{"id":23292,"date":"2014-02-24T17:26:16","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T16:26:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=23292"},"modified":"2014-02-24T17:26:16","modified_gmt":"2014-02-24T16:26:16","slug":"suswam-and-gemade-options-before-pdp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/suswam-and-gemade-options-before-pdp\/","title":{"rendered":"Suswam and Gemade: Options before PDP"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sufuyan Ojeifo<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Let me state from the outset that I am not from Benue State. It therefore
\nstands to reason that I cannot also be from Benue North-East Senatorial
\nDistrict, one of the three senatorial districts that make up the state,
\nand about which seat in the Upper House of the National Assembly I am
\nwriting. So, anybody can conveniently question my interest and locus in
\nthe political dealings in the district.
\nI am involved in this enterprise for two reasons. One is my relationship
\nwith the occupants of the seat since 1999 as a reporter (both for Vanguard
\nand THISDAY at different times) covering the activities of the Senate. Two
\nis the great concern the scramble for the seat has generated in social and
\npolitical circles in the build-up to the 2015 general elections.
\nToday, as publisher of The Congresswatch magazine, I have a wider role in
\nrelation to the entire Legislature. Regardless, my interest in the Benue
\nNorth-East Senatorial seat, in particular, has been deepened because of my
\nclose interactions and relationship with occupants of the seat.
\nSignificantly, in 2007, I struck up a friendship with Senator Joseph
\nAkaargerger, who was then the custodian of his people\u2019s mandate from the
\nsenatorial district. Akaargerger was and remains a sedate but highly
\nfecund persona. A former military administrator of Katsina State and
\nholder of a Ph.D degree in Law, he brought his brilliance to bear in his
\ncontributions to debates on the floor of the Senate. I do not want to
\ndwell on how he emerged as candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
\nat the expense of former National Chairman of the party, Chief Barnabas
\nGemade, at the party\u2019s senatorial primaries in 2007, a process that was
\nsuperintended by George Akume, who was then in the saddle as governor of
\nBenue; and how he lost the seat to Gemade in the 2011 senatorial election.
\nThat Gemade won the 2011 election did not come as a surprise. In fact, his
\nvictory was expected. The Nomyange U Tiv (Rising Sun of Tiv) enjoys more
\npolitical prominence both locally and nationally than Akaargerger, having
\nbeen a Federal Minister and National Chairman of the ruling PDP. Had it
\nnot been due to the conspiratorial alliance perfected by Akume, Gemade
\nwould not have lost to my friend, Akaargerger, at the party primaries in
\n2007.
\nGemade brushed aside the incident, remained in the party, gave the seat
\nanother shot in 2011 and won. Interestingly, in 2011, the incumbent
\nGovernor Gabriel Suswam was in charge of the party machinery and with his
\nsupport, Gemade clinched the party ticket. Akaargerger had tried to save
\nhis senate seat by moving to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), on
\nwhich platform he contested against Gemade in the senatorial election but
\nlost to Gemade.
\nAkaargerger has since returned to the PDP. The import of this is that
\nthere is something very unique and attractive about the PDP platform.
\nLeaders of the party would decide one day to jump ship and, always, like
\nprodigal children, would later return to the party. I have deliberately
\nmade reference to this tendency to decamp against the backdrop of reports
\nlinking Gemade with a plot to leave the PDP.
\nI sincerely took the reports with a pinch of salt because Gemade\u2019s
\npolitical pedigree does not portray him as someone who would abandon a
\nhouse he built to be a tenant in another house on account of injustice or
\nunfairness. After all, he had suffered injustice before now when former
\nPresident Olusegun Obasanjo forced him out of office as PDP national
\nchairman. His pre-determined and controversial defeat at the 2007
\nsenatorial primaries did not also make him to run to another party out of
\ndesperation for elective office.
\nHe had remained unruffled, and had decided to bide his time. This is why,
\nwhen it was reported, very recently, that he was contemplating leaving the
\nPDP if he was denied a return ticket to the Senate to represent Benue
\nNorth-East Senatorial District, I found it difficult to believe. The
\nnarrative had it that Suswam is interested in the seat at the end of his
\neight-year tour of duty as Benue governor; whereas, Gemade is interested
\nin seeking a second term in the Senate.
\nThis scenario presents a jigsaw puzzle that would require the leadership
\nof the party, including the presidency, to unravel. Here is a governor who
\nhas been loyal to the party, seeking a senatorial ticket. Should he be
\ntold not to exercise his right to aspire to any position in the land
\nbecause of the ambition of another man? And if he is not told not to run,
\nwould he not deploy everything (read state machinery) at his disposal to
\noverrun his opponent (in this instance Gemade)?
\nBut when one begins to analyse the development further, one is likely to
\npoint to the fact that the governor, who is about 49 years old, has had
\nenough of elective offices having been in the House of Representatives
\nfrom 1999 to 2007 and having been governor from 2007 to 2015. Attempting
\nto proceed from there to the Senate where he is likely to spend another
\neight years or more would be giving too much to one man in a state where
\nthere are people who are equally good or even better than him.
\nThis brings me to Gemade\u2019s re-election bid, which is being threatened by
\nSuswam\u2019s senate ambition. Ideally, in the democratic spirit, Suswam should
\nbe allowed to slug it out with Gemade for the party ticket. But it is
\ncommon knowledge that the contest would be skewed in favour of the
\nincumbent executive head and the outcome of the primaries would be
\nfractious on the party.
\nAnd I ask, is the PDP ready for more crises within its fold? Would it not
\nbe in order for the PDP and the presidency to quickly identify potential
\nflashpoints like the Benue North East senatorial contest, wade into them
\nwith compromises that would make political actors happy? Would it not
\nserve the interest of the party and the presidency, for instance, to
\nprevail on Suswam, a younger Tiv man, who has had his fill of elective
\nposts, to allow his elder brother, Gemade (65 years), to enjoy a second
\nterm in the senate? And, would it not be ideal for the party and the
\npresidency to consider an appointive post for Suswam with an assurance
\nthat he would be sustained in office for the period of four years?
\nLest either Suswam or Gemade misunderstands my motive and interest in this
\nmatter, I am interested overall in the wellbeing of the PDP. Indeed, while
\nI once enjoyed interactions with both Suswam and Gemade, time and events
\nhave eroded such interactions. Nonetheless, the position that I have
\ncanvassed above is, to my mind, a fair one and I hope the duo as well as
\nthe party and the presidency will give these issue and others similar to
\nit a thought in the interest of PDP victory in the 2015 general elections.
\nOjeifo, journalist and publisher, sent this piece from Abuja via
\nojwonderngr@yahoo.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Sufuyan Ojeifo Let me state from the outset that I am not from Benue State. It therefore stands to reason that I cannot also be from Benue North-East Senatorial…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\nSuswam and Gemade: Options before PDP - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/articles-opinions\/suswam-and-gemade-options-before-pdp\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Suswam and Gemade: Options before PDP - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Sufuyan Ojeifo Let me state from the outset that I am not from Benue State. 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