The political atmosphere in the North is now getting charged as Governors in that region are now divided over who to support ahead of the 2015 Presidential elections.
While some Northern Governors are rooting for a Northerner to take over from President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, Yobe State Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Geidam is backing President Jonathan for 2015.
Governor Geidam is banking on President Jonathan’s alleged 2015 ambition to seek a re election as Governor. This is even as both old and new political actors are strategizing towards capturing the soul Damaturu Government House.
Geidam, one of the three All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) serving governors came in to office on January 27, 2009 following the sudden demise his predecessor late Senator Mamman Bello Ali who died of leukemia in a Florida hospital in the United States of America.
A vacuum was then created which needed to be filled by the then deputy governor, Ibrahim Geidam; Geidam was hurriedly sworn in as Governor as enshrined in the 1999 constitution.
The former permanent Secretary was subsequently returned to power in may
29 2011 but as it stands the governor is clandestinely working to ensure he returns to the Damaturu Government House in 2015 an impeccable source told pointblanknews.com
The governor’s priority now is how he can convince other northern governors, traditional rulers, religious and political leaders particularly those that are averred to President Jonathan running for the office of the president in 2015, a source close to the Damaturu Government House said
The source reveal that governor Geidam seems to be more interested in canvassing for support for the President to seek reelection in 2015 than Mr. President and his kitchen cabinet that ordinarily ought to be drivers of the alleged ambition.
For now Geidam’s body language within the ANPP family in Yobe state has in a way forced fellow party men and women to either bury their governorship ambition or seek alternative political platform to actualize their dream
One of such ANPP stalwart already romancing the leading opposition party in the state; the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is Senator Ahmed Lawan, representing Yobe North Senatorial District. Lawan is serving his second term as senator, he had been in the House of Representatives for two consecutive terms between 1999 and 2007 but now, Lawan feels that time is ripe for him to be the next Yobe Governor.
Lawan who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Public Accounts is said to have use his close relationship with the Senate President, Senator David Mark to commence talks of possible defection to the PDP in the event when Geidam is allowed to run in 2015
Despite seemingly bright chances of the Senator Lawan, both him and his political ally; the Senate President must begin to change their strategies as the current Minister of state for Finance, Yerima Ngama of the PDP has commence serious grassroots governorship campaigns ahead of 2015. The Minister was said to have launch his campaign on Facebook the very day he sworn in as Minister.
Ngama who is also the leader of the PDP in Yobe state by virtue of his position had at separate political meetings held in Kano and Abuja told his supporters that he has all it takes to become the next governor of the state, he also boasted that whether or not Geidam is running, he has the political clout and the financial muscle to prosecute his electioneering campaign
But some political observers believe that Ngama may find it very difficult to paddle his canoe to the Yobe state government house with the likes of Bomboy; who many political associate of Ngama see as a stumbling block towards getting any favour from the minister.
“In fact some of us politicians close to the minister are strongly of the opinion that Bomboy might have bewitched Ngama with some powerful local charms otherwise, there is simply no justification for most of the of the actions of the minister concocted by Bomboy, a fellow party man” says one of Ngama’s associate who was recently denied a favour owing to Bomboy’s advise
Besides, Ngama will also have to contend the with the Late Usman Albishir group within the PDP family who played key role to his (Nganma) emergence as Minister; these group are currently aggrieved for no other reason other than the fact that the Minister has allegedly abandoned them after they supported him to get to his enviable position.
The Albishir group, a very formidable force within the present PDP, Pointblanknews.com gathered that the group is planning to meet shortly after the Ramadan and chat a new political front since its former leader, Late Senator Usman Albishir died in ghastly Motor accident along Kano – Kaduna express way.
One other individual that is not too known to have indicated interest in the politics of Yobe state in the past is the current Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Works Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji . He is said to have the financial muscle to withstand any aspirant for the office of the governor without cause to panic.
Sources close the career civil servant hinted that Aji is nursing the ambition to become the next governor of Yobe Stae, but some of the odd against him is the fact he seems to be too from grassroots which constitutes about 80% of the electorates in the agrarian state.
But one thing that seems to paving way for the Yobe born civil servant according to a source is Aji’s ways of settling some big shots with huge “Ghana Must Go Bags” the source added that “if not for Aji’s usual ways of settling some highly placed people in the society, he is not yet qualified to have been made a Federal permanent secretary not to talk of getting a more lucrative ministerial posting to the Ministry of Works from that of Police Affairs.“
Even though 2015 is about three years away, none of the above-mentioned governorship hopeful seems to be leaving things to chance; they believe that if their dream must become a reality they had better start now. Be that as it may only 2015 will tell where the pendulum will swing.