Shocker at the caucus meeting

The night before the meeting, we heard rumours that it had been shifted to the Presidential Lodge, in the night. We sent Tsinin Kusa to find out. He came back and said that the notice pasted at the secretariat had been removed and all the people he asked said they did not know who removed […]

The night before the meeting, we heard rumours that it had been shifted to the Presidential Lodge, in the night. We sent Tsinin Kusa to find out. He came back and said that the notice pasted at the secretariat had been removed and all the people he asked said they did not know who removed it or why. Everything was murky. It was only when Maikahon Karo went to the Speaker’s house that we found out the meeting’s new venue and time.
When we got to the Lodge that evening, we found that many people were stranded at the gate. Hefty mobile policemen were posted at the gate and they were allowing only selected people to enter. A civilian stood behind them, holding a piece of paper. He was the one telling the policemen who to allow in. People were shouting “I am so and so” but they were not allowed in. To my surprise, Maikahon Karo walked up to the gate and beckoned to the man holding the paper to come. The man quickly came. With authority in his voice, Maikaho pointed to me and said, “This is His Excellency. Open the gate for us.” The man quickly told the policemen to allow the two of us to go in. When we were inside, I asked Maikaho how he did it. He said, “That boy is the state chairman’s personal bodyguard, but I was the one who sourced him for the chairman.”
We entered the meeting room and sat down. All the party big shots from across Tafki State were there. I saw all our senators, all the local government chairmen, all the godfathers in the party and many commissioners too. There was much whispering and murmuring in the room. We heard that more than ten of us were in the race to be the ministerial nominee. Everyone had got his own backers. I was very confident because we had succeeded in getting through to the emir through his brother-in-law the Galadima. I was told that His Royal Highness had spoken to the Governor and that His Excellency said he will ensure that I am the consensus nominee. We also got through to the party chairman through his wife, and I was assured that I am the chairman’s candidate too. It was no small work that Maikaho and I did in the last one week. I went to the Bureau De Change several times to get prepared.
Everyone was waiting, until the Governor arrived more than an hour late. We all stood up as he took his seat. He was waving and smiling and when our eyes met, he smiled broadly. I told myself this is a sign that I am the nominee! When we first came in to the hall I got a seat in the back row. Maikaho went and spoke to one security man, who brought a spare chair and squeezed it in the front row, between one senator and the deputy chairman. That was how I moved to the front row, quite close to the high table. Only the Governor and three other people sat at the high table, including the Deputy Governor.
When the Governor sat down, the state chairman got up, said a prayer and delivered a long speech full of praises for the governor. He showered encomiums on the Governor, saying he is a God-sent to us. He then introduced the main topic of the day, which is the ministerial nomination. He said before he called on the Governor to speak, he must remind us of some things. He said the ministerial vacancy is not for our state alone because our state’s minister is still there in the cabinet. However, he said, our Governor has not rested since he heard of the cabinet reshuffle and he has been fighting very hard for us to get this slot extra which is reserved for our geopolitical zone.  He said because of the very high respect that all the other governors in the zone have for our Governor, they conceded the extra slot to Tafki State. Chairman also said a lot of consultation was done with all the stakeholders and he would now call upon the Governor to tell us the consensus candidate that was agreed upon. We must all support the choice as revealed by the governor, he said.
I was very excited. My legs were trembling with excitement. I can already see myself going back to Abuja in a grand way. Even the way many people were greeting me at the meeting, I suspected they already knew that I was the choice. Some people were calling me “Your Excellency” while others were calling me “Honourable Minister.”
Then the Governor began to speak. Chei! What a long speech! He went on and on. He will enter here, come out there. He will praise this one, criticize this one, bring history, bring politics, bring geography, bring Qur’anic verses, throw in proverbs, tell some stories, tell some jokes. Kai! I have never heard a speech like that one. Everybody was eager for him to get to the point. Finally he did. He said yes, as the chairman said, all stakeholders had been consulted and that after listening to everybody, the consensus was that Alhaji Tukur Goshin Bauna is our nominee for minister. That is his Commissioner of Works. When he finished, he did not allow anyone else to speak, he just asked his Religious Affairs Adviser to say the closing prayers. Honestly I could not get up from my seat. My legs were so wobbly that I feared I would fall down if I tried to stand up. The next thing I saw was Maikaho standing behind me. He said, “Your Excellency, let’s go. The Governor is lying. Nobody likes Goshin Bauna except him. We will show him the real consensus candidate.”