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Okene/Ogori /Magongo House of
Reps
King Versus Kokori
By James Oyewole
The date was June 14, 2008 and the battle field was Okene in Central
Senatorial District of Kogi State. The subject matter? A re-run
House of Representatives election for Okene/Ogori/Magongo Federal
Constituency. The candidates were Hon. Idris King of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) and Abdul Kokori of the Action Congress (AC).
Before 6.00am, the streets had been flooded with all manner of
people, shops were closed for the day. In other words, business
activities in Okene came to a halt. No one could say for certainty
that the election would be peaceful. And every thing pointed to the
fact that the election would not be peaceful.
Supporters of both candidates were not prepared to be caught
unawares.
They practically kept vigil at the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC), office in Okene. The heavy presence of security
operatives was not enough assurance to any of the group.
By 9.00am, some of the supporters had taken position, openly
displaying arms. Officials of INEC knew that they were in for a
rough time. Uptil 12 noon, there wasn’t any significant change and
by this time, the election in Ogori/Magongo was already in progress
but in Okene, the exercise had not started.
In spite of the assurances from the State Police Commissioner, Mr.
Ibe Aghanya, the supporters of the candidates were not prepared to
take chances. They insisted on escorting the electoral materials to
the polling units.
The Central Senatorial District has always been a politically
volatile area but this particular election proved to be an unusual
one because of the various inter and intra-party intrigues involved.
It was gathered on good authority that some internal contradictions
within the Peoples Democratic Party were partially responsible for
what happened that day. An unconfirmed source told our correspondent
that power struggle between some power brokers in the PDP within the
senatorial district resulted in the stalemate.
There was also a school of thought that believed that the AC
candidate was more popular even among PDP supporters in both Okene
and Ogori/Magongo. It was gathered that but for the last minute
intervention of PDP leaders in Ogori/Magongo Local Government, the
party would have lost the re-run election in the area. Party
supporters in the area were said to have resolved to pay Hon. King
in his own coin for what they regarded as “his poor representation
between 2003 and 2007”.
The people also have not forgiven him for the death of one of their
sons, Dr. Emmanuel Omola, in the hands of the people of Ekpedo.
It would be recalled that the late Dr. Omola was killed while on
Hon. King’s entourage to Ekpedo in the heat of Ogori-Ekpedo border
crisis.
A source told The Graphic correspondent that since that incidence,
Hon. King had not deemed it fit to assist the dependants of the
deceased. When it therefore, became apparent to the leaders of the
party in the area that the unfortunate incidence was going to
negatively affect the party’s fortune in the area, they moved round
to pacify their supporters. As a matter of fact, Hon. King lost the
election in the ward of the deceased which was hitherto, one of the
strongholds of the PDP.
There are also those who believe that the polarization of politics
in Okene into clans, was also responsible for what happened at the
re-run election. People were bent on voting on the basis of the
clans they belong without any party consideration. The family from
which the candidates also came from was to play a key role in
determining who gets voted for.
The AC candidate, Hon. Kokori whose election had earlier been
annulled by the appellate court, is believed to enjoy a measure of
followership because he was said to be more receptive than King.
The influence of his younger brother in the PDP who, incidentally is
the state secretary of the party, is also believed to be responsible
for the apparent division in the ranks of the party.
However, there are those who are still willing to bet their last
dime that if the election had been allowed to hold, Hon. King would
have still gone ahead to floor his opponent in view of the PDP’s
overwhelming victory at the last governorship re-run election.
The PDP had learnt its mistakes and devised means to tackle remnant
of AC supporters. There are clear indications that the Action
Congress in the Central Senatorial District have been losing most of
its membership to the ruling PDP. The reason for this, is not
far-fetched. Most of the party’s leadership tend to have abandoned
the ship which is yet to be anchored and therefore, to avoid any
ship wreck sailors have not only found alternative ship but they
have found a safer ship.
Hon. King, it was gathered, is not keen on a fresh election. His
argument is that the election into the House of Representatives is
by simple majority and he is therefore, mounting pressure on INEC to
make do with the returned election result from Ogori/Magongo Local
Government Area which is believed to be in his favour. Some of his
footsoldiers it was gathered, are already blaming him for what
happened during the re-run election. A source told our correspondent
that he was under intensive pressure to raise combatant youths to
meet force for force to ensure the election was in his favour, but
he refused to bulge. This time around, it is not certain if he won’t
cave in . Whichever way, winning election in Okene is not a picnic.
The winner is usually the strongest among the titans.
It is clear that the conduct of a fresh election in Okene might not
be a tea party. For how long will INEC be made to continue to
postpone the re-run election? Will INEC be bold enough to dare the
different militant groups and go ahead with the election? These are
questions begging for answers.
So much lives have been repeatedly lost to political violence in
Ebiraland and so much more will be lost if steps are not taken to
curb violence in the area. There are so much arms in the hands of
youths and ironically, even those who had armed these youths, are
under threat. Who will save the situation? It will only take a man
on a suicide mission to do that.
Hon. Idris King |
