How political dynasties are shaping 2011

The godfather’s action had expectedly stirred the hornet’s nest as it drew both applause and condemnation from his army of supporters and the opposition elements in the state respectively.  The coalition of opposition political parties opposed to Saraki’s monopolistic tendencies had also used the opportunity to renew their vow of resisting Saraki’s continuous dominance of […]

The godfather’s action had expectedly stirred the hornet’s nest as it drew both applause and condemnation from his army of supporters and the opposition elements in the state respectively.  The coalition of opposition political parties opposed to Saraki’s monopolistic tendencies had also used the opportunity to renew their vow of resisting Saraki’s continuous dominance of the democratic space in the state.
Dr Amuda Aluko, the leader of the Kwara State Stakeholders Forum, a coalition of opposition parties told Weekly Trust in Ilorin yesterday that “We are ready to end Dr Olusola Saraki’s three-decade dominance of our democratic space in Kwara State. He can’t have his way this time around. We are going to resist this political enslavement of our people. ”
Weekly Trust’s investigations revealed that the Saraki patriarch’s decision to back his daughter for the governorship of the state will put to test his age-long political influence in the current political waters of the North-Central Muslim-dominated state. Unlike before, the political godfather seems to be facing the battle of his life, particularly as his current challenges not only emanate from the usual opposition forces in the state but also from within his immediate family, purportedly represented by his son and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP’s) presidential aspirant, Governor Abubakar Bukola Saraki.        
Inside Saraki’s ‘Great Hall’ of fame
The current source of political intrigues in the state was last Saturday’s event, which was the Second Republic Senate Leader’s adoption of his daughter, Gbemisola, as governorship candidate at the famous Ile-Arugbo Olurunshogo Hall, Ilorin, popularly known within the state political circle as Saraki’s Great Hall.
Saraki said that he had to endorse his daughter to avoid the kind of betrayal he experienced in the past from those he single-handedly enthroned as governors of the state. He declared that: “The first civilian governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Adamu Attah, Chief Cornelius Adebayo and the late Alhaji Muhammed Lawal all betrayed me after they got into power.” He added that “The only civilian governors that did not betray me were Alhaji Shaba Lafiagi and the incumbent governor, Dr. Bukola.”   
The Saraki-Bukola face-off
The Kwara State governorship tussle is, for the first time, threatening to tear the Saraki family apart. Gbemisola’s ambition, it was gathered, is already jeopardising the cordial relationship between Saraki and his son, Bukola. Bukola, it was learnt, has been foot-dragging over Gbemisola’s ambition for reasons that are not un-related to “family matters.” The party is equally not immune from the political logjam.    
This face-off became evident during the last Saturday’s endorsement of Gbemisola by Saraki.  Governor Bukola’s supporters that comprised mostly of government and party officials staged a “parallel” rally at Ilorin’s Metropolitan Square to drum support for Bukola’s presidential ambition, almost the same time Saraki was endorsing Gbemisola at Olurunshogo Hall.
The state PDP, it was gathered, had to distance itself from Saraki’s endorsement after Bukola allegedly threatened to sack the PDP state chairman Alhaji Yusuf Ayedun. This was dismissed by the party’s publicity secretary, Alhaji Danmairomo as untrue. Danmairomo declared that Saturday in a press statement that despite Saraki’s action, the party had not endorsed any aspirant as its governorship candidate.
The drama took another twist the following day when the party chairman, who spoke through the state PDP assistant publicity secretary, Hajiya Aishat Ibrahim dismissed Danmairomo’s claim that the party has nothing to do with Gbemisola’s endorsement.  She said that the party “observed with great delight and satisfaction that the endorsement was not only witnessed by a mammoth crowd of PDP faithful, gentlemen of the press and other guests, including two BOT members of our party, among others.”
The statement, which was apparently done to appease Saraki didn’t go down well with Bukola, who allegedly instructed the party leadership to refute it and also discipline the assistant publicity secretary, Hajiya Aishat. Last Tuesday, the party chairman held a press conference, denying that the assistant publicity secretary “has no mandate to issue such a misleading and embarrassing statement on behalf of the party.”
The following day, the party leadership issued another press release signed by Danmairomo announcing the indefinite suspension of Hajiya Aishat. The statement said that “the State Executive Committee of the party, after thorough consideration of the report (submitted by the disciplinary committee of the party), resolved that the assistant publicity secretary should proceed on an indefinite suspension.” This, this reporter learnt, was done to serve as a clear handwriting on the wall for the Senior Saraki.
