Seven senators in the Upper Legislative House won
their gubernatorial primaries. JONATHAN NDA -
ISAIAH in this report takes a look at their chances in
the forthcoming election
It has become a recurring decimal in Nigeria’s
political history that two-term governors always eye
the Senate as their next destination while most
senators are also seeking to govern their states after
spending time at the Red Chambers. The case is not
different in the forthcoming governorship elections
as not less than seven senators are in the
gubernatorial race of their respective states. We
preview some of the states and the chances of the
lawmakers.
Taraba
Senator Aisha Alhassan is the All Progressives
Congress (APC) candidate in the forthcoming
gubernatorial election and she’s on course to make
history as the first female governor in Nigeria. She is
set to slug it out with Darius Ishaku, candidate of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Ishaku is seen as
the preferred candidate of the powers that be in
Taraba.
In a state inundated by religious crisis in recent
times, religion is going to play a major role in
determining who occupies Taraba Government
House on May 29. Not a lightweight politician herself,
Alhassan is seen as a grassroots politician who has
been pulling weight in the affairs of the state. She is a
vibrant senator and one of the front runners in the
defection saga in the senate last year.
The zoning formula in the state may also count
against her as she hails from Taraba North. The
zoning formula favours the PDP candidate who hails
from Taraba South which has never produced a
governor. Taraba North has ruled for 10 years while
Taraba Central has ruled for eight years. With
religious bias and the zoning formula, Senator Aisha
faces a herculean task in the race.
Adamawa
The gubernatorial election will be a close one in
Adamawa State as Senator Jibrilla Bindowo of the
APC is up against former presidential candidate of
the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Nuhu
Ribadu who is believed to be the candidate of the
Presidency. Ribadu is formerly in the APC but was
lured back to the PDP allegedly on the grounds that
the ubernatorial seat of Adamawa is his for the
taking. A very popular politician in the state, Bindowo
has proved his political mettle by defeating twice the
candidate of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in
the APC primaries
In a state burdened by activities of insurgents in
recent times, who occupies Adamawa Government
House on May 29 is very important. Zoning may also
play a great role in the state. However, Bindowo is
more popular in the state than Ribadu who is banking
on the presidency and federal might to win the
election.
Cross River
Senator Ben Ayade, of the PDP is a brilliant lawmaker
and professor is the Vice Chairman, Senate
Committee on Environment and Ecology, he will slug
it out with Odey Ochicha (APC). The PDP has held
sway in Cross River since 1999 and Ayade is seen as
the favourite to win the gubernatorial election.
However, Ochicha will want to take advantage of the
crisis in the PDP in the state which has led to some
defections and cracks. Bassey Otu defected to the
Labour Party while Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba
lost his fourth term bid to return to the Upper House
over his alleged frenzy relationship with the state
governor, Liyel Imoke. It remains to be seen how the
defections and crisis will affect the PDP’s chances in
the state
Delta
Chairman, Senate Committee on Health, Ifeanyi
Okowa, against all odds emerged as the PDP guber
candidate in Delta. He rose through the ranks in
Delta’s political ladder. He was a Council chairman,
Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural
Resources, Water Resources Development and
Health and then appointed the Secretary to the State
Government (SSG) in 2007.
He will be up against Chief Great Ogboru, a popular
politician in the state who is governorship candidate
of Labour Party (LP). He was also the flag bearer of
Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) in the 2011 elections.
Another major force in the contest is Chief O’tega
Emerhor of the APC. A traditionally PDP state , Okowa
is favoured to win the elections on the grounds of
zoning formula in the state. Ogboru and Emerhor are
both Urhobo who are the majority ethnic group in
the state and that may also favour Okowa as both the
LP and APC candidates will split the Urhobo.
Kwara
Senator Simeon Ajibola of the PDP is facing a huge
task in displacing incumbent governor Abdulfatah
Ahmed of the APC. Ajibola surprisingly emerged the
gubernatorial candidate in the state PDP primaries
defeating well known candidates like Dele Belgore,
Gbemisola Saraki , Makanjuola Ajadi , Prof Oba
Abdulraheem, Hon. Bio Ibrahim , Engineer Jani
Ibrahim ,and Alhaji Hakeem Lawal .
However, in a state controlled by the Saraki political
dynasty, the chances of Ajibola winning the
gubernatorial election is very slim as he lacks the
political clout to defeat the Saraki dynasty where
Ahmed belongs. Since Senator Bukola Saraki
defected to the APC last year, it has become the
dominant party in the state. Ahmed is among the five
governors that defected to the APC after the new PDP
saga and with the backing of Senator Saraki, he is
definitely the favourite to win his second term as
governor.
Plateau
Young and vibrant, Senator Gyang Pwajok was Chief
of Staff to the incumbent governor Jonah Jang and
won the bye elections to represent the people of
Plateau North after the death of Senator Gyang
Dantong. He will slug it out with Simon Lalong, the
APC candidate who was speaker of the Plateau State
House of Assembly during Governor Joshua Dariye’s
tenure.
Many are angry when Pwajok emerged the
gubernatorial candidate of the PDP as most of the
stakeholders in the state felt his emergence violates
the zoning formula in the state.
The incumbent governor is from Plateau North and
most of the stakeholders feel the ticket should have
gone to other zones before returning to Plateau
North. There are fears that protest vote may affect
Pwajok ‘s chances in the gubernatorial elections.
However, with the return of political heavyweights in
the state like Senator Joshua Dariye and Jeremiah
Useni to the PDP, the chances of Pwajok winning the
gubernatorial election is bright
Kebbi
Chairman, Senate Committee on Interior, Atiku
Bagudu (APC) has set his eyes on occupying Kebbi
Government House come May 29. He is a late entrant
into the APC as he defected a week to the APC
gubernatorial primaries, and was adopted as its
gubernatorial candidate. After reaching a statement
in the PDP guber primaries, the party later adopted
the former General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the
Nigerian Army, General Sarkin Yarki Bello, as the
governorship candidate of PDP in the state.
Major-Gen. Sarkin Yarki Bello (rtd) is the nominee of
incumbent Governor Saidu Dakingari. While Senator
Bagudu is a popular figure in the state. The elections
will be too close to call. Senator Bagudu will want to
take advantage of the cracks in the PDP after the
fallout of the primaries where many of the aggrieved
candidates protested the irregularities in the
rimaries.

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