As anticipated, Governors Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State are back on the ballot after their failed expedition for the presidency on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). This piece looks at their return journey to displace their proxies

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) special national convention to elect its presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections may have come and gone, but ripples from the shadow poll are still talking points for the public. One of such discourses after the convention was the return of Governors Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State to pick up senatorial and governorship tickets in their respective states after losing out of in the May 28 presidential primaries.

Former vice-president and serial presidential aspirant, Atiku Abubakar, emerged as the presidential candidate of the opposition party at the end of the presidential primary after polling 371 votes. He defeated the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, who scored 237 votes. Other aspirants with the number of votes polled include Bukola Saraki – 70; Sam Ohuanbunwa – 1; Anyim Pius Anyim – 14; Udom Emmanuel – 38 votes; Bala Mohammed – 20 Governor Tambuwal had before the commencement of voting withdrawn from the presidential race and had given his support to the former Vice President. However, few days after the emergence of Atiku, the two northern states politicians embarked on a fresh journey to actualize their bids for the 2023 political cycle on the platform of the PDP.

Apparently acting a script that won’t run afoul of the Electoral Act, the two governors managed the process from inception by pushing up their trusted allies to hold both the governorship and senatorial seats in trust for them. According to Section 31 of the Electoral Act, it states that a candidate can withdraw and the party can replace him with another candidate.

The section reads: “A candidate may withdraw his or her candidature by notice in writing signed by themselves and delivered personally by the candidate of the political party that nominated him for the election and the political party shall convey such withdrawal to the commission not later than 90 days to the election.” Section 33 of the Electoral Act then provides for how such a candidate should be replaced.

“A political party shall not be allowed to change or substitute a candidate whose name has been submitted under section 29 of this Act except in the case of death or withdrawal of a candidate. “Provided in the case of withdrawal or death of candidates, the political party affected shall, within 14 days of the occurrence of the event, hold a fresh primary election to produce and submit to the commission for the election concerns.”

Governor Tambuwal

Governor Tambuwal has a flair for seeking a ‘lesser’ position after losing a presidential primary. In 2018, after losing the PDP presidential primary to the same Atiku in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, Tambuwal, who was on his second term before the presidential bid, returned to Sokoto to reclaim his governorship ticket.

While Tambuwal didn’t initially stand for the Sokoto South senatorial primary in his state, he had apparently concluded plans to replace the winner of the contest, Aminu Bodinga, the immediate past Commissioner for Land and Survey, who was elected unopposed as the party’s candidate during the national Assembly election next year. Triggering his Plan B, his ally, Bodinga, withdrew from the race and that paved the way for Tambuwal’s emergence.

On June 4, he was announced as senatorial candidate and he subsequently commended the delegates and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the “successful” primary. With his emergence, Tambuwal who is seeking to represent seven local government areas in the senate, will square up against Ibrahim Danbaba, incumbent senator of the district, who recently defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) from the PDP.

The local government areas are Bodinga, Dange/Shuni, Kebbe, Shagari, Tambuwal, Tureta and Yabo local govern-ment areas. Addressing the gathering after his affirmation, Tambuwal said, “APC is already in ICU (Intensive Care Unit).

I urge you, men and women, youths and the elderly, we must go into nooks and crannies of our villages to campaign for our candidates and the PDP, for its return to the center and its continuation here in the governance of Sokoto state. “We all know what is happening to them. They have gone back to try to trace the drawing board, which they are yet to see.

They are still looking for the drawing board because they are so confused as to what to do at the national convention on Monday and Tuesday. Either way it goes, by the grace of God, our presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar (Wazirin Adamawa), will emerge victorious as the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Governor Tambuwal had previously represented Tambuwal/Kebbe Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, where he rose to become the Speaker of the House in his third term. While there are silent projections already that Tambuwal could be the next senate president if Atiku wins the presidency, since is he is from the northwest, it is only left to be seen whether he can first swim against the APC tide in the senatorial election.

Governor Mohammed

Although Governor Mohammed went into the presidential primary election without any clear probabilities of winning, he apparently gave a good account of himself with the 20 votes he got at the shadow poll. Governor Mohammed is on his second term of four years before venturing into the PDP plum job. Apparently using the former Secretary to Bauchi State Government (SSG), Ibrahim Kashim, to pick the guber ticket while on the presidential expedition, he restricted others from doing same. With that move, Kashim went into the primary election as the sole aspirant and got 100 per cent votes at the shadow poll.

With his boss returning emptyhanded, Kashim dropped out from the race and with no runner-up from the primary since he was the sole aspirant, a fresh primary had to be conducted for the vacant ticket. In the re-scheduled governorship primary election in the state, the Returning Officer and Chairman, Governorship Primary Election Committee, Mr Murtala Damagum, announced Mohammed’s victory at the end of the exercise held in Bauchi.

He said that Mohammed as the sole contestant in the election polled 646 votes. Damagum said that 650 out of the total 656 delegates were accredited, while 646 votes were cast, adding that the election was free and fair. In his acceptance speech, Mohammed appreciated the party and the delegates for the smooth conduct of the exercise.

He said the party would sweep polls in the upcoming general elections, adding that, “we have impacted positively through the provision of infrastructure and good governance in the last three years of our administration. “Politics is a nice game, we will continue to play politics with decency, decorum and not a do-or-die affair,” he said.

Apparently returning Kashim’s gesture, Mohammed reappointed him as the Secretary to the State Government, stating that his choice was informed by his track record of sincerity, loyalty, commitment, and wealth of experience in the discharge of assigned responsibilities.

Speaking earlier on his failed bid for the PDP presidential ticket, the governor said, “Losing is part of democracy. I lost, but I have taken it in good
faith.” “I’m calling on others who lost like me in the presidential primary to take it with humility and strong faith in God,” he said. According to him, the establishment of the committee was in furtherance of the party in making sure that it went intact into the 2023 general elections as a family. “All of us must come together irrespective of what happened during the primaries.

There have been a lot of permutations and even insults unleashed on each other, but we have to forget all these because we have to forge ahead”. Mohammed further threw his weight behind the former Vice president, Atiku Abubakar, adding that he would do everything to make sure that he triumphs at the polls in 2023. As it stands, the two governors apparently pulled a strategic political move of eating their cakes and having it. It is only left to be seen how they will fare in the general elections. (New Telegraph)