When former governor of Ogun State, who was also until recently the Director General of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, raised the hands of the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in endorsement, people were not so surprised.
L-R: Otunba Daniel and Dapo Abiodun
Sahara Reporters
But it was with a bit of shock that Nigerians received the news that Gbenga Daniel has resigned membership of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and in effect, no longer the DG of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation. Little did we know that we are in for the surprise of our lives as Otunba Gbenga Daniel announced that he has crossed carpeted to the APC.
Ordinarily, this would not have been a surprising move, but for the key role Otunba Gbenga Daniel (OGD) played in the last elections, such was not expected from him. Reactions to the sudden turn of events by pundits have been that OGD is a betrayer while at the same time blaming Atiku Abubakar of the PDP for daring to trust such a mole.
What many Nigerians may not know however is that, politics in Nigeria is also a game of survival. It is commonplace to see politicians cross-carpeting without obvious reasons; but deep down, they know what drives their selfish decisions.
Ibikunle Amosun
Premium Times Nigeria
There had been obvious signs in the case of Ogun state though: the PDP was split into factions where two gubernatorial candidates ran for the elections. Reports by theorists had it that Senator Buruji Kasamu as the factional PDP gubernatorial candidate had just one purpose – not to win the polls but to ensure the candidate of the APM and the other PDP candidate, Lamidi Adebutu, does not have any chance of winning the elections. If this was true, OGD aligning with the APC candidate, Dapo Abiodun, naturally adds up to imply there has always been a gang up against the candidature of the APM candidate, which Amosun supports, and a standing ruse to scheme out the hegemony which Ibikunle Amosun was trying to foster.
Rochas Okorocha
The Guardian Nigeria
It was on the heels of this development that the president also delivered his own shocker to some of his old supporters. There are insinuations that President Buhari has had a fallout with Governors Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun state and Rochas Okorocha of Imo state. These governors were die-hard Buhari supporters and most of them won their states for the APC at the presidential polls; but immediately after the polls, Amosun and Rochas were suspended from the party for supposed anti-party activities.
Even owing to the huge controversy with the last round of inconclusive elections in some states, President was said to have remarked recently also that he will by no means try to alter results for any governor in the supplementary polls/collation completion fixed for March 20th across 7 states in the federation. This insinuation itself reeks of double standard as one could be more disposed to thinking the elections were hugely manipulated by the presidency in the first place.
Except the utterance by the president is lip service and just for the sake of camera, I cannot estimate how much betrayal the embattled gubernatorial candidates who will have to participate in the coming supplementary polls on March 20th. They had been used and dumped.
Effectively, we are reminded that the place of feeling the pain of betrayal as a result of politicking will not only be suffered by the masses but also by the elites. The elites do cry too – they suffer as much betrayal of trust as they inflict on their followers who often vote for them – and this cycle may not end until they have a change of heart and do what the people want and need.
Featured image source: The Guardian Nigeria
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