PDP governorship tickets: Jonathan’s ex-ministers face hard times

Ten former ministers had, at various times, left the Jonathan cabinet and are aspiring to become governors in their state. They are Dr. Mohammed Ali Pate, former minister of state for health from Bauchi; Godsday Orubebe, former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, from Delta; Yerima Lawal Ngama, former minister of state for finance, from Yobe; […]

Ten former ministers had, at various times, left the Jonathan cabinet and are aspiring to become governors in their state. They are Dr. Mohammed Ali Pate, former minister of state for health from Bauchi; Godsday Orubebe, former minister of Niger Delta Affairs, from Delta; Yerima Lawal Ngama, former minister of state for finance, from Yobe; Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, former health minister, from Ebonyi; and Samuel Ortom, former trade and commerce minister, from Benue.
Others are Emeka Wogu, former labour minister, from Abia; Musiliu Obanikoro, former minister of state for defence from Lagos; Nyesom Wike, former minister of state for education, from Rivers; Labaran Maku, former information minister, from Nasarawa and Darius Ishaku, former minister of state for Niger Delta Affairs, from Taraba.
Four of the former ministers – Wike, Maku, Ngama and Obanikoro – are from states controlled by the All Progressive Congress (APC). Among the rest who are from PDP-controlled states only Chukwu is enjoying the backing of his governor Martins Elechi of Ebonyi. His other colleagues are facing tough battles with their governors and other stakeholders.
Ortom, according to our investigations, does not even fall within the bracket of the first three being supported by Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam to fly the flag of the party in the 2015 elections.
Ortom has, out of frustration, started talking with the opposition APC to allow him use its platform to pursue his gubernatorial ambition, and is said to have gone far in that regard.
Wogu, on the other hand, has been abandoned by Abia State Governor Theodore Orji who is said to be supporting Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu for the position.
The former labour minister, sources said, left the federal cabinet on account of the assurance given to him by Governor Orji to hand over the ticket of the party to him, only for the governor to renege at the last minute.
Former governor of Abia Uzor Kalu, in a recent letter withdrawing from the race for the senatorial ticket of the party for Abia North, confirmed this when he said “He [Gov Theodore Orji] also allowed Chief Emeka Wogu, former minister of labour to resign and lose Abia slot on the Federal Executive Council and other ministerial committees.”
Abia State commissioner for information, Dr. ABC Agbazuere, however, said the governor has not endorsed anyone to succeed him. He also said that there is no proof whatsoever that the president is backing any aspirant, hence there is no basis to conclude that a certain aspirant has the backing of the president as many of the aspirants are also working for Jonathan’s re-election bid.
For Orubebe, who was dropped from the cabinet earlier on account of nursing a political ambition, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has long turned his back on him, preferring to support Tony Obuh for the party’s ticket.
Orubebe’s ambition is also being opposed by other party chieftains from the state like Chief Edwin Clark, not minding the support he enjoys from the presidency.
Ngama, who hails from Yobe State, is also finding it hard to get the ticket of the PDP as indications have emerged that the PDP national chairman, Ahmadu Adamu Mu’azu, prefers former minister, Adamu Maina Waziri.
Maku, who is in the same shoes with Ngama, is also finding it hard convincing political bigwigs from his area to get the likes of Solomon Ewuga and the deputy governor of the state Damishi Barau Luka to step down for him.
In Rivers State, Wike is being rejected by stakeholders in the state based on the principle of zoning; they insist that since he comes from the Ikwere up-land area which has produced both Governors Peter Odili and Rotimi Amaechi, he should give way for aspirants from the other senatorial zones, especially the riverine areas.
His closeness to First Lady Dame Patience Jonathan is also not helping matters as he is seen as a product of imposition that the other aspirants have come together to oppose him.
In Bauchi, Dr. Pate is said to be one of the two being supported by Governor Isa Yuguda, the other aspirant is Alhaji Aminu Hammayo, former Secretary to the Bauchi State Government; but indications have emerged that their chances are being threatened by the PDP national chairman, who is said to be rooting for former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Alhaji Yayale Ahmed.
In Taraba State, Darius Ishaku is also having problems at home as stakeholders from his zone had nominated Sabo Kente as their choice. Ishaku was also resisted by then acting Governor of Garba Umar who also wanted the ticket for himself. The former minister however enjoys the support of General T. Y. Danjuma, and the fortunes of Ishaku are changing as the new acting governor, Abubakar Sani Danladi, is said not to be opposed to his candidacy, since he (Danladi) cannot contest for the ticket because the PDP has already closed the sale of forms for the governorship ticket.
There are however fears that the acting governor is being wooed by prominent opposition parties to run on their platforms.
In Lagos State, Obanikoro is being opposed by Chief Olabode George and Oluseye Ogunlewe, the two leaders of the party in the state who are supporting Femi Agbaje for the slot.
Among the 10 who will be standing elections on December 8, only Wike and Ishaku are showing signs of surmounting the pressure from within the PDP while Ortom, Orubebe, Wogu may be forced out of their party to pursue their ambitions.
The current development where ministers believed to have the backing of the president are finding it difficult to clinch the tickets of the ruling party at the national level in their various states is a departure from what obtained in the days of President Olusegun Obasanjo, when most of the ministers he supported to run were guaranteed the party’s tickets.
During the Obasanjo era, Waziri became the PDP candidate in Yobe State and later others like Olusegun Agagu emerged as flag bearers and later governors in Ondo, Sule Lamido in Jigawa, and Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso in Kano.
Director of media and public affairs to Benue State Governor, James Uloko, when contacted, insisted that Suswam has provided a level playing field for all aspirants to compete for the party’s ticket.
“The governor has not supported any particular aspirant from the onset but he has provided a level playing ground for all. All the while, we had thought that he (Ortom) was a party man but it is unfortunate that he wants to quit. And he is the one who has benefitted most from the party,” he said.
But Tarhav Agerzua, the spokesman for Ortom, said “The governor has not in any way supported Ortom or provided a level playing ground for him and that is all we ask for, so, Ortom will leave the platform for him. Because the national secretariat has left the party to state governors, they are running it at their whims and caprices.”
Efforts to get the comments of the Presidency were unsuccessful as Jonathan’s spokesman, Reuben Abati; political adviser, Rufai Alkali and public affairs aide, Doyin Okupe; neither answered several calls made to their cell phones nor replied text messages sent to them by our correspondent