It was as a result of this confusion that a sort of a ceasefire was reached in Abuja between the Senior Saraki and his son, Bukola, it was learnt. A party source confided in Weekly Trust that “a reconciliatory meeting between Saraki and Bukola was convened in Abuja within the week and it was attended by Saraki, Bukola and Shaba Lafiagi. It was at that meeting that Gbemisola’s issue was resolved with her older brother accepting her as his successor.”
Not only that, “It was also resolved at that meeting that Saraki, who earlier declared his support to President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidential ambition, purportedly as a warning to his son, who is also contesting for the same seat, had also agreed to support Bukola’s presidential ambition,” the source said.  This development is not without its consequences, particularly for Bukola, whose supporters are said to be “disappointed” with his latest u-turn.  A PDP party chieftain, who declined being named, told Weekly Trust that “Bukola’s problems may not be unconnected with his earlier conviction that the governorship seat shouldn’t be retained in Saraki’s family after 2011.” Bukola’s aides were not ready to comment on this “family issues.”
Though neither Saraki’s nor Bukola’s aides were ready to speak yesterday, it was revealed that Saraki had earlier pledged to pick the next governor of the state after Bukola from the northern senatorial district. The former Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly and now Minister of Sports, Alhaji Ibrahim Isa Bio, was touted to be the preferred candidate. But the minister developed cold feet last week when he sent a delegation to Saraki intimating him about his governorship ambition. “The cold response from Saraki was not encouraging but Bio still went ahead and obtained the form in Abuja. He was shocked when Saraki endorsed his daughter for the same position he was earlier promised,” the party chieftain said.
The opposition’s vow to stop Saraki
Apart from the disgruntled elements within the PDP, who are mostly commissioners and aides in Bukola’s cabinet; the coalition of opposition parties in the state under the umbrella of Kwara State Stakeholders Forum had vowed to stop what it described as Saraki’s domineering influence in Kwara politics. Dr. Aluko, who is spearheading the campaign, said that “the opposition parties in the state are working hard to produce and rally around a consensus candidate that would beat Saraki’s candidate at the polls. We can’t be at the beck and call of an individual for more than 30 years. We have vowed to liberate our people.”
But the spokesperson of the PDP in the state said that “It is not true that Saraki is dominating the political scene. He is the political father of Kwara State. It is sheer mischief to say that Saraki is not our father. You can’t oppose him. He has done a lot for us.”
Danmairomo, who assured that other governorship aspirants have equal chances and level playing ground like Gbemisola also denied that the party is kow-towing Saraki’s thinking thus: “It is not true that the PDP candidate has emerged with Senator Gbemisola’s endorsement. She is our sister and she has been representing the state at the National Assembly for about 12 years now effectively. She is free to aspire to any position as others are doing.”
According to Ajishola Kareem Tajuddeen, coordinator of Gbemisola 2011, those opposing Gbemisola are cowards who are afraid of defeat even before the polls.  “Like her father, she has developed a strong bond and attachment with the grassroots. Since 1999, she has sponsored about 123 Muslims on pilgrimage to Mecca for Hajj, while at the same time, 13 Christian pilgrims have been sponsored to Jerusalem. In 2007, 33 Muslims on pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia received $250 each from the senator,” Tajuddeen said.
The ripples in the ruling PDP in the state, according to Alhaji Nuruddeen Muhammad, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) governorship aspirant in the state is a “welcome development. It will enable us smoothly rid PDP out of the state in the forthcoming polls.” He added that the wind of change is already blowing over Kwara and that explains the confusion in the ruling PDP and those whose stock in trade is to impose unpopular candidates on the people.
Apart from the unease in Kwara PDP and the opposition forces’ resolve to capture power in the forthcoming polls, the Ulama, who earlier opposed Gbemisola’s candidature from religious perspective “have resolved to take their case to the Almighty after her endorsement. The clerics have resorted to prayers. We are optimistic that the Almighty will answer our prayers,” a senior cleric in Ilorin told Weekly Trust in confidence.
Another dynasty rises in Borno
Evidence surrounding the emergence of the political family dynasty of Governor Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno State is fast becoming more of the enthronement of family members in Borno politics like it is gradually becoming a phenomenon across the country. His latest scheming was how he magically and single-handedly defeated all stakeholders in the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in Borno to nominate and ensure the eventual appointment of his wife’s sister, Hajiya  Yabawa Wabi as the Minister of State for Finance. What was even more surprising was that he also beat stalwarts of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the state and federal levels with so much ease.
