Because in political logic and law, no new candidate can inherit or be a beneficiary of votes that have already been casted, counted and declare for another candidate. Anything short of these two options will be a costly mistake for the APC.