Barrister Zanna Mustapha, Secretary, Concerned Elders PDP Forum in Borno and a founding member of PDP in Borno is of the opinion that considering happenings in the political arena, it appears Governor Sheriff is nurturing a political stronghold that would eventually stand the test of time. He said Sheriff has again proven to be more influential in the corridors of power at the federal level within the ranks of the PDP and the elders of Borno.
Weekly Trust’s investigations reveal that after the appointment was confirmed and announced, there were bickering among members of the ANPP in the state. A close party source said the party executives were angry about how such a strategic decision could be taken without due consultations within the executive. Another source said it was even more painful because they never knew until it was made public. “But then, what can be done when Mr. President has already approved the appointment?”, Barrister Zanna queried, while adding further that Sheriff’s ability to manipulate PDP machineries at the federal level also means he is more powerful than any one of them.
However, Zanna warned that as a political party, the PDP has to remain united if it wants to succeed in its quest to wrest power in Borno and this is why the Concerned Borno Elders Forum frowned at the action of the party’s leadership. “If the president as the national
leader is turning round to have a romance with an ANPP governor, then he has shown that he does not care about what happens to the PDP”, he observed.
Though Governor Ali Modu Sheriff is yet to make public his decision to support his brother for the governorship position, different campaign mechanisms from posters to billboards, bannerettes, breast tags, stickers, are everywhere and are alleged to be sponsored by close associates of the governor who are the key beneficiaries of his government.  The move first became glaring during the May, 29, 2010 celebration when almost all local governments
printed huge sized banners with bold pictures of Mala Sheriff, urging him to contest for the governorship of the state.
But with less than a month to present candidates to INEC, opposition members are foreseeing that since no aspirant has enjoyed any support from the governor, it then appears that the speculations of the governor’s brother succeeding him is true. While the current deputy governor, Alhaji Shettima Adamu Dibal’s posters dot the entire metropolis, he is rumoured not to enjoy the support of his boss. For those who know him well, they say Governor Sheriff would remain quiet and continue to work behind the scene for his brother to emerge as the next governor of the state.
As it is now, political parties in the state are not taking chances. Comrade Zanna Shettima, the state Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) said the seven years spent in power by the ANPP in Borno has failed to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people. According to him, basic amenities are non existent. “Potable water shortage has intensified even within the metropolis and environs despite millions of naira allocated for the construction of boreholes,” he said. “The healthcare sector has been crippled. The Umaru Shehu Ultra Modern Hospital is ill-quipped despite the beautiful edifice; it has no functional x-ray or laboratory equipment. How can a modern hospital have no mortuary? The state Specialist Hospital has also been closed for renovation.”
He lamented further about infrastructural and human resource decay in the education sector, as well as the general state of insecurity in the state which has resulted in fear among the citizens of the state.
He attributes all these to the domestication of government and government apparatuses. He added that misappropriation of state resources like award of inflated contracts to cronies or giving direction that such contracts be executed in partnership with cronies has indeed created rooms for embezzlement. He said projects are started and abandoned. Where they are completed, they are left un-commissioned. He added that “roads when constructed develop pot holes in less than two months. Most of these roads are executed by Galadima Mala Modu Sheriff, the governor’s father, either through the Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) or directly through the federal or state government.”
He added that in the previous year, the state government purchased some construction equipment but now some of them are carrying stickers of the governor’s father’s company, while they undertake federal government contracts awarded to his company. And not too far away, intra-state roads are in dilapidated conditions while vehicles earlier purchased for the state’s Ministry of Works are being used illegally.
Zanna, the CPC spokesperson alleges that, “Ali Sheriff is misusing government machinery and turning government into a family affair. This time, he is not only going to anoint his brother, Mala Sheriff, but himself for the Senate; one other brother to the State House of
Assembly; another for the House of Representatives; his wife for another House of Representatives slot in her constituency; and the youngest as local government chairman. Even Hajiya Yabawa Wabi, his wife’s sister, who was newly appointed as the Minister of State for Finance was only an Assistant Director before she was made an Accountant-General in the state. In less than two years, she was made a permanent secretary and now minister. But he has forgotten that there are rules and regulations guiding level
promotions in the civil service.”
The CPC are of the opinion that the state government’s actions would eventually drown them. The governor’s supporters say that the younger Sheriff is an indigene of the state and has the right to aspire for any elective post. “But as long as we know, there is a visible hand that has the sole control of power,” said Barrister Zanna. “If God says he would be, then there is nothing anybody can do about it. But would God allow such injustice